I've always had low/normal blood pressure (110/70). Four days ago I had a colonoscopy and the night before I had to drink Moviprep. I could barely tolerate the saltiness of that stuff! Well, I was fine until last night when I started feeling weak and a little ill. I decided to take my blood pressure and it was 147/85. I continued to check it periodically over an hour and it kept going up. I thought maybe my B/P monitor was wrong, so I went to the fire station around the corner and had them take it. It was 150/106. I have had a lot of doctors appointments lately for an unrelated issue and my B/P has always been its normal level at each visit. I've been told to just check it for a few days but I can't help worrying, which of course isn't helping matters. I feel that there must be some explanation for this sudden rise. I didn't find blood pressure listed as a typical potential side affect of Moviprep, but it was LOADED with sodium. I've been trying to drink plenty of water to flush it out of my system - if its even still in my system. Anybody know anything about this?
Can Moviprep cause blood pressure to rise?
Question posted by kennesaw1 on 1 Sep 2009
Last updated on 13 April 2023 by Mocha13
I forgot to mention that its still quite high today 135/95.
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18 Answers
Wow. This thread has compelled me to reply. I just had my colonoscopy today, April 13 2023. I have slight hypertension and take one 25 mg of losartan daily. I have diastolic high bp (bottom number) and I’m at 120’s over 85 on this dose. I’ve stepped up my my cardio, lost 12 lbs the last two months and lowered my resting heart rate from 88 to 73!
But my bp today before the procedure was 158/100! I almost passed out with shock. I was expecting excellent numbers with my meds and cardio and diet! It was crazy! I thought I was going crazy lol
But I see here this is a thing. The nurse also told me I was nervous. Lol
Thanks you for this post!
It did the same to me and I still have not been able to get it back to normal (118/72). It’s been almost two months now and have made an appointment with my PC to see if an answer can be found to resolve this episode. Have to now monitor blood pressure every 4 hours to be safe and now increase meds to keep in the 135/80 range. Personally I don’t Moviprep is for everyone.
I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow and my blood pressure is controlled by medication and normally 125/75. I have just finished the MoviPrep and my ears were ringing so checked my blood pressure and 147/78 with my Omron home monitor. Googled it and came across this thread so I am concerned now.
I'm waiting for my colonoscopy right now.
Was just admitted and they took my blood pressure. 141/77.
I commented that's a big high for me. That's not usual.
And they just dismissed it as nerves about the procedure.
I've been riding the moviprep tidal wave all morning, and I take great relief in knowing that you've all experienced similar effects.
I had my colonoscopy today and took MoviPrep to clear my bowel beforehand. BP is normally good and I just had it assessed through 24-hour monitor because of white coat syndrome. At my appointment my BP was 160/90. I’ve never seen it that high. The anxiety doesn’t help. I noticed that the MoviPrep includes a huge dose of sodium and I had it twice in 12 hours. My BP was monitored during the procedure and there was no concern by the hospital staff. So don’t stress about it.
I’m 61 and do not currently take any medication.
I was due to undergo the colonoscopy procedure on 26/2/2020 and as with most comments above, took the Moviprep the night before and the final dose the following morning.
When I got to the hospital I was told that my blood pressure was too high to carry out the procedure as it went from my usual around 145/73 up to 210/109. There was much discussion and they told me that probable cause could me my previous alcohol intake (3 glasses of red wine most days) which I told them I had further reduced and having a family history of blood pressure.
I take magnesium citrate which has leveled my BP out nicely but didn’t take any 2 days before my appointment. I tried to explain this and nothing was mentioned about the amount of sodium in Moviprep! They said it could also be ‘white coat syndrome’, and that they would monitor whilst I was there and gave me Amlodipine to bring BP down, which it did, but only to 190/90 and then discharged me.
My BP has fluctuated and still a little on the high side since but has come down a bit due to taking my magnesium.
It was my daughter who advised me to check the contents of Moviprep to see if this had anything in it to cause such a reaction.
