Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 4) (Top voted first)

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 was put on metoprolol er 25 one time by a doctor at the ER because of rapid heart rate. After a few days on this medicine I was having dizzy spells, severe anxiety, blurred vision, and fatigue. Doctors told me to stay on metoprolol and it will get better. Well 5 weeks later I was barely functioning. The cardiologist said my heart is fine and the rapid heart rate was due to a virus I had and to get off the metoprolol. I been off for 5 days now and feel just awful. I am having very bad dizzy spells that last a long time, blurred vision, bad fatigue, and trouble concentrating. This is just awful.... I don't know what to do ... Will I ever feel ok again?

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I'm really sorry Ruby. I'm glad I decided to get off it before being on it longer. I too have shortness of breath. I can't believe she put me on this when I have had asthma my whole life. Do they even check the side effects or do they just not care?? I have been on blood pressure medicine since my late 30's. I am now 55. I have tried every "natural" remedy out there, lost weight, started walking. Still haven't been able to get my BP down eneough to get off the meds. I was searching online AGAIN to try to find something new that I haven't tried. I found a couple things, I ordered online and haven't recived them yet. I did find a book on Amazon called "The High Blood Pressure Solution". I think it was written in 2001. I read every review and it sounds promising. I ordered the book on Ebay for $2.00. I haven't received it yet but I learned a lot just reading the reviews. It seems that the Dr. that wrote the book thinks the only thing that causes HBP is an imbalance of sodium to potassium. He says we need about 4 times the amount of potassium than sodium. Of course we know how much sodium is in most of the foods we eat today. So I printed out a chart of potassium rich foods and have been eating as much of those as I can. I also like my salt, I cut way down on that. So far my BP seems to be going down. It's lower now than when I was on Metoprolol. I also take an ace inhibitor and a diuretic. The diuretic depletes the body of potassium so as long as you take these drugs it's a lose lose situation. The ace inhibitor depletes the body of magnesium which your body needs for healthy BP. I have some hope now. It won't be easy but it's worth a try. God bless Ruby, I hope you make a full recovery!

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I'm very frustrated reading all these comments. I'm 43, have had HBP since my early 30's and have been on Metoprolol for the past 8 years. 50 mg tablets, prescribed to take 1.5 tablets twice a day. Now my doctor has decided to switch me over to Irbesartan and wean off the Metoprolol over the next two weeks while taking the Ibesartan.
I am beyond out of sorts. I left work early today, am wide awake tonight and know I won't be fit for work in the morning. I've made call after call to my Dr. and she's treating it like I'm over-reacting, telling her staff to have me 'Wait it out and give it time for the switch to take hold'. Seriously?
The only thing worse than being dizzy, weak, tired and anxious and having your own Dr. make it out like you're not as sick as you say you are.
Reading these posts makes me realize I'm not crazy, but it also worries me because I can't afford to go through a horrible withdrawal for an extended period of time.

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LOL Travis... I thought I lost it too at first. That feeling is crazy. It is actually a very normal symptom of anxiety.... as your body and mind calms that will go away. I was having depersonalization sometimes almost full days. Some people are just very sensitive to medications... and beta blockers do cause anxiety in us sensitive people and the side effects are very real. Just remind yourself depersonalization is a normal symptom of anxiety and medication and it cannot hurt you and do some slow relaxing breathing the feeling will diminish over time :-) I honestly believe the beta blocker brough out some underlying anxiety issues that I had..... it messes with your adrenaline which triggers anxiety. I now work with a therapist and been off beta blockers since June. I still am experiencing anxiety but on a functioning level... when on the beta blocker I was not functioning at all.

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Yeah.... its a crap drug made me feel I was crazy. All it did was make me sick. I've been off of it for 5 months now and finally starting to feel okay... it put me threw hell.. but there is a light at the end of the tunnel

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Been off metoprolol for 4 days and feel lightheaded/dizzy and a bad headache. I also have an upset stomache and feel as though I am unsteady on my feet. Anyone have a bad headache as well

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It took me 6 months to get off of this stuff.I was taking it for 10 years which I was told for MVP.I had serious anxiety my entire life.It got worse after the sudden death of my husband. (Still had 3 kids to raise under 18.. 2 with autism.)
I hated being dependent on this pill.If I forgot to take it, (50mg) I felt like I was having a heart attack.
I am 60 now.I am happy to say that I am toprol free. ....Each day I feel better and better.So glad I am no longer a slave to Big Pharma any longer.

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Hi Anita , I see you are having a hard time. I'm sorry to hear that. Many of us can relate. It's extremely scarey when it's heart related. And for some people, myself included, metoprolol can be really bad and make things worse.

It's funny really, for other people it can be a great drug with less issues than most but like you, it was rough on me.

