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Benicar Use
Some doctors are reluctant to use Benicar for a condition other than
high blood pressure but doctors often order a medication for a use
that is considered "off-label" (non-approved use). Some clinicians
are reluctant to order Benicar at the high dose that may be required
for some patients. However, Inflammation Therapy (IT) recommends
starting Benicar at a lower dose and assessing its effect to see if the
dose needs to be increased. Some patients may be unable to
tolerate the Herxheimer reactions that occur with a higher dose and
a lower dose may adequately activate the Vitamin D Receptor (VDR),
making prescribing the higher dose unnecessary.
As patients progress on IT, we theorize that 1,25-D will eventually be
able to transcribe the VDR better than Benicar (this often takes a
period of several years). For example, it appears that Benicar is only
helpful at producing the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) cathelicidin and
at high doses it may actually block the formation of other AMPS that
are helpful for recovery. At that point, the primary function of Benicar
(outside of its blood pressure lowering effect) is likely to be down-
regulation of Nuclear Factor kappa-B and a blockade of this immune
system pathway that is too effective may have some detrimental
effects in the long run.
We believe that most patients on higher dose Benicar eventually
need to allow the NF kappa-B pathway, which is a fundamental part
of immune system response, to be re-enabled by lowering the dose
of Benicar to allow better immune system function and continued
bacterial elimination.
Patients who take high dose Benicar long-term may be doing a good
job of reducing symptoms, but beyond a certain timeframe Benicar
may inhibit pathogen clearance that needs a more fully enabled
immune system response. As the number of bacteria is decreased
patients should need less Benicar or they are relying primarily on
immuno-suppressive aspects of the drug.
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