Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 54) (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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Sandra,

How do you feel after eight months, besides the medicine side effects? Are the withdrawal symptoms gone? Is your HR still high? Is your BP OK?

I can now taste every medicine I take...and some of them repeat on me.
Everything seems exaggerated now.

And can someone explain wonky head, please.

I have stress headaches that I have never had before and nausea that is always lurking. Certain foods make it worse, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

The awful anxiety I had while on M is now milder since weaning off.

Everyone is different, thus different withdrawal symptoms but everyone also knows how awful these beta blockers are when the adrenaline has been unleashed.

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Hey Sandra good to hear progress,mine tends to be higher during activity too now but I'm only 3 months off,and I can feel myself feeling more tired going up and down the stairs doing laundry,cleaning home,and it never was like that before

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Wow Bob this was very good information and its totally makes sense too

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Bob, that really is a good way putting things in perspective. Thank you for your input! In my case, I didn't feel as though I could realistically take the time I probably needed to wean and withdraw myself properly from the drug, for I just had too many work commitments I needed to fulfill. I became so determined to get off of it that I was willing to suffer nearly any consequences that may occur. It really came down to that or to throw my career away due to my ailments. Like many here, I found myself in the ER on more occasions than I care to remember, only to hear the "same old, same old" line that nothing was wrong with me. One doctor in particular even suggested that I seek out psychological help. Sheesh!!! Still, I couldn't even walk a block from my home without feeling as though I was having a heart attack, and I've been an avid cyclist for over 40 years.

Fortunately, I've been off this dreaded drug for 14 months now, and at 62 years of age, I'm feeling better now than I have for several years. However, to this day I still have an occasional bout with anxiety, high BP, and heart palps, but at least they're getting milder as well as being fewer and further between. I never had these issues prior to taking Metoprolol, so I can only assume that it still continues to have a bit of a grip on my nervous system. At this point I'm just hoping that it hasn't caused any permanent damage.

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Just wondering how everyone is doing and what kind of rebounds everyone is still having or anything new? This forum really helped me out in the beginning when I first stopped the metoprolol and helped me feel secure about my symptoms but everyone has gotten so quiet and disappeared that I'm starting to feel insecure and almost like I'm going crazy. This has been such a battle.

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Finally had my appointment with my electrophysiologist and turns out I have atrial tachycardia and go in for my ablation on September 6th. Hopefully all is well after and the problem is taken care of. Wish me luck!!!

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Matt, about that part about 3 to 6 weeks, doctors don't know too much about this.

In the last 7 weeks I am having huge problems with adjusting to a last tiny dose of 0,10 Mg of Nebivolol (I have dropped from 0,20 Mg to 0,10 Mg of Nebivolol. That is around 4 Mg to 2 Mg in Metoprolol's dosage). That is a tiny dose and only a small drop in the dosage, but I am having: elevated HR a few hours per day (it is getting better and closer to normal numbers with each new week, though), nausea all the time, pain in abdomen and all around the heart, lungs, neck, lower abdomen (sometimes I have a feeling that someone is sitting on my heart and lungs for hours), feeling sick/flu like on some days, feeling slightly breathless on some days, inability to speed up during (slow) walking on some days etc. While on some days I feel more or less fine. As the time goes by, there is more and more good days and bad episodes are shorter and shorter.

Docs would just reply: that's impossible. That is a low dose, you shouldn't feel anything or the symptoms should be gone in a few days.
Well, I was taking BBs only for a year and half and I am way younger than you (in 30s), I can only imagine how it must be for you after 20 years on them and being much older.

So, once again, just remember that your heart was pumping with 70-80% of it's strength and pace during the last 20 years, and now you are suddenly forcing it to pump with 100% of strength. So, 20 years of a deconditioned heart (due to Beta blockers) should be cured after 3-6 weeks? Your heart as a muscle surely needs some time to get back in a shape.
(Again, just imagine your legs if you hadn't run at all for 20 years.
Would you get in shape for sports suddenly after 3 weeks of training?)

Imo, 3-6 Months would be a much better estimation, and even that is a huge "if".