The main thing is to stay calm. Which is really hard to do I know. But stay calm. Of course see a doctor if you feel u need to. Erring on the side of caution is always best. But stay calm.

Metoprolol takes about a week to clear the body. But for some on here who took it for a while, there is an ongoing adjustment period while your body gets use to life without it. But it will get better.

Get into a doctor and discuss your issues and try and get your Bp under control and stay calm. Anxiety will certainly make things worse. You will make it through this.

I'm pulling for you. We all are.

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Eat lots of green " leafy"salads with high quality oil (olive, sesame, avocado, etc) Add some natural apple cider vinegar (Braggs or similar) Make a large salad that includes, seeds or nuts, herbs, spices, avocado..Any vegetable can be thrown in raw.Beets , mushrooms are among my favorites.
Eating less meat or dairy will also help heal the liver and kidneys
After 10 years on Toprol, I am about to reach my 1 year mark "off" it.I feel better than I have in years.No panic attacks, no heart palpitations. I am no longer dependent. Once I changed my diet, making certain I consumed a lot of magnesium rich foods, I slowly blossomed into the person I should have been 40 years ago?Happy, healthy and calm.
Debbie age 61

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Chris, as much as it sucks being dependent (addicted) on the Metroprolol, it sounds like you're on the right track. I should add that Tony's advice is great, too, for there's no doubt that he helped me when I was trying to get off of it. If you're on 12.5 mgs of the stuff now, you just need to keep weaning slowly until you're completely off of it. The key is to settle into each taper (drop in dosage) until it stabilizes. In other words, you'll likely want to split your 12.5 mg dose into half that amount to about 6 or 7 mgs, and go with that for another 10 days or two weeks. The difficult part is that your body will need to adapt to the lesser dosage for a few days, and it may feel like hell for the first two or three days until it does. Once you've acclimated well to the lesser dose, it might be possible to try going cold turkey, but if you're anything like me, you'll have to split that 6.25mg dose once again into about 3 mgs and run with that for another week or two. As Tony said, it's good to be safe, calm, and to be patient with your weaning process. Even after I was completely off of it, it still took another three weeks before I started feeling normal again. I've been off of it for over two months now, and I'm feeling better than I have for the last 2 1/2 years, so I know it can be done. Just don't go cold turkey until you feel good and ready to do so. The notion of slowly tapering and stabilizing is really what you need to keep aware of.

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Toonces...it's hard but yes, keep at it. Many days were just "bad days" do get through. It's worth it to be free of this poison. You can do it! You can get off this drug and your body will be able to do what it did before you took it. It's a rough road getting off...but worth it.It takes longer than we want for sure, but just get through each day as best as you can and know that the day will come when you can feel like a "normal" person again. I am getting close to that. Im slowly doing more each day and feeling like I will make it. Be patient. It's worth it, the bad days will lessen and the good days will increase. I promise.

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I've been off almost 3 months and still have a few issues on occasion. especially if my diet not good.

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Today is 30 days off. I've been exercising and have my heart rate in the high 60s without the metoprolol. Today I had some chest twinges ... And my pulse rate is really volatile as in, goes up fast whenever I do anything. I'm not sure how much is withdrawal and how much is hyper awareness after the terror of this drug. I'm now aware of when anxiety is starting and am getting a handle on it with breathing and trying to relax. Why the hell do the doctors love this drug so much? It's poison! No way I would ever ever put a beta blocker in my system again. This has been hell. Overall I'm improving each day but those of us still getting off it, it takes sooooo long.

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Hi my dear friends. I'm done. The procedure was a success fortunately. Even with my good echo and good nuclear stress tests earlier in the year, they found my trouble right away. I had 6 blocked arteries. Two major artery blockages. They put stints in the ones that required it. Especially the major ones. I dodged a major problem looming.

I'm so glad. Thank u all for your support and good wishes. You guys are amazing!

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Great post, Ed! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree wholeheartedly about this so-called shrink guy that we see on occasion. I'm sure several others feel the same. I like your idea of beating these issues with Metoprolol, too! It's very difficult to understand unless you've been there.

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Jimbo. thank you... I don't mind helping but I am sounding like a broken record.. lol.. I think people should not take this drug lightly and take as much time as needed to wean off.. yes I wanted this stuff out of my system but my body wasn't responding to the normal weaning so I had to take longer. no big deal..

Oh; the crazy thing for me was that there was nothing wrong with my heart.. the doctor assumed that I had tachycardia and stress and of course they gave it to me for high blood pressure.. well where did they get the idea I had tachycardia and stress. I guess the (M) was on sale back then lol..... anyway; I had more palpitations when I was on the M and my blood pressure only went down a few points .. why bother taking the drug then?? so I said I am off this poison and I don't care what happens.. Our bodies in this group are very highly sensitive to chemicals. Doesn't that make sense?? so I started with the cq10, magnesium, L carnitine and Hawthorn; taurine and have not had one freaking palpitation for over a year. I walk a lot now and have lost a ton of weight.. my diet is raw foods for now and lots of water... and herbal teas.. there are days if I over eat carbs my heart will race just a bit.. nothing startling but I know its from sugar and carbs so I try to limit those now.. or have small things.. oh, I forgot to add that a bit of Himalayan sea salt in water and drink it down fast will stop palpitations and its safe. just try it out yourself...its amazing..

Also guys look up Dr. Stephen Sinatra. He is a natural cardiologist with some great youtube videos. {edited for privacy}.

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I'm a 62 year old male, walk a lot and ride a bike in summer. I had a minor heart attack in 2001 when I was 47 and afterward went on 200mg Metoprolol, 10mg Ramipril, and Atorvastatin. Four years ago my resting heart rate was down to 38 and I felt sluggish. I cut my Metoprolol dose in half to 100mg (no gradual reduction, just day one: 200mg then day two: 100mg) with no withdrawal side effects at all and only told my doctor about it four months later. He said as long as I was fine, just stick with the 100mg, so I did. Foodwise, I was eating way too much bread, jam and fruit juice, gaining weight. A couple of months ago I started a healthy diet (low FODMAPS diet, no soft drinks, no juices, no wheat/bread, no sweets, no jam/honey, no caffeine; more fruit, oatmeal, low-fat yoghurt, olives, tomatoes) and I've dropped from 200 pounds to 185 pounds. Half way through the diet I noticed my heartrate was down to 45bpm and my blood pressure was running at 95/50. For a few months I'd also been having arthritis-like pain in my hands and blurred vision. I researched Metoprolol side effects and decided to get off it entirely. Three weeks ago, I reduced from 100mg M to 70 the first day, then to 60 on day two and 50 on day three. I took 50mg for three more days, then dropped to 33 for two days, then down to 25 for two days, then 12.5 for two days, then zero. Every day around 1pm I would get a bit woozy-headed, but I found that if I ate something it would go away in an hour. I carried some M with me all day in case I needed a top-up dose, but never used it. I've been at zero dosage for five days now. I am going for walks but very slowly. I don't plan to go at my normal pace for another 10 days, just taking it easy to give my heart time to adjust. So far no withdrawal effects (the opposite, in fact. The daily afternoon woozy-head actually *stopped as soon as I stopped the Metoprolol. It was as if remaining on the small 12.5mg was contributing to the woozy-head: at zero dose it went away). Note that I'm still on Ramipril for blood pressure, which is now running about 115/55. No more blurry vision, no more arthritis-like hand pains at all. Feeling good about being off the M. It can be done. (My tip: carry some with you (for example, a matching dose of 12.5mg in later stages of weaning) so you can top up later in the day if you need it. It helps reduced anxiety about the process to know you are in control.)

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It's worth the struggle! My doctor was going bezerk adding more and more medicines to deal with the metoprolol side effects. It was absurd. Stick with the weaning process and then once your body is clear of the poison and has begun to moderate itself again, then you can see if you need anything for BP! I went from being health on one medicine, to 5 when the metoprolol was added (and feeling terrible plus being in and out of the er with side effects). Now I take 10 mg lisinopril and feel like a normal person again. It took me a month to wean off and another 4 months for the side effects to diminish. Stick with it!

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JR, I ended up getting a prescription for Xanax for my anxiety, but I was very careful to take it ONLY at times when my anxiety was nearly unbearable. The problem with this drug or others like them is that they're very addictive, and you certainly don't want to open up that rabbit hole on top of Metoprolol withdrawal. A supplement that can be helpful is L-Theanine. It's very weak in comparison to Xanax, but I found that it does help to take the edge off a bit.

Sandra, I think most of us have had high heart rates while getting off the "M." We're all different, but my heart rate stabilized after about six weeks of being off the drug. I initially thought it had ended after four weeks, but I had a relapse for a few days after the fifth week for whatever reason. Unfortunately, it seems to be part of the process.

I'm also one of those that feared waking up every day, for I never knew if I'd end up in the ER or if I could manage to get through the day without major issues. You know, it sounds as though all three of you (Sandra, Lauren & JR) are almost there. Of course, it takes some of us longer than others, but the good days have got to start happening soon for all of you! Just keep hanging in there! You're doing great!

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Good for you Justme...and thank you for sharing your story. I can't say it enough how reading through this thread helped me to validate that the drug was the culprit in so many physical and emotional issues. And reading the threads kept me on track with weaning when the weaning was very difficult. So many on here have given tips and encouragement, and a huge motivator was the stories of feeling normal again after being off of it. I've been off since the end of September. I hope my postings can help other people hang in there if they're trying to wean off.

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