Hi, my mom has adjusted for the most part to Tasigna. She's not super-sick although she never feels quite well.
I am concerned though about what the Tasigna is doing to her blood pressure. It lingers between 180 and 215 over 90-120 all of the time. It has been managed on blood pressure meds for about ten years. Now it's really high again. She says she does not have headaches or dizziness like she used to before taking Tasigna, when her bp would go up just due to anxiety, on certain occasions, then it would come back down to 150 (she has an anxiety disorder that one manifestation of, was fear of going to the doctor, and it would go back down after she left). She said that she just generally feels awful all the time. We are taking readings every day and it is always up in the 200 range, any time of day.
She is taking 15 mg accupril, 5 mg up from before. This was helping about a year ago but it seems to be not helping now.
Her hemotologist is not interested in addressing the issue although she brings it up regularly. He says it's not his area so she needs to talk to her GP. He never asks her outright about it, even though her bp is high during each session. When she brings it up he dismisses her, although he did a year ago suggest she might want to take a bit more accupril. He seems like a good doctor, he has a good reputation, we like him, and she is in remission as a result of him treating her with the Tasigna. However, his attitude toward her blood pressure disturbs me, seeing as it's likely a side effect from the med he is prescribing, not some situation unrelated to her treatment. She is not willing to go to anyone else, because it will be a lot of trouble for her and things are steady, so it's a moot point.
Has anyone had these side effects from Tasigna, and are there any suggestions for dealing with it? She does limit her salt intake and try to be healthy. She does not exercise and is not likely to start doing so (She is elderly, has very little energy, a bad knee and hip prevent her from doing much, and no amount of coaxing for her to walk around the entire block, although she could, has been effective in many years).
Suggestions appreciated. Thx