• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Losartan

searley

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
2,264
Location
Southampton
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Diabetes, not having Jaffa Cake
I’ve just been prescribed losartan for blood pressure, I’ve taken it for 4 days now..

But from the very first day I’ve had blood glucose level issues.. if I take the amount of insulin I normally take for food/correction the BG crashes fast.. a few times after food if found myself drop from 9mmol for 3.5 mmol I’ve adjusted my basal insulin down quite a bit but this will take a few to take effect as it’s tresiba.. I’ve reduced my insulin to carb ratio and waiting to see what happens today.

Anyone else have experience of this? I’m interested to know if this is a temporary issue
 

Hi @searley

Did your medication come with a PIL? (Patient Information Leaflet).

"In Summary
Commonly reported side effects of losartan include: asthenia, chest pain, diarrhea, fatigue, and hypoglycemia. Other side effects include: hyperkalemia, hypotension, and orthostatic hypotension. See below for a comprehensive list of adverse effects."

I find it strange that you were not warned about the possible side effects as an insulin user.
 

Yes I did read that... and I’m left unsure what to do for the best if I don’t take insulin then my levels don’t go to low, but as a T1 I don’t know how little insulin a can take before I’m putting myself at risk
 
searley said:
Yes I did read that... and I’m left unsure what to do for the best if I don’t take insulin then my levels don’t go to low, but as a T1 I don’t know how little insulin a can take before I’m putting myself at risk
Click to expand...

I think all you can do is reduce the insulin doses slowly and keep checking your blood glucose levels to see if they level out.
 
searley said:
I’ve reduced my insulin to carb ratio and waiting to see what happens today.

Anyone else have experience of this? I’m interested to know if this is a temporary issue
Click to expand...

Are you able to talk to your diabetic team by phone? This is the sort of issue they ought to be knowledgeable about....
 
In my experience, a lot of doctors know very little about the possible side-effects of anything they prescribe, but if anybody wants me to swallow anything these days, I remind them I am type 1 and ask if there are any side-effects I need to know about. The GP I see most often now checks on side-effects and reads them out without my having to ask.
 
@searley How are things now ? It would certainly be worth telling your doctors about this problem, as it strikes me that if you are ever switched to any other sort of BP medication, your BS will be affected all over again - and may spike high. If there is ever a manufacturing problem which affects the supply of a drug for example, you can get switched to a different drug to control BP. In your position, I would keep a note about the effect of Losartan had on you when you first started it, as a safety measure.
 
I’ve reduced my tresiba.. and as work won’t allow my in at the moment so am slightly less active my bg levels are no longer crashing I’m keen to stay on them for a couple more weeks to see what happens as my BP is at a level it needs reducing.

However the last time I took BP meds about 8 years ago I ended up on 5 tablets at maximum dose and my BP was still high.

I agreed with the GP to try this one to see what effect it has
 
Hi. Glad you are able to talk about this with your gp. I am taking a sartan (irbesartan) and have had no side effects that I have noticed. I am taking it for kidney disease but it is an anti hypertensive too.
The other option is to drop carbs/increase exercise over the longer term. Not to mention eating cruciferous veg (brocoli and cauliflower etc.\.
Fortunately this isn't in the Ace Inhibitor class of meds that is rumoured to make you more vulnerable to CoVid complications.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…