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Beta blocker help. Feel REALLY bad.


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Any one else have a horrible experience with BBs? I was given 12.5 mg 2x a day of Metoprolol for my rapid heart rate and all the palps I was having and it's slowed my heart down to around 60-65 BPM which is fine, but holy cow I feel awful. I feel kind of short of breath, and I feel like I'm retaining fluid, my stomach feels distended and gross and back as well. I asked for a SMALL dose because I figured if anything it would just do nothing. I'm going to ask if I can just stop taking it. But I know the thing is the rebound BP might be high as can be. It wasn't good which lead me to take this in the first place.

 

Any advice? Obviously I will consult with a physician, but I'm curious to see if anyone had a horrible reaction to these.

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Hi,  I take atenolol for hypertension, but BBs can make you feel slightly depressed and "off."  You are on a pretty low dose, but perhaps you need to go even lower - ask your doctor about it.  It seems like you are sensitive to the medication, so you may need a very small amount. 
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Yeah, I only took 12.5 mg today and as soon as I took it I felt awful. Well, FEEL awful. As much as the hard fast heartbeat zapped me off all my energy and my muscles felt super weak due to the adrenaline surges I had been getting, I don't think this medication is right for me. I'm just surprised such a small amount did so much. My father is on 100 mg, and has been on it for years. I wouldn't think I'd have to taper it since it's been all of three total 12.5 mg doses, but I want to be super cautious with this.
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Yeah, I only took 12.5 mg today and as soon as I took it I felt awful. Well, FEEL awful. As much as the hard fast heartbeat zapped me off all my energy and my muscles felt super weak due to the adrenaline surges I had been getting, I don't think this medication is right for me. I'm just surprised such a small amount did so much. My father is on 100 mg, and has been on it for years. I wouldn't think I'd have to taper it since it's been all of three total 12.5 mg doses, but I want to be super cautious with this.

 

Yes, I'm on 100 mgs a day of atenolol.  But 20 years ago, before Xanax, I'd occasionally take 10-20 mgs of propranolol for anxiety and my naturally fast heartbeat.  It always made me feel draggy and depressed.  But I was younger then....

 

::)

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Oh you can take them as needed? I didn't even know that. Hopefully that means I can just stop. I'm not going to til I get the go ahead, but I hope I wouldn't have to taper something so small.
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Don't just stop, your heart might pound out of your chest like mine did for a week. I take a BB too called lopressor only as needed. If my heart starts pounding then I will take it. I used to take them years ago for blood pressure before benzos and one day ran out and decided to stop taking them. I thought my heart was gonna explode for 5 day straight! I was scared to go to sleep because I thought I wouldn't wake up. My doctor was angry with me for doing that and said it was dangerous, they need to be tapered.

 

Sorry if I scared you but you need to know. Anyway, I don't ever take my full dose, I only take 1/4 of a 25 mg tablet. I also get the same side effects that you mention even at that low dose. Maybe you could try breaking them in half and taking half in the AM and half in the PM. Make sure you ask your doctor first and let him know what's going on with the side effects. Also make sure they aren't delayed or extended release because you aren't supposed to break them. You could also call the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist. Hope you feel better.

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Oh I was getting the surges which is why I wanted the BB. I'm not getting them while on them, but I'm having problems breathing and feel like I have fluid or something in my lungs... I took less today and now I feel a lot less like that now, as the half life I think is only 4-7 hours. Lopressor is the same thing as I'm taking, that's the brand name. Also known as Toprol. I'm not going to stop taking it willy nilly, but if the side effects are going to outweigh the benefit and make me feel that much worse, I don't see a reason to continue, but I will talk to my doctor/pharmacist as a proper way to taper off, I'm not just going to stop taking anything. I know about the dangers of doing that. Considering the drug as well.
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Maybe my 10 mg propranolol is making me feel draggy too?

 

If I get down to 2 mg V equivalent I will get off it, I will ask first... see to taper it, been on it a year now I think?

 

 

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It's certainly possible. It's supposed to exacerbate that feeling of lethargy. Well BB's in general. I wasn't too worried about that symptom though. I cut back on my dosage(which is safe since I havent taken it for for any length of time) and though I feel increased anxiety, I feel A LOT better. Maybe I'll even stay on 6.25MG or something. I dont know how something that low will help, but I don't think it can hurt. Look at some other options maybe too. I really really had problems with adrenaline spikes lately.
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Any one else have a horrible experience with BBs? I was given 12.5 mg 2x a day of Metoprolol for my rapid heart rate and all the palps I was having and it's slowed my heart down to around 60-65 BPM which is fine, but holy cow I feel awful. I feel kind of short of breath, and I feel like I'm retaining fluid, my stomach feels distended and gross and back as well. I asked for a SMALL dose because I figured if anything it would just do nothing. I'm going to ask if I can just stop taking it. But I know the thing is the rebound BP might be high as can be. It wasn't good which lead me to take this in the first place.

 

Any advice? Obviously I will consult with a physician, but I'm curious to see if anyone had a horrible reaction to these.

 

Hello DarkSkyWaves.  I'm sorry to hear of your experience with beta blockers.  It's very clear that you do not get on with Metoprolol.  You should consider getting off it as soon as you can but be aware that there is a rebound syndrome if you stop too quickly and this can sometimes cause serious cardiovascular problems.  If you tapered the Metoprolol over 10 to 14 days then that would be okay but discuss this with your doc.

 

Not all beta blockers are alike and you may do better on another but I would guess that your response to Metoprolol means that it is probably more likely than usual that another one will be troublesome.

 

 

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My cardio put me on that  higher dose than you I stopped it after the first day couldn't handle the sx either felt out ta loop not in reality tired just sat there.. I was on cal an before t did good for awhile not to many sx either but the mixture of lisenapril  wasn't good I blacked out scary but if I wasn't on lisenapril I would take it .. it seems the doctors don't see reactions DSO look stuff up and there are web sites that you put ur meds in and it tells you the ones you shouldn't mix and if you do what warnings signs are to get help... personnel I won't mix any more ... but I'm frustrated at doctors and pharmacy's not telling you.. but I never read the inserts  they give hmmm my fault huh? you would think doctors would be more cautious... personally I would taper.. my husband is on low dose of propanolol as needed  ..he always reads up on meds.. its the least side effects with no damage and you take as needed but again if taken every day might be  different but he does good on it he,s young ..34  and has enlarged heart, high blood pressure takes enipril too... look up the different kinds of Bob see which one would best suite you give a try till you find the right one.. everybody's body is different ..I personally can't take them I've tried.... good luck:-)
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I had the shortness of breath initially plus some other unpleasant s/x  and it was actually quite disturbing. And I am a a big guy, not really sensitive to medications. If anything, I usually tend to need more of any given drug than an average person.  So, no doubts this is fairly powerful stuff...

 

I cut the dose in half without consulting my doctor, which helped the side effect, and now - about 1 month later - I no longer even notice it. I am on atenolol and think it helps me a lot with controlling my performance anxiety at work.  In retrospective, 20 years ago, this would have been enough for me to control my issues at work without ever going on K...  So, depending on your exact situation and challenges, you may want to give it another shot. As Braban suggests, talk to your doctor about it..

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