Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 37)

i've been taking metoprolol for several years as partial treatment for high blood pressure. through diet and exercise, i've lowered my BP to the point my doctor says drop the metoprolol.

i did, 3 days ago, and i'm soooo tired, dizzy, irritable, and my vision is blurred.

is this withdrawal? how long will it last?

i remember starting this medication was terrible to get used to. it appears that stopping it is just as bad.

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I'm a fan of yours Anita. Nice post.

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Any first-year medical student can tell you that beta-blockers need to be TAPERED. Hey, I'm a shrink and I know this. Your doctor is a ***** and that's my professional opinion. THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR IGNORANCE. There are plenty of accessible (some healthcare professional only) to find this information. If reworked for me, I"d fire him for "Gross Negligence in the Practice of the Profession." Real MALPRACTICE often has an explanation or mitigating circumstances. STUPIDITY AND IGNORANCE MAKE NO VALID EXCUSE FOR THIS? I see so many of these posts. Are you all going tontine- stupid doctors, or what?

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you have a good point. That doc's behavior was unprofessional and your should know better than to respond to vitro wITH vitriol. That destroys all chances of communication. If that doc's behavior was "de rigeur," I'd not only reprimand him, I'd report him to the Office of Professional Conduct. If he came under my direct supervision (which he wouldn't, since he's not a shrink or a clinical psychologist or Master Social Worker), I'd fire his ass. AS ibis, I'd light a fire under HIS service chief to do so. WE don't need docs like him. I'm not going to suggestion were wronger even "intemperate" to respond as you did. The DOC is the professional in your type of interaction. He needs to calm his ass down. I'd be VERY UPSET if you also were one of my patient's and your reported this to me. NO EXCUSE.

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Well I have not been able to sleep well. Not horrible but just not resting. I have decided to not take my bp Meds YET. Not sure if that's smart but I'm doing it anyway. I was only on it a few days so I should b ok. I've given it tons of thought. Been checking it regularly. My bp now is 129/78.

My gut feeling is lorazepam caused my spikes in bp when I was withdrawing and weening it. I read a great deal on Benicar hct. It seems to work ok but it does have an intestinal side effect and increased history of sudden death by a good margin versus placebo. I know they all have side effects and anytime you take them it's a risk versus reward but I decided to do two things first before taking more of it.

I decided to wait and see if I get anymore spikes of bp after two weeks of being off lorazepam to see if that was the reason and to finish my weight loss before I start committing to bp Meds again.

My current weight is 222. I need to get to 200. The US ARMY has my ideal weight at 196. I figure 200 is close enough. I figure with continued exercise, weight loss and no lorazepam, I might not see a need to take the bp med. but it's hard to know. If I get too much bp elevation, I can always take the stupid pill but I'm trying to exhaust my options first.

I figure this is the smart play. And if I do take the Benicar, I'm going to drop the hct since I think with my diet and running, hydro diuretic would be stupid.

It's effective but since I already diet to keep my sugar in line, getting 3500-4000mg of potassium in my food is hard enough, I certainly don't need a diuretic putting me in danger. As it is, less than 2% of Americans get 3500 mg of potassium daily according to the US GOVT. Food choices do matter.

Also, please don't try and use potassium pills to reach your goal if you have low potassium. They all come in 99mg pills pretty much OTC. The reason for this is because nearly all potassium is absorbed from food into the intestines. And if it's from a natural food source, it's safe. But concentrated pill form can cause harm if it's from too many pills in a large quantity.

Most times food sits in the small intestine for about 3.5 hrs and is stored in the large intestine for hours. Only about 10% of total absorption is done in these two places. The other 90% is done in the small intestine and food is only there a short time. So if you need potassium, eat a healthy meal and you can reasonably see a difference in a few hours.

But of course, always consult a doctor if you have any concerns or have questions. I'm no doctor.

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There was a typo. I was trying to say food sits in the stomach for roughly 3.5 hrs. Most absorption is done in the small intestine. My apology.

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Tony, for what it's worth, I was at about 215 pounds when my doctor first prescribed Metoprolol, and I was at borderline pre-hypertension levels at the time. Needless to say, it would've been better to avoid the BP meds altogether, but there's no need to go into that now. Long story short, my troubles began last April when my weight dropped below 190. That was when I realized that I needed to get off the meds since my BP and HR dropped way too low. We all know how it went with getting off the meds - horrible experience - but keeping the weight off has kept my BP at very stable levels. If anything, it's actually been a little lower than normal but certainly not into dangerous levels like it was. I guess my point is simply that the 25+ pounds I lost along with a change in diet has made an incredibly huge difference in my BP levels. I know it isn't easy to lose weight, but I've since become a firm believer that the amount of excess weight we carry around is quite significant when it comes to blood pressure, even if it's only a matter of losing a few pounds. Funny thing is, I'm 6'2", and when I was at 215 lbs., none of my doctors ever considered that losing a little weight might actually help matters.

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Toonces.......sorry for the late reply, but my BP levels have typically been around 100/65 to 110/70 with average pulse rates at around 65 or 70.....not bad, and much better than 80/50 or 90/60 with pulse rates in the 40s. I don't get any BP spikes anymore, either, but I've also been completely off the Metoprolol for about four months now. I still get an occasional heart palp along with some slight chest discomfort once in a great while, but even those are continuing to decline with time. All in all, things are going very well.

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Hi guys. I'm n the hospital . My heart took damage. I have elevated enzymes. Not sure what happened . I had an interruption in oxygen somehow. I'm scared but I can't do anymore. Pray for me.

I love u guys.

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Praying for you Tony. I pray that the hospital can take good care of you and identify what you need. Try and relax, and I know you will ask lots of questions and make them explain what they are doing, what they are giving you and why. Maybe a solution will be found. Keep us posted if you can.

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Tony I'm praying for you to get well and our of hospital. Relax and let the doctors find your problem. We are all rooting for you. Hope you can let us know how things are going.

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They r going to check the enzymes again. And see if the troponin goes up or down. They ordered a heart cath. My breathing keeps getting interrupted. Like my heart is sruggling for oxygen at times.

Ty guys for thinking of me.

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Tony:

Prayers to you for quick recovery and hopefully you'll get an answer that makes sense from the doctors. I agree with Anita(I always do), to ask whatever questions you can to get answers that make sense.

Thinking of you...try to relax and get better.

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Hi Jimbo:

Thanks for the response. Sometimes I'm 109/65ish, but now it will go up to 120/80ish...so I'm happy with that as I'm 7 weeks off of M, and only a few weeks off of lisinopril and Xanax...and I haven't had any heart or chest problems. I agree with your last post...I've now lost over 100 pounds, and I've turned around my eating. I was borderline when they put me on my first bp med the lisinopril which raised my bp more n then they added M...I so wish I could go back in time...but like you said...it is what it is...a shame.

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Hope that heart cath might lend some information on the heart. Try to relax if you can. I know it's easier said than done. Sending prayers your way.

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Toonces are you saying the lisinopril raised your BP? I've been struggling with it lately and the doctor just switched me to losartan... Which is making my heart skip beats. I'm so sick of being a guinea pig..and losing months of my life "adjusting " to these drugs. I was taking 10 mg of lisinopril. I wish I could take zero. The doctors want me to be on medication. It's so frustrating with all the side effects I don't know if it's worth the benefits.

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Hi Anita:

Yes, looking back some 8 years ago. I was borderline at best on bp, so they put me on 10 mg Lisinopril...so the next time I go to the doc, my bp is even higher, so they increase to 20mg. The next time I go back to the doc it climbed higher so they added metoporol and then upped the mg on that. I never would have thought that the meds raised the borderline bp. I assumed my bp was getting worse...why would I think that bp meds would raise it? Especially when a trusted doctor was guiding me. If only I could turn back time and just stay borderline all of those years. In the last 1 to 2 years, I've lost over 100 pounds...so now it's down...not borderline any more. It's a shame you can't trust the medical profession. Like you said earlier Anita, keep questioning everything and then make your own decision.

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Sorry to hear this, Tony! Many prayers coming your way! Just hang in there, my friend!

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Hi Toonces! That's awesome that you were able to make such good progress with your health. I was always low BP then borderline after being put on thyroid meds. Doctors never checked blood work just kept adding meds. Last year it all started to go haywire including the metoprolol roller coaster ride. So now here I am on only the 10 lisinopril * I wonder if I even need it! I've not tested myself on no BP meds since stopping the thyroid medicine. It's a scary thing to do especially since no doctor wants you to stop taking meds. It's insane . Maybe my next move is to pick a calm mellow day and just don't take the lisinopril and see what my body does! I can always take it again if it starts climbing up. Trial and error is so hard. I do have hypertension in the family but I always had low BP before. I have really bad "white coat BP" now so it's always really high at the doctors office. I just want to feel normal again!

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Tony I hope you are getting good care! Know that I am thinking and praying for your health. Keep us posted when you can!

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They r thinning my blood for the heart cath tomorrow around 10 am. They have been trying to get my bp down since I've been so upset. I'm really scared. I been writing down my wishes just in case. I'm hoping it all goes well but I admit I'm worried. I worked so hard to improve so much and now this.

I was having intercourse last night and started swearing a lot. Pounding heart. Dry mouth. Heart paused and got a big impending doom feeling. I took an asprin and had nausea. I knew something was wrong so I came to the ER. And my enzymes were elevated.

So the heart cath is the next step to see what's going on. I'm afraid after all I've been through it won't be enough. I tried so hard to improve. But no telling what might have happened had I not tried. I'm hoping with all my heart I get through things tomorrow ok.

I am stressed. Thank you guys for caring. I hope none of you EVER go through this. Gonna be a rough night.

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