Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 5) (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, hang in there! I know it seems like this will never end, but it will. The anxiety for me during the weaning looked a lot like depression. And I was angry... Angry that a doctor would put me in this position needlessly by giving me this drug without any warning. In was angry for all of the wasted months of struggle. It will get better. One month for me was not a good time. It took my body at least 3 months to begin to see the light of normal. I've been off for 6 months. I feel almost normal but still have a twinge here and there or a rapid heart rate. Try and do some exercise if you can. Just walking slowly it can help immensely. I took vitamin c and drank lots of water. Anything I could do to help my heart recover. It was hell. You're going to make it.

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Hi Sandra...from what I've read, and the way my doctor explained it to me...drugs, vitamins and toxins are stored in your fat...so even after you stop a drug...every time you burn fat, it's like you're processing that drug as if you were still ingesting it. So everyone's different for how long it will take you to burn off residuals...I believe this to be true...hope it helps you to keep hanging in there...try to think about how far you've come. I'm sorry...I know it's a rotten thing to go through.

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So amazing to see all these posts! I can't believe how much better I sleep and other things! It will get better I promise! We are all different so it's gonna take us different amounts of time and also somebody mentioned the fat burning causing the drug release again!? Wow! Also mentioned the hyperthyroid....I remember when I would wake up and my eyeballs would feel like they were gonna pop out of my head. The only reason I know it was the metoprolol is it doesn't happen anymore. Also I would get cracks on the sides of my mouth that would feel like paper cuts and I don't get them anymore. I am convinced that this stuff is toxic and I would have never found out except for the process of elimination and a couple of doctors that questioned why my az doc put me on it to begin with. Hang in there everybody. I'm not getting any of those aches in my knees,wrists and fingers anymore that was really weird. The stiff neck will also go away. When I go for a massage it releases some toxins and I feel like krap for a few days later but I try and drink lots of water. I assume this to will pass. God I'm just so thankful to have my level head back again. I will keep posting and as I remember things I will post. The anxiety is sooooo much better! Thanks guys for listening and sharing

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It will get better Lauren it really will just hang in there even if they go away and come back or switch to some new symptoms it will get better. Good luck and hang in there it's so worth it. Be kind and understanding with your body cause as far as I'm concerned we are getting over our bodies being poisoned. Weather it's due to an allergy to this stuff or it's actually poisonous we may never know but be thankful we are off it. Hang in there I'm routing for us all for sure!

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Hi Bob. I have been off this drug for 6 months. The anxiety is gone now but it was really bad for at least 4 months. I did not take the benzo drugs just had lots of bad days. This forum also saved me but all in all, metoprolol took a year of my life and made it a living hell. I am so grateful to be free of its grasp and my body is recovering slowly. I am 55 and never had a heart problem until the metoprolol caused me one. I have since been cleared by the cardiologist but what a ridiculous and needless ride. Keep calm... Trust that your body knows what to do, it just needs to get rid of the poison and then retrain . Good luck... You can do it!

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Justme... It took me a full 6 months. I drank lots of water with lemon juice to try and clear it out of my liver, I took vitamin c to help my cells rebuild. I cut out all caffeine for the first 4 months and avoided anything that I thought would stimulate my system. And I walked! Slowly at first ... Very slowly and monitored my heart rate. I tried to walk A mile a day, even if it was slow. Now at 6 months off I can go longer and faster, and my heart rate never gets above 125 or so. Exercise helped with the anxiety a lot. Try and not miss more than one day walking. Be patient. You can get your life back and your body can recover from this. We're with you!!!

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Much better day. I didn't drink but one cup of coffee today and no sodas it kept me calmer than usual. I think that our nervous system has been through so much with the metoprolol that when I drink too much caffeine weather in sodas or coffee my nervous system goes to that cra cra place. I have faith that this to shall pass. I have found this stuff called calm in powder for and I use that for my aches and pains it has magnesium in it. I can't take aleve anymore right now cause it causes my heart to jump around in a weird way. Maybe something in the aleve that sets the same thing off. I am ver in tune with my body and for sure know when something doesn't feel right. I've also noticed that the puffiness in my belly and face has gone down. I felt like M was causing water weight instead of getting rid of it. Always felt really puffy and that's gone now. Hope my posts help cause I know for sure all of yours have helped me. There really doesn't seem to be many of us out there or people just don't know what's wrong with them yet. As I continue on and I remember certain things that have happened I will post it. Thanks for listening. Hang in there you are not nuts!

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Great news Sandra! Yes, time will clear the anxiety I promise. It took me almost 6 months. I took a supplement with Theanine in it, which helped a little and the mist helpful thing was reminding myself that it was the drug, and just stay calm. I now have no anxiety (outside of normal life stuff) . Go easy on the exertion...I got myself Fitbit and monitor my heart rate which lets me know where I am. No added anxiety and I know when to just sit down. Baby steps guys!!! You'll get there.

