High blood pressure

[Joannerogers]

I need some education please. I just had my 8th treatment of folfox with avastin. My blood pressure seems to be rising...152/102 last night. It did go back down on its own after I laid down. My onc office doesn't check my blood pressure but once a month. I'm thinking I might benefit from blood pressure medicine but I really don't know how I'll react since typically I usually have low blood pressure. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

[Cb75]

Avastin can cause an increase in blood pressure. Over the year and a few months that I have been on it, with FOLFIRI, I have seen my normal/low blood pressure rise to something around 140/90 or so on a regular basis. I've been told it's not an issue. I've also heard that it could be a sign that the Avastin is working.

cb <3

[midlifemom]

I just added avastin to my folfiri infusions. I understand one of its side effects is raising your blood pressure. At my center, the infusion nurses take my bp before infusion. In addition, since I now have avastin, they took bp again towards end of infusion.

I would urge you to call onc office about your bp. Also, have it taken every time you go for chemo.

[JDinNC]

Around treatment # 9, I was in Walmart when a reached a point where I didn't have the strength to even stand up straight. I went to the ER where my pressure was so high the doctor thought the blood pressure machine was broken. For five hours they watched as my blood pressure went high and down like a roller coaster. They did four tests and couldn't find anything wrong. I was on folfox with avastin at the time, it's been over a year and a half since finishing chemo and my blood pressure is still always in the 140 's My doctor doesn't seem to be worried about it.

[GrouseMan]

Most oncologists that add Avastin to FOLFOX routinely prescribe a low dose ACE inhibitor to counteract the increased blood pressure caused by the use of Avastin. My wife who had low BP to begin with as a runner, takes 10mg of Lisinopril once a day. She has been on Avastin for 2 years now, and her BP is normal. She didn't take the ACE inhibitor for three days last week because she couldn't get in and get her script filled. But checking it, her BP was only a little higher than when she was training for 10k races.

You should tell your oncologist and GP. If your BP is always high then you need to get it back under control. Avastin usually will make it increase. ACE inhibitors are usually used over diuretics, but I understand that some suggest that an Angiotensin II antagonist, might be better, because it acts as a vasodialator, and may then allow more chemo to get to solid tumors. Seems counter productive to me as you want to remove their ability to get oxygen and nutrients via the blood, which is part of the basis for using Avastin as an antiangiogenises drug.

Regards,

GrouseMan

[BrownBagger]

Just as an aside cannabis, which I use to control nausea, also lowers my blood pressure.

You can buy a personal blood pressure monitor at any pharmacy for about $15 that will allow you to monitor your BP to try to determine any patterns and to see how well your meds are working.

As others have noted, talk to your onc about it first.

[Joannerogers]

Thanks everyone, as always, replies were a big help.

[lolgirl]

My body can not handle Avastin. I have had it on 2 occaisons, 4 months apart, and it caused my BP to soar so high. The first time, I experienced stroke like symptoms and could not move or speak. The EMTs thought I was having a stroke as they transported me to the hospital. We did not put 2 + 2 together since I was on heavy chemo, 11 out of 12, at the time. Four months later, after Avastin, I had a seizure as I slept and fell off my bed, and became unconcious for 3 days. I read up on this drug, and though it's infrequent, it IS a side effect. Doctors believe me and there will be no more Avastin for me. Lolgirl