I haven't checked back here for awhile and see a few more responses are here. sewcrzy56.......My husband does drug research for drug companies, and he just said that ACE inhibitors can cause coughs, but he hadn't heard of them causing menstrual changes. But.....being a person myself who is very sensitive to meds and has symptoms from them that NO ONE else gets, I sort of feel like if it started up exactly when you started the med, then its fair to make that connection. How old are you? Is it possible that you have, indeed, started perimenopause? Don't you just want to smack the doc when he says stuff like "you read too many pharmacy inserts"? GGGRRrrrrrrr. I was on Toprol for 6 years. I took 3 months to wean off it. Then it took 2 months for my heart rate to finally slow down. The week after I was off it, I began getting lots of bodily pain...especially GI pains. It appears as though the Toprol was controlling more in my body than just my BP. I'm sure doctors would say that's not true......but its hard not to make that connection. I'm guessing your ACE inhibitor IS causing your sore throat, but maybe not your menstrual changes........but those drugs are very potent, so who knows for sure? May your trip through menopause be smooth.......but it sure wasn't for me!!

You can get Benedryl that is dye-free, but it is hard to find. You will be amazed at how many things have Red 40, like bar-b-que sauce, yogurt, many medicines. One brand of cake mix has it on the label for both yellow and chocolate cake. Then of course, all the red and pink things like jello, candy, some jelly, canned cherries, cherry pie filling, many toppings, ice cream, mixes with artificial berries. It's everywhere. A small percentage of people can taste red dye and it gives food a bitter taste to them. I am one of those people, so I have never been big on eating "red" things that other people think taste great. That is probably why I am not dead. I remember getting sick as a child on a desert that had red jello in it, and once ended up in the emergency room after taking a common (pink) med. In those days, I think I had to get a lot of it before I had a real problem. I always had problems after I would fly because I always took a pink motion sickness pill. I didn't know that everyone else didn't have gas, bloating, and diarrhea after flying. LOL Since I tend to get dizzy easily I had taken a lot of pink motion sickness meds before I discovered Meclizine. Also check any kind of vitamins you may take. Beware of anything red, pink or orange. I do really well most of the time, but occasionally when eating out I will get something without knowing it. If I get very much, I will have severe cramping within minutes. I practically live in the bathroom for the next two hours because my system will just try to "flush" it out. In addition, I have pains in my heart. During a very serious attack I will just be freezing and can't get warm. I sit in a hot tub of water, and keep running it hot until I finally warm up. I shake like I am having a siezure. Do you do any of these things? When it started to get so bad about 10 or 12 years ago, I thought I had some serious stomach or bowel disorder. Then I would get better and be fine for a few days, so I would think well, maybe not. If it does turn out that it is red dye, we are not alone. More and more people each year and learning that it bothers them. I am not a drinker, but I read an article about a lady being taken to the emergency after having a drink with grenadine. I hope this is not what is wrong, but at least if it is, you can control it. You will have to give up a few things, and maybe prepare more things from scratch, but you will soon learn what to avoid. Good luck. Carol

"Once I told the doctor to give me a much higher dose of my Lipitor and I would cut it down to size." "You are not suppose to cut pills in half unless they are scored across the center." "Yes, I know, but this was with the doctor's okay. I had read about doing it in a Women' magazine and brought his attention to it. I am sure it depends on the medication." Yes, it does depend on the medication, and Lipitor is one that should not be cut in half! My doctor prescribed Lipitor (10mg daily) for me many years ago, and then wanted me to cut it down to 5mg daily. But, it doesn't come in 5mg size. All of the literature on Lipitor says not to cut the pills. I contacted the pharmceutical company and was told NOT to cut them. So, my doctor "changed it" so that I would take one 10mg pill every other day.

No, Socks, I've never asked a pharmacist about anything. This will be long, so bear with me... As I said, when I was first prescribed Toprol XL (metoprolol succinate), there wasn't a generic, so I was getting a three-month supply (90 tablets) of Toprol XL for $5 four times each year. When I was due for a refill the first time after the FDA approved a generic, the mail order pharmacy that our insurance used sent me a bottle that was labeled saying it was a generic. I was incensed because I hadn't been notified and given a choice to continue with the brand name (made by Astra-Zeneca) at a higher out-of-pocket cost. I called them and ranted and raved. They said, ok, they'd send me a new bottle of the brand name pills, but it would reduce my available refills by one, and my credit card on file would be charged $25. I said ok. It wasn't until after that conversation that I even opened the bottle of generic tablets. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the generic tablets were identical to the brand name tablets - shape, size, color, and markings. The label also had "Par Pharm" on it. I did a little online research and found that Astra-Zeneca had an agreement with Par Pharmaceuticals wherein Par would sell the "generic" that was actually still being made by Astra-Zeneca. So, I then had a six-month supply of the brand name drug even though half of that supply was labeled as a generic. After the six months was up and I ordered another refill, I told the mail order pharmacy that I would continue to accept the generic. And, the "generic" I received was always the Par Pharmaceuticals generic, made by Astra-Zeneca. This continued for several years, until our insurance changed which company filled the prescriptions. (Hubs and I were both State of California employees - now retirees, and our insurance was PERSCare (Blue Cross PPO), which is one of the health care choices for State employees and retirees. Every five years PERS - the Public Employees Retirement System - renegotiates the pharmacy benefits for all state employees/retirees. They'd usually go back and forth between Caremark and Medco, although now it's OptumRx.) So, when the supplier changed, I notified the pharmacy that I would only accept metoprolol succinate from Par Pharmaceuticals. They didn't have an issue with that, and that's what I continued to get. But, Par Pharmaceuticals was eventually sold (end of 2015), and their agreement with Astra-Zeneca terminated. Astra-Zeneca at the end of 2016 then licensed the USA distribution of Toprol XL/metoprolol succinate to Aralez Pharmaceuticals. The distribution company that supplied the pharmacy filling my prescription still had a supply of Toprol XL/metoprolol succinate from Par and my prescription was filled from that supply until they ran out, which was sometime last year. I then told the pharmacy that I will only accept metoprolol succinate from Aralez, and that's what I'm now getting/taking. Well, actually, the authorized generic is marketed by Lannett, which is what I'm getting. But, very recently I read that Lannett is selling off a lot of their assets, so I don't know if that is going to include the deal with Aralez to market the authorized generic of Toprol XL or not. A while back I read an article online about problems that people who took generic Toprol were having. Many, many people said they'd been taking the brand name drug but then when generics became available their insurance made them get the generic. But, they weren't feeling as well as they had been, and their blood pressure wasn't being well maintained. As soon as their doctors wrote new "dispense as written" prescriptions and the folks started taking "the real thing" again, their cardiac health improved. If I'm ever unable to purchase the authorized generic of Toprol XL, I will pay the extra money to get the brand name. I know that I am fortunate that I am able to afford to do so. I have spent a lot of time researching to find authorized generics for any and all medications that my husband and I take. At this time there isn't an authorized generic for Diovan, so I pay for the brand name medication. There isn't an authorized generic at this time for Effient, so I pay for the brand name medication. (And I should be able to stop taking Effient somewhere between March and August of this year, as it will be a year in mid-March since I got the stent.) This article from May 17, 2018, gives a good explanation of the differences between authorized generics and generics. This is an FDA Listing of Authorized Generics. The FDA updates it quarterly. The list is alphabetical by brand name. It does not tell which pharmaceutical company markets the authorized generic. It does show the name of the pharmaceutical company that makes the brand name, and you can always go to their website, or do a Google image search for the medication so you will know what it looks like. If you take a generic, you may actually have an authorized generic without realizing it.