You can listen to docs who say that a withdrawal is not a big deal, or you can listen to your body and to people on forums who experienced the same problems.
I am pretty sure that 99% of those docs never used BBs and that they especially hadn't quit them after 1-2-20 years of use.

Plus, I have found this article on one medical site about Beta blockers and their effects on muscles and activity:
beta-Adrenoceptor antagonists influence the metabolic responses in man at rest and during exercise. Impaired working capacity and muscular fatigue have been reported in patients on beta-blockers and this could be due to an altered substrate supply to the muscles. The results from several studies show that the main effect of beta-blockade on metabolism is decreased lipolysis, with less fat available to the muscles. This results in an increased carbohydrate demand to maintain an unchanged aerobic metabolism, and liver and muscle glycogen stores are more rapidly depleted. beta-blockade also results in decreased lactate release from the muscles, probably due to a membrane effect and/or changed perfusion. It is concluded that beta-blockade a) decreases fat metabolism in the muscle, which secondarily increases the use of carbohydrates during exercise, resulting in earlier hypoglycaemia and/or depletion of muscle glycogen with reduction of the working capacity, b) impairs lactate transport from the muscle but does not cause lactate accumulation within the muscle which could be responsible for muscular fatigue.

So, Matt, your body was altered because of BBs for 20 years, and you had 100s of altered mechanisms in your bloodstream, all cells in your body, in majority of organs, muscles etc.
And that should be fixed over 3 weeks?

That's impossible.

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Has anyone been to see an endocrinologist for this adrenalin problem...is there any way of halting or resetting the adrenal glands with hormones, etc.

I have also read that tumors on the adrenal glands also can cause the same symptoms as those we are experiencing with beta blocker withdrawal.

I went to the ER yesterday because I have not been sleeping and my son came home and I broke down into depression and crying. It is 76 days now.

They checked my blood and everything was fine but my heart rate and blood pressure continue very high. I was told 76 days is ridiculous, that I should be through withdrawal by now and referred me to a psychiatrist.

He told me this condition just happened to occur with the beta blocker turn and withdrawal, that nowhere in the medical books should it last as long as mine, even being on it 20 years. He likened it to coincidence and that I should take a beta blocker. He compared it to the incident where his three year old son clapped in a mall and the fountain turned on. Look, dad, I made the fountain turn on.

Ripped inside as he had woken me up, but I wanted out of the ER, cause they were not going to help me, or worse yet put me back on a beta blocker.

They are not getting this and if you do not fit their med book memorizations, then they cannot handle any outside the box problem. Engineers, they are not.

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Yes I have done the urine, saliva, blood, overnight evaluation, and just had a ct scan on tummy Saturday with the dye which was horrible, some of my results came back high, some normal. I waiting to here back, and yes this is definitely some type of imbalance in us which the beta blocker did, so our cortisol levels are thrown off Matt.

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Matt, about how much longer can you go this way, please, do something like this, let's say from today:

-Measure your HR (resting HR) in the morning, noon and evening, and write it down on paper or into a computer file.
-Measure your BP twice a day.
-Also, write comments about each day about these things:
-Anxiety: 10/10, bad today (your subjective feeling)
-Nausea: 5/10, average today
-Headache: 2/10, a good day
-How much I was able to walk today: 0 minutes, 2 minutes, 5 minutes

Try to do something like this and then in 30 days, you can look back onto notes from previous days and you will be able to say: My HR dropped from 87 to 83 on average (it means that you are improving). My anxiety dropped from 8,50/10 on average (per week) to 7,00/10 on average (per week). My ability to walk raised from 12 minutes in total in the 1st week to 24 minutes (in total) this week.

That way, even if you'll still feel horrible in 30, 60, 100 days, you will still see that it is getting better slowly. On the other hand, if all your withdrawal symptoms will be exactly the same (of the same strength) as today, then it could be something else. But I don't believe that it is possible.

I am doing the same as written above, I have my own diary of a withdrawal, and even though I am still not well currently, but when I look back at my diary from 40-50 days ago, I see that my problems were waaay, waaay bigger than today. So, if I am at 5/10 level of pain currently, I was at 10/10 level 50 days ago.