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omg. I cant stand all of you suffering so much...............I did also for a year .. I had the same horrific side effects when weaning... for me I had to stay close to the house .. I did some errands in between medications and that was it.. I didn't walk, exercise or anything. My heart pounded a lot and I was very scared.. I took all kinds of stuff , magnesium, COQ10, L theanine, camomille tea, anything to stop the shakes, tremors, anxiety. I did EFT and anything I could find on utube.. some days nothing working so I would cry and call a friend. sometimes I soaked myself with magnesium oil.... what works also is some celtic sea salt in water.. that will stop palpitations quickly or organic blackstrap molasses.. just down a tablespoon of it. I swear those things could work.
this is tmi but there were times I lied in bed and had to get up to pee and my heart would race so much that I sometimes would have to pee in a plastic bag.. insane I know but I couldn't move more than a few steps without wanting to vomit, faint or heart pounding.... but I kept going .. one day at a time. one hour at a time.. I kept convincing myself this would get better. I even had some angina for awhile so I started taking L argenine which I still take ..
its been a year now and I am off the (M) .. I thought I would die too but I didn't. here I am.. I now walk, bike and do exercises.. my heart rate is normal when I am at rest and does all the normal things when I work out.
I CANT STRESS ENOUGH THAT ONE MUST TOTALLY GET OFF THIS DRUG VERY SLOWLY. WHAT IS THE RUSH.. IT TOOK ME A YEAR TO GET OFF AND THAT WAS STILL A NIGHTMARE.. GO SLOW GO SLOW IS ALL I CAN KEEP STRESSING... HANG IN THERE AND TAKE AND DO WHATEVER IS BEST FOR YOU.. TRY THE DIFFERENT REMEDIES.. DONT WORK OUT IF ITS UNCOMFORTABLE..DO SOME YOGA OR CALL SOMEONE..
good luck

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I also feel almost normal in the evenings. I believe its because I have gotten food in my system. I always tend to feel better after I eat.

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Xanax and klonopin uh I don't think so. Just trading one bod drug for another. Riding the storm out myself. I want my body to be free to find its norm again and that stuff is not normal it's just gonna confuse the system more. I know your trying to help but I don't think putting another drug in its place is gonna help. Talking it out and allowing our bodies to do its thing is the best thing we could do for ourselves. Thanks for your input.

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Hey JR, glad to hear you are doing better..I am still having a hard time, March 20th was my 3 month mark. It's definitely much better than it was even 1 month ago but still have the anxiety,shortness of breath, brain fog etc... some days are much harder than others. Like others have said the worst part is feeling somewhat normal and then bam you feel absolutely terrible for a couple days. Prayers for all!

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I still have fast heart rate . Just this morning it happened and the anxiety went up . But its slowly getting better . I think we get more alarmed because we are expecting to bet better by now but seems like it may take longer than we thought. I also quit taking lexapro a week ago

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I switched from Metoprolol cold turkey to a calcium channel blocker because I had every side effect in the literature. It is hell, anxiety, helpless feeling, jittery, but I am riding it out. Heart rate is ok, a tad high, and having a wrist cuff to monitor progress helps. If you are going to taper off of a BB like Metoprolol, be advised, it is not easy. Knowing that it is going to be rough and riding the wave and being mentally prepared for it, helps. Don't rely on physicians for a complete knowledge base. I have learned the hard way that only you know your physiology.... use physicians as a navigator, not your pilot.

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Hi

I posted 2-3 times before, I tried to wean off, but since I have some kind of a tachycardia which is very sensitive to adrenaline in the first place, I didn't make it (since my adrenaline went to skies after weaning off) and had to go back on BBs.

Anyway, I researched tons of articles around the internet about Beta Blockers and their mechanisms. And I found one interesting article which will maybe help to a lot of people here.
A lot of you probably had a feeling how it is much easier to drop from 100 Mg to 50 Mg of Metoprolol, than from the last 6 Mg to 0 or from 2-3 Mg to 0 Mg.

Well, this is why, imo:
It seems that the power/strength of BBs is not linear. So, if you take 50 Mg and your Heart rate drops for 10 points (from 80 to 70), then someone could think that 100 Mg will then drop your HR by twice as much compared to a 50 Mg dose (a drop from 80 to 60).
But it is not working that way.

Here are some numbers for Bisoprolol, a similar selective class of Beta blockers:
(5 Mg of Bisoprolol is like 50 Mg of Metoprolol in terms of strength, something like that)
From tests on a lot of patients:
2,50 Mg of Bisoprolol: lowers HR on average for +13 points
5,00 Mg of Bisoprolol: lowers HR on average for +15 (so, only +2 drop from 2,50 to 5,00 Mg and you take twice as much of a drug on 5,00 Mg than on 2,50 Mg)
10,0 Mg of Bisoprolol: lowers HR for +18
20,0 Mg of Bisoprolol: lowers HR for +24

With that logic and explanation, it seems that on tiniest doses, you already get "a base of a drug" for your HR drops a lot and BP drops a lot. While on higher doses, your drