Covid 19 and medication

[Northerner]

Just had this email from my GP Surgery:


Dear Patient
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR MEDICATION
If you take any of the medication in the list below and start with the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) this can put pressure on your kidneys and cause problems:
ACE inhibitors (tablets that end in 'pril' such as ramipril, lisinopril, enlapril)
Angiotensin II antagonists (tablets that end in 'sartan' such as candesartan, losartan and valsartan)
Diuretics or water tablets including furosemide, bumetanide, bendroflumethazide, indapamide, spironolactone
Metformin
Dapagliflozin, Empagliflozin, Canagliflozin for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Anti-inflammatory tablets such as ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, Celecoxib, Etoricoxib
If you are taking any of these pills you should STOP them for the duration of the virus symptoms but restart them afterwards.
If you are in any doubt, check with the pharmacist, GP or nurse regarding which tablets to stop. Please phone the surgery to discuss this with a GP/nurse in a duty doctor telephone appointment that same day.
At all times it is also important to keep drinking plenty of fluids.

I take candesartan, but only a low dose so it wouldn't affect me much to stop it for a week or so. I imagine many of our T2 members take metformin

 

[Robin]

Just had this email from my GP Surgery:


Dear Patient
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR MEDICATION
If you take any of the medication in the list below and start with the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) this can put pressure on your kidneys and cause problems:
ACE inhibitors (tablets that end in 'pril' such as ramipril, lisinopril, enlapril)
Angiotensin II antagonists (tablets that end in 'sartan' such as candesartan, losartan and valsartan)
Diuretics or water tablets including furosemide, bumetanide, bendroflumethazide, indapamide, spironolactone
Metformin
Dapagliflozin, Empagliflozin, Canagliflozin for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Anti-inflammatory tablets such as ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, Celecoxib, Etoricoxib
If you are taking any of these pills you should STOP them for the duration of the virus symptoms but restart them afterwards.
If you are in any doubt, check with the pharmacist, GP or nurse regarding which tablets to stop. Please phone the surgery to discuss this with a GP/nurse in a duty doctor telephone appointment that same day.
At all times it is also important to keep drinking plenty of fluids.

I take candesartan, but only a low dose so it wouldn't affect me much to stop it for a week or so. I imagine many of our T2 members take metformin

I wonder what evidence they are using. I looked into this because OH is on Losartan. I came up mostly with stuff that was inconclusive, (one study says it might actually help!). This is typical of what I found,

Position Statement of the ESC Council on Hypertension on ACE-Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers

Your access to the latest cardiovascular news, science, tools and resources.

www.escardio.org

 

[Leonora]

Funny that. I think I might have had Covid19. No joint pain. No fever. Terrible headache for 4 days. Could not get rid of it! Sore throat for 3 days. Slight cough and mild shortness of breath for 6 days. Extreme fatigue. And....achy kidneys. Just getting over it 20 days later. I'm on metformin 500mg per day and bendroflumethiazide. Might account for the achy kidneys.

Just putting this here...my opinion is that anyone who had a rough time from mid December might have had the virus. Only because my friend had it around that time. Fever and shortness of breath for several weeks. She had 2 lots of xrays and the docs couldn't work out what was wrong with her. Then it just cleared up. Not into conspiracy theories but...

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Interesting. I’m on naproxen and haven’t been told anything yet. I have heard possible issues with NSAIDs and covid 19 but figure it’s about balancing all factors with chronic illnesses.