I read online that the recommended amount of salt and sodium per person daily is 1,500g. Moviprep has over 16,000 per dose, so taking the two doses meant ingesting 36,000g of sodium in the space of 10 hours!!!
Something needs to be done about this as I do not want to put my body through it all again. I shouldn’t have to take Amlodipine meds just to counteract this awful experience, which what I was advised to do.
Nice for the pharmaceutical companies I’m sure but not for me!
Currently I am in same situation where my BP shot up after prep. I did not had any problems with my blood pressure prior to my colonoscopy. I even had an appointment with my primary care doc two months ago and everything was deemed to be normal. I took prep and went to colonoscopy. Doc said that my BP was high 190 and gave me temporary medication to reduce my BP and continued with colonoscopy. The next day after the procedure BP shot to 200 and had to go to ER. My primary care doc thinks said that BP can come at any time and as it is deemed as silent killer. I was browsing online the causes and remedies naturally for the past two days. Fortunately, I saw this posting and could relate to my experience with this posting. Currently I am medication and reduced to 160 and not sure how many days to get it to normal. Any other people with the same experience?
I had my second colonoscopy in 3 weeks last Monday drinking 2 litres of Moviprep the night before. Since then I have been feeling feverish so went to doctor's today. She checked my blood pressure, my BP is usually 120/80 but it has risen to 143/96
I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow afternoon. I had one in early April and used KleanPrep which didn't aggravate my hypertension for which I'm taking 2 meds. During the procedure, they found a polyp but because I'm on daily aspirin they couldn't remove it then. Tomorrow's colonoscopy is to remove the polyp and this time they gave me MoviPrep which I took a few hours ago. It's doing the job but my blood pressure has shot up to 190/110. Now I usually hover between 155/90 to 165/95, which is still high but I believe the MoviPrep is directly responsible for this sudden rise in my BP. I am going to insist that an investigation be carried out on this product being used for diabetics with a history of hypertension and it's not helping my Atrial Fibrillation either. I've already had 2 TIA's over the past 9 months. Sorry for wittering on guys.
I am 62 years old, have had bp of about 110/70 for many years and have never needed medication to lower my pressure.
I had endoscopy and colonoscopy yesterday morning. I drank all of the prep liquid (with difficulty—yuck!) the day before and morning of the procedures. Aside from being anxious about the tests and very hungry, I felt pretty good. My bp at the hospital shortly before I was “probed” was 148/... I can’t remember the other number. Had a nice “nap” under Propofol and woke up fine. Procedures went smoothly.
Last night, I had some discomfort in my upper body and seemed to be having an anxiety attack. (I had been hospitalized and on a ventilator for pneumonia 5 months ago and was glad to have survived but there seems to be some PTSD showing up periodically.)
This afternoon, the day after the tests, I very suddenly developed a painful headache above both temples and worried that it might be the precursor of a TIA or stroke, called the paramedics and was told my pressure was 185/90 when they checked it. Bp gradually went down over the next two hours but is still higher than normal (143/96), and I still have a headache after two Ibuprofen tablets.
I found this forum after searching for potential explanations and correlations between the prep and my headache.
I just had a colonoscopy yesterday and wednesday night I had to take the MOviprep and the same thing happened to me. I suspected that it could raise BP, being a pharmacist I have an educated curiosity. Before I started the prep my BP was 109/74... quite normal for me. As I starting drinking the solution I began checking. First check was after drinking 3/4 of the first quart it was higher than usual, at 124/88 then 145/92... I naturally became nervous so my BP went a little higher to 168/93, till I calmed down. It remained high for me, 130/92 through the night. I just checked it twice at 109/70... 2 days later.
After a week long stint in the hospital due to prolonged diarrhea, I underwent three different studies involving three different preps. The 1st was an enterography which had a prep of glucagon followed by contrast. The next day I was NPO, and had been for days and I had an MRI with contrast. That evening they started prepping me again, still NPO and MOVI in anticipation of a colonoscopy the next afternoon. My blood pressure had spiked a couple of times since my admittance, but at this point I had a horrible headache.