So, whenever I feel bad, I just look into that diary and say to myself: ok, I am progressing slowly. It is extremely slow, but still, I can see a progression and that will give you strength and motivation to continue.

If you don't write things on paper, it is easy to forget how bad you felt 60-90 days ago. This way, when you are writing things, please write notes to yourself: Wednesday, day 28: this was the worst day ever: huge anxiety, I can't walk, huge pain in the abdomen, I couldn't sleep at all, I was nervous while talking to my wife, etc.

Again, when you'll look back later at this diary, you will surely say to yourself: oh yes, true, I don't feel THIS bad anymore like I used to feel back then.

Cheers

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My Dr took me off metprolol and on cardizim next day. My rate did go up to 103 at one point took a few hours for it to get in the 80's also my Dr gave me Metropol knowing I had asthma my next check up 6 months later he said to me you have a slight wheze I said I have asthma he then said I have to change your metroprol to cardizim don't know if I like cardizim as of yet

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Jules I haven't been on here for a while but I'm replying to your moms cough! I had the same thing going on when I was on the M it was terrible! Coughing and the feeling someone was chocking me and sitting on my chest! I've bedmate off for about three months, I am feeling netter, but get some tingling in my arms and leg once in a while and sometimes feel bot! I hope your feeling netter! Best wishes to your mom 95 that's awesome!

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I have been busy with my 97 year old Dad who is now in a rehab facility after falling at home. I even drove up,to Boston three times to make sure he was being taken care of....and I was feeling pretty good three months off M for a week or so.....and now bam, I started feeling anxious, nauseous again and I have had knife like pains in my lower back....I guess this is my rebound return after feeling OK for a while.

I hope you are all hanging in there.

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Monique, I am taking only 1-2 Mg currently, I weaned off from 12.5 Mg to this. All my withdrawal symptoms are gone, except elevated HR for 1-2 hours on some days and anxiety and being scared of some normal things for no reason.

I have read this whole thread 2-3 times and a lot of people in the past said that anxiety is a symptom which lasts the longest.

I am taking only Magnesium and Valium (0,50-1,00 Mg daily) and nothing else. So, anxiety is most likely just a withdrawal symptom because adrenaline (which causes anxiety) is a main thing which Beta blockers affect.

I know that you probably don't want to go on new drugs, but two of my cardiologists told me: feel free to take Valium or Xanax after quitting BBs, until you will feel normal again.

I personally still get too excited too easily, even though it is getting better. For example, I still have some problems while listening to loud music, after 15 minutes, I fell minutes that I just have too much of adrenaline in my body suddenly and I need to stop and calm down. Also, I still can't watch action or horror movies currently, I get too excited after 10 minutes. Or if I argue with someone for 1 minute, I need like 10-15 minutes to calm down after that. As if my nervous system is way too sensitive currently. (It wasn't like that before BBs).

I mean, it is getting better and better, but I have a feeling sometimes that Beta blockers erased tons of things in my brain and that now when I am not taking them anymore, my brain needs to re-learn again how to cope with all basics things, and all basic things which cause happy emotions, emotions of being scared etc.

I mean, I watched 1000s of action or horror movies in my life and I was never scared. But now, after quitting BBs, after 10-15 minutes of such movie, I am too easily excited and I need to stop watching it.

It will get better slowly (I hope so), but these drugs really messed with our brains and messed with some basic mechanisms in our bodies.

I remember that one poster wrote (on this thread) a few years ago that he was in Iraq as a Us-soldier and he worked there for years during war, and never had problems with anxiety in those days. But today, when he had quit BBs, he said that he couldn't watch some movie with his wife and he had to move away and stop watching it because he felt anxious while watching it. It wasn't even a horror, but some drama...

So for him, quitting BBs caused way more anxiety than being in a real-life war. That explains a lot.

