Re: Re: How long/what dosage for spironolactone to start working?

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The first good clue was the drug resistance of BP, the second was the first low K. BUt with PA, from my sad experience, HCTZ put me in the hospital after a few days on it due to hypokalemia and HTN. . . .and still, at age 40 back then, with zero risk factors (never smoked, no drugs or alcohol, i was in great shape, 165lbs and 5'10), plus BP uncontrolled on many a med combo and no one ever suggested PA. ever. there were no more clues to give>And thats IF K was drawn perfectly. it may have been lower if not. But they were attributing the K loss to you being on HCTZ which can bump it down in someone with or without PA.>>On Tue May 17th, 2011 10:01 PM CDT Francis Bill SUSPECTED PA wrote:>>>On 6/6/2006 my k was 4. ON 06/22/06 ct done for shortness of breath showed an 2 cm tumor on left adrenal gland. On 2/1/2007 I was started on 25MG HCTZ next K was done on 2/12/2007 it was 3.9. On 3/12/2007 K was 3.2. On 3/27/2007 I was started on 50MG of TRIAMTERENE. On 5/1/2007 K was 3.2. >>>>No one at the VA put this together as posable PA. >> >>>>>>>>> >> > >>>> >> > > Hello All>>> >> > >>>> >> > > I've been battling HTN since I was 28. Over the years, one drug after >>> >> > > another failed to provide long term control. Finally multiple drugs >>> >> > > have failed. I never had a doctor who thought to test me for any >>> >> > > secondary cause. I'm now 43.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > 5 years ago I had back surgery to remove a benign tumor from my spine >>> >> > > that was causing back pain. During the workup for that, a lesion was >>> >> > > seen on my left adrenal gland.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > Now, in the last year, I've been getting more and more curious about >>> >> > > Conns as my bp continues to go higher. My primary ran a 24-hour urine >>> >> > > at my urging which showed aldosterone of 24 which was above their lab >>> >> > > normal of 21. No renin was done.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > My primary sent me for a CT to check on the tumor. It is a 2cm lesion >>> >> > > consistent with adenoma, per the report.>>> >> > > Medications up to this point were Micardis 80mg, Clonidine .2 >>> >> > > 3times/day, HCTZ 12.5/day>>> >> > > Bp is running generally in the mid 160s/ low 100s with occasions where >>> >> > > it will shoot up a lot higher.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > I finally saw an Endocrinologist who ran the ARR test (because I >>> >> > > insisted) and my Aldosterone was 13.4 vs a Renin of .1. The blood was >>> >> > > drawn around 10:30am fasting. No medications were stopped or changed. >>> >> > > It seems this is a normal Aldo but the ratio of some 134:1 would seem >>> >> > > a positive result. The endo did not seem interested in pursuing >>> >> > > treatment for me or doing additional testing.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > I've also seen a nephrologist recently who suspected Conn's and put me >>> >> > > on spironolactone 25mg/day and increased my hctz to 50mg/day. There >>> >> > > seems to be a slight benefit since adding the spiro (it's been two >>> >> > > weeks) but not a lot. I called the docs office about increasing the >>> >> > > spiro but they've put me on amlodipine 10mg instead which I just >>> >> > > started today.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > For those of you on spironolactone, how long did it take to work and >>> >> > > at what dosage?>>> >> > >>>> >> > > I've got another appointment with a different endo in early June so >>> >> > > I'm hoping for the best.>>> >> > >>>> >> > > Thank you for this great site. It is a wonderful resource.>>> >> > >>>> >> > >>>> >> >>>> >> >>> > >>> >>>>>>>>>