I got the first half of the MOVI down in the evening, but by the next morning, I couldn't bear the thought of anymore. Fortunately my nurses knew that there wasn't anything left in me to clean out. The scope was also done with contrast and at some point I will get the results from the biopsies.
the same thing happened to me, and now it's almost 1 month ago I did the procedure and my blood pressure still around 140x100 when used to be 90x60... and my chest feels heavy
Hello
My mom is experiencing the same thing. Us your bp better?
I just had my colonscopy using Suprep. My blood pressure is controlled at 120-130/ 65-75 with occasional spike to 155/85. When I went into the prep room my blood pressure was 195-205/ 95-100. Scared the heck out of me. After the procedure and at home my BP was 145/80. But this morning (the day after), my BP was 200/105. I have been monitoring hourly at my PCP's request and it seems to be slowly approaching my expected range of 120-130/70. Why aren't we warned about these possibilities?
I just had a colonoscopy today and used Suprep. It made me feel absolutely awful and laid awake all night worrying about having to take the second dose at 3 am. When I arrived for my colonoscopy at 7:30 my BP was 190/106. It came down to 165/90 so they went ahead and did the procedure. I don't know if it was the prep or the anxiety but I'm home now and it's still high and I'm not anxious anymore. But I do have other stresses in my life so if it's not better tomorrow I'm calling my doctor. I just can't believe that using those horrible salty laxatives and the terrible way they make you feel doesn't have an effect on BP.
I have never submitted a comment on this website but I feel compelled to now. I just completed a colonoscopy on Wednesday. Monday afternoon and Tuesday I took the Movi Prep as prescribed. My blood pressure prior to this was in the normal range(controlled by 2 meds, plus one diuretic). I experienced severe headaches, aurora in my vision, and elevated blood pressure as high as 170/100 and as of today(36 hours after the procedure) it is still very high. I am told by my heart doctor to stay away from "the salt shaker" but this Rx is more sodium than I would consume in a year. As a result, I am convinced it has significantly raised my blood pressure to a level that has scared me. It does what it's supposed to but No more Movi Prep for me.
Had my colonoscopy on Friday, August 26, 2016. Took MoviPrep, Blood pressure was elevated prior to procedure where my bp is normally good. After 2 days I was feeling terrible. Ended up in ER on Sunday with a BP reading of 210/108, I could not believe it. I asked if that reading was correct, and the intake nurse said yes. I was given chest x-ray, stomach, x-ray, ekg, blood work, urinalysis. Did not see any damage to my organs at that time. Still today on Tuesday, feel shaky. BP is up and down. I am scared to death, never ever felt like this before. I told my doctor that if this is the result I will not be having another colonoscopy. I thought it was the anesthesia, but now reading in this forum regarding Moviprep I see that others have experienced the same issue. Oh God there should be a warning on this product before someone dies, I thought I was close with a bp that out of range. How long has it taken to feel better. My doctor tells me to push liquids to try and flush my system.
I had a scheduled colonoscopy last Tuesday using Suprep. A month earlier at my physical my BP was 116/68 (normal). Went to my appointment and my BP was 203/112 - 10 readings later, it was still that high, if not higher. Needless to say, they weren't able to perform the colonoscopy. I'm now being monitored and on BP medicine - hoping to bring it down. They really need some type of warning label! This site makes me feel a little better knowing I wasn't the only one who went through this.
Two years later and I'm on 4 blood pressure pills a day. My doctor said once your blood pressure goes up sometimes it will stay up and you'll require medication. I still blame the suprep.
I generally have healthy blood pressure, i.e., ~ 120/75.
I used Movie Prep as directed over the 2-day period. Before treatment my blood pressure really skyrocketed to 170!!! Perhaps fasting had something to do with it. Also, I suspended 81 mg Aspirin for 5 days prior. I did NOT feel any unusual anxiety, and had spent the prior week on a healthy workout regimen.
Today (day after) is better, but still out of my preferred range (136/70). It's hard for me to believe the prep did not affect it--the salt was palpable.
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Further information
- MoviPrep uses and safety info
- MoviPrep prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of MoviPrep (detailed)
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