I once thought, I was taking Lisinopril for a heart murmur,

but I am also at risk for high blood pressure which is why, I take 10mg’s of the ace inhibitor a day.

Lisinopril is also known under its brand name Prinivil, or Zestril and works quite effectively I might add to keep said blood pressure in check but that was not always so.

I was placed on Lisinopril almost instantly after my initial diagnosis and in those early days everything was new and confusing for me so it was by no coincidence that I had this unique  side effect that you may not find under the drug’s label.

During one of my visits to the doctor, I had mentioned to him that I was having an unexplained occurrence  where my heart beat would slow down, or skip a step or two once or twice every few days.

The doctor decided to order an echocardiogram which is simply an ultrasound used by doctors  map their patients heart and see if there are any murmurs or palpitations.

The doctor was gracious enough to explain what the test was and what he was looking for but when the test results came back, he simply said that he had seen something in the echocardiogram that he didn’t like but otherwise I was OK.

In this same conversation, he informed me that he was putting me on Lisinopril. At the time my blood pressure did not come up and I was left with the impression that the Lisinopril had more to do with my irregular heart beat than it did high blood pressure.

My own research on lisinopril was equally as confusing. As an ace inhibitor, it is usually used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) but also congestive heart failure, and to improve survival after a heart attack. left to my own devices however I was convinced I had a murmur and that was what I was taking the  lisinopril  for.

A few days later, I had to see my dentist for an extraction on a tooth that had been giving me some pain and it was during the visit that a routine question by the dentist exposed my confusion.

The dentist wanted to know if, I was taking any medications, so I rang off a litany of my diabetic medications and added the lisinopril as well for a heart murmur.

With a puzzled expression, he looked at me and asked if I was sure  I had a heart murmur?  I in turn replied that I thought that was what the lisinopril was for.

Unbeknown to me, a heart murmur was serious enough to preclude him from extracting the tooth until he was sure I wasn’t in danger, pain or not.

He handed me some pain killers and a form that had to be filled by my regular doctor stating that the murmur was not going to be a  danger to the extraction.

Back to my doctors office, he looked at me with this incredulous look and asked me how I had come to have a heart murmur that he had no idea about.

I explained my thoughts as well as  conclusions to him and with a wry smile he informed me that the lisinopril was for my blood pressure which had been a bit high when he ran the tests earlier and not for a murmur.

He had failed to explain to me fully the test results and the state of affairs and I had failed to express my confusion and lack of understanding.

At the end of the day, a little better communication between us would have simply solved the problem and I was lucky that the only pain experienced from this confusion was my tooth ache.

Communication is empirical in a doctor patient relationship, more often than not patients are not empowered enough to ask questions or follow through with clarifications which can lead to some dangerous outcomes, far more serious than my heart murmur lisinopril episode, which is why am sharing this story with you because patient empowerment can not be taken lightly.

Are you an empowered patient?

Do you ask questions, seek clarifications, research medications and seek second opinions to diagnosis, If not maybe it is time to start doing so because patient empowerment is a crucial component to better health.