Doxazosin and Dizziness: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• March 26, 2008

Doxazosin for High Blood Pressure "Took 1 8mg Cardura daily. Experienced dizziness and nausea for the first 3 days but later adjusted to the medication and maintained pressure around 120/80. On doctor's advice, Cardura discontinued and replaced with alternative medication due to excessively fast pulse/heart rate up to 100/s after 6 months on Cardura."

• bob...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 23, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "Have had high blood pressure for a number of years. Now 68, been on labetalol 200mg 2x a day and enalapril 10mg 2x a day. Have high epinephrine and metanephrine. Endo doc switched my medication to doxazosin 4mg at night. I have taken it for only 2 days, pulse went up to 120 and blood pressure went up, not down. I'm still on the enalapril dose. I feel dizzy, sick to my stomach, and have a headache mostly in the back of my head. The doctor talks about raising the doxazosin dosage to 8mg, there's no way, I weigh 155 lbs and I'm 5'9"."

• Fue...
• July 29, 2018

For High Blood Pressure "Have been prescribed 1 mg daily, now on it for four days. Having some dizziness, but not too bad. This only started yesterday and does wear off. Anyone help with how long this is likely to last before it settles?"

• Gav...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 15, 2021

For High Blood Pressure "Started taking 2 mg doxazosin about a year ago. The doctor kept doubling my dose 'cause it was not working. Now I take 16 mg a day, 8 mg in the morning and 8 mg in the evening. Feel dizzy regularly and sex drive gone. Don't mind that, but blood pressure is still sky high, 187/117. Seems to me that it does not work. Going back to my GP to ask him to put me on something else."

• Ann...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 12, 2022

For High Blood Pressure "I have been on this medication for 2 weeks now and hoping side effects subside. I'm 47 years old with a ventricular septal defect, and it has worked in lowering my BP, but I am struggling in Taekwondo training and have had to sit out due to dizziness and racing heartbeat, then swollen feet, then I sleep afterwards. This med was added to losartan and felodipine out of desperation to lower BP as other meds didn't suit, but this one is probably the worst for side effects so far."

• Oct...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 12, 2016

Doxazosin for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Have NB prostatitis since the early '90s. Started on Hytrin, which had minimal effect on urine flow. I was one of the first people on Flomax, which worked great, and you can feel it soothe you during a flare-up. The problem is they started advertising, so the cost went from $15 to $170. I switched to Uroxatrol, but stopped after a week due to lethargy, and it did not work well. Finally landed on Cardura (Doxazosin) 4 mg. Nearly as good as Flomax for flow, but does not have that soothing effect if taken during a flare-up. It is dirt cheap, and along with Lisinopril helps my BP. A side effect is occasional dizziness after sitting or standing, then suddenly moving. Only 5% retrograde ejaculation vs. 50% for Flomax."

• Hyp...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 23, 2023

For High Blood Pressure "I have historically had higher blood pressure (BP), normally in the mid-130s, though in the doctor's office, it can increase to the 150s. I am 75 and have been on amlodipine and irbesartan for over 10 years and tolerated it well. My doctor recently added doxazosin 1 mg once a day. Within 3 weeks, side effects became more evident, e.g., headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, and fatigue. I was advised by my doctor to stop taking it. I have been off the medication for 48 hours and am feeling better with decreasing side effects. Still a little light-headed and tired. BP is in my typical mid to high 130s. Doxazosin is not well tolerated by my body. Still on amlodipine and irbesartan. I think I should work on weight reduction versus adding another BP med. I am 195 lbs and will try to get to 180 by year-end."

• Bad...
• October 13, 2016

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "I started on 1 mg for a couple of days, then 2 mg for a couple of days. I was on 4 mg only 4 days and 8 mg for just two. At that point, I was so dizzy I could barely drive. I was actually getting motion sickness as a driver, and I drive probably 25,000 miles a year. I could actually feel my prostate shrink, but had some horrible side effects. My semen dried up to nothing, and as far as ejaculating during sex-forget it. I took the drug only a total of two weeks, and I've been off it for 10 days, and still can't get an erection. Fortunately, the dizziness cleared up after about 3-4 days after stopping. I can't find any documentation at all to show how long the drug persists in the average person."

• seb...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• July 22, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "I have had good results using Cardura, but when using a generic, I had problems with dizziness, eyes seemed to be crossed, weakness. The pill lists lactose as an 'inert' ingredient. I have had milk allergies since I was a teenager. Since I cut the 1 mg tab of the very small Cardura in half, I was not getting much lactose, and it worked fine. With the generic at least 10 times larger, I was getting much more of the lactose to which I was allergic, so I was having severe side effects. This is the first time I have found the list of inert ingredients. I was allergic to many medicines before this, and the addition of lactose may have been the reason."

• J H...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 3, 2023

For High Blood Pressure "I'm allergic to potatoes and food dyes and have trouble with medications containing potato starch (a binder) or that are colored with Yellow #5. Doxazosin mesylate 1 mg was prescribed to me as an alternative to clonidine, which has my allergens in it. I take it at night, it helps me sleep. It weakened me for the first few days, I was doing hot outside work (Florida) and got a little dizzy and had to cut my efforts short. Eating a large hearty meal in the morning helped with the dizziness. I've been taking it for about a week now, and I feel normal again. Just take it easy with this drug for the first week or two. I read other reviews on this site, which made me comment, starting at 4 mg seems awful high, given I had side effects on 1 mg. I'm on testosterone therapy and am also finding it a bit easier to pee and fully empty my bladder."

• Dav...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 16, 2020

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Doxazosin was effective in relieving BPH symptoms, but suffered from many side effects: retrograde ejaculation, extreme fatigue, dizziness, constipation. Brutal side effects. Just switched to Alfuzosin. Hope that works better."

• Anonymous
• March 26, 2008

"Took 1 8 mg Cardura daily. Experienced dizziness and nausea for the first 3 days but later adjusted to the medication and maintained pressure around 120/80. On doctor's advice, Cardura was discontinued and replaced with alternative medication due to excessively fast pulse/heart rate up to 100 bpm after 6 months on Cardura."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 29, 2025

For High Blood Pressure "Just been moved onto this, so early days. I take 2 mg with amlodipine 5 mg. I take it in the evening before bedtime. First day was okay, but the second day was very difficult because of the dizziness. Very dangerous if you're out walking and you topple over. Just be very careful if you start taking this drug. It works, but the side effects have to be monitored correctly."

• tim...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 23, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "Was on 4 mg doxazosin per day, which was making me tired and dizzy. Have now reduced it to 2 mg and feel a lot better. But it has an effect on my peeing, which is a reduced rate now. BP seems okay."

• dic...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 30, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "I was taking 1 mg with breakfast and found on occasion I had dizziness. I cut the pill in half and no longer experience dizziness."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 17, 2012

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Works pretty well, with 8 mg per day. Minimal side effects, such as some dizziness when I started and some swelling of feet and ankles."

• kin...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 6, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "On doxazosin, I had 1 early episode of dizziness but I'm okay now. Lisinopril gave me a bad cough, as did losartan."

• Gre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 2, 2022

For High Blood Pressure "Terrible dizziness. Just been told it caused my drooping eyelid. Stopped taking it 2 years ago."