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Bob,

I was just reading yours and anxiety does seem to last the longest and even after myself having an ablation after being taken off of metoprolol (I'm 26) I'm still on Xanax for anxiety or I never would've made it through it feels like. It stinks to become addicted to something else but Id much rather it be Xanax a thousand times over than metoprolol ever again. I put it on my allergies list of medications now so no dr will ever give it to me again. (Which I did have some SEVERE reactions but I would've put it on there anyway) but back to where I was going with this, I think the anxiety lasts so long (longest for people who've been on it longer) because of all the extra receptors your body has built since starting to take a BB, searching for the adrenaline it's use to getting. How long does it take for these extra receptors to all go away after your body realizes it doesn't need them anymore. So here your body is back with its normal receptors and also the extra ones, grabbing adrenaline everywhere. Now that you're off BB, until these extra receptors disappear back down to normal everything is jolting. Maybe we should look up how long it takes your body to rid itself of the receptors it doesn't need anymore that it started building after taking the BBs? Of any of this makes sense?

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Very quiet, must be the election.
My blood test for catecholamine levels came back normal, so the problem has to be the M withdrawal, which continues. Everything else has been ruled out.

I am nearing five months off. Any new medicine I take now, especially blood pressure meds must be stopped because of very bad side effects. It may be my age but it seems as if, after M is stopped, everything has changed, especially drug sensitivity.

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Hello everyone. Quiet for the holidays?
Getting cold and dark up here in New England. Ice hockey weather.

I am approaching 5 months off this week and I am still not where I want to be. It is better, not as bad as the first two months, but not where I want to be. Still nausea, anxiety and malaise.
I especially notice the anxiety at wakening and in the afternoon when I lie down to rest. It comes in spurts and can be out and out fear at times.

Hope you are all healing. This is a tough battle.

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Hello All, it's been quite awhile since I have checked in. I am about a year off this horrid drug, and I still have bad days like Jimbo out of the blue. I have become SUPER sensitive to what were previously helpful supplements, and any pharmaceutical. I wear a medical alert bracelet now to that effect. I still take natural tincture for hyperthyroid. I see the doctor every 7-8 weeks to check in. I wish I had never heard of M, I hate that my life and health have been hijacked by this garbage. Progress has been slow but relatively steady, altho the bad days feel like forever. One day I want to just live again without having to constantly wonder if the day will be easy or hard, or having to monitor every system inside me for a hint as to how the day will be. Kepp up the good fight folks!

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I am still here too! Almost a year off as well. I was diagnosed a couple months ago with Crohns disease. Thanks to the beta blocker, i am now so sensitive to any medicine, just like Lauren. Any pills that i put in my mouth get me so lightheaded and dizzy and I just feel awful. It also remains in my system longer than a normal person. So the "chemo" type drug i have to take is pretty harsh. I know that I am over the withdrawal but the lasting effects from it suck!!

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I have been taking Metoprolol Succinate ER 25mg once a day for the last 2 years for high blood pressure I am currently weening off of this drug. I've had side effects off and on during the 2 years. I do not like how this drug makes me feel or how it affects my heart. After some research on magnesium and the effects it has on enzymes and muscle functions in the body and how absolutely necessary it is for the body and heart I decided to give it a try. Just quickly: Magnesium relaxes muscles whereas calcium contracts them. Arteries have smooth muscles that line them so if there is a magnesium deficiency those arteries could narrow producing HBP. 80% of the U.S. population is magnesium deficient due to modern day farming techniques. My BP before starting magnesium therapy (orally Magnesium Glycinate- Doctors Best brand) about 120/80 to 136/88) I also take Lisinopril. Have taken Magnesium for 2 weeks and my blood pressure is too low at 90/68. After a week of weening off of Metoprolol 25mg down to 12.5mg, my BP is back at 124/84 and I haven't noticed and withdraw symptoms yet (thank God). Google or YouTube Magnesium Deficiency or Magnesium Dr. Carolyn Dean. I just thought this could help because it has helped me greatly! Also magnesium usually is not checked for in your normal blood panel like potassium, sodium, chloride and calcium is, it's separate specialized diagnostic to get that count. If it is checked for, it's a magnesium blood serum evaluation which is not accurate at all. I hope everyone can get well and get off of this stuff!

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