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Enalapril & Fish Oil

Aug 18, 2011 | By Carole Anne Tomlinson

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe enalapril to help get it under control. Enalapril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and works to lower your blood pressure. Fish oil, an over-the-counter supplement, also can help to reduce your blood pressure while it fights to decrease your cholesterol. Your doctor may recommend using fish oil if you have high cholesterol while you take enalapril for your hypertension.

Enalapril Benefits

As an ACE inhibitor, enalapril lowers your blood pressure by relaxing your blood vessels. It does this, MayoClinic.com notes, by inhibiting the angiotensin-converting enzyme in your body that causes blood vessels to constrict. When enalapril relaxes your blood vessels, your blood can flow much more easily throughout your body. This reduces blood pressure and takes the strain off your heart. You heart does not have to beat as hard if your blood vessels remain open.

Fish Oil Benefits

Fish oil, or omega-3-acid ethyl esters, works in your body to cut down the levels of fatty acids known as triglycerides, part of cholesterol. Triglycerides accumulate in your blood vessels as deposits of fat that eventually solidify into plaque. Plaque can block part of your arteries, meaning your heart has to push the same amount of blood through a smaller opening. This increase in blood pressure strains your heart muscles and puts you at risk of strokes and heart attacks. Fish oil's effect to cut down triglycerides helps stop further plaque build-up and also helps to remove some of the fatty deposits already present.

Enalapril Side Effects

Enalapril has some potentially serious side effects associated with it, MayoClinic.com indicates. In fact, the only common non-serious side effect for this drug is feeling dizzy for the first few days you take it. At the serious level, however, is another form of dizziness known as postural hypotension. This means that you get very dizzy or light-headed when you suddenly get up from sitting in a chair or lying on the bed. Postural hypotension occurs because of a sudden drop in your blood pressure. You also may feel extraordinarily weak when you take enalapril, MayoClinic.com relates. This may take the form of feeling overly tired. MedlinePlus notes that enalapril also may cause edema, or swelling, in various parts of your body such as in your limbs or in your face. The medicine also may produce problems in your respiration, meaning you may find it difficult to breathe normally. If you experience any of these kinds of side effects, seek your doctor's counsel immediately.

Fish Oil Side Effects

Most side effects associated with starting a fish oil supplement go away in a few days and do not classify as serious. For example, you may belch with the taste of fish or have the fish-like taste in your mouth for a few days. You may get a slight upset stomach or some pain in your back. If these persist, ask your health-care practitioner about them. On the more serious side, fish oil supplements can induce an arrhythmia, or an irregular heart rate. You need medical aid if this occurs. You also may think you are getting a cold or the flu because of a sudden fever and chills, congestion and aches and pains. You also need to talk with a doctor if these symptoms happen.

Drugs.com notes that no interactions are known from taking enalapril and fish oil supplements together. However, since they both affect the way your blood flows and thus how your heart works, you should query your physician about taking them together before you do it. You may have reactions to interactions that have not been previously reported.

References

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: Aug 18, 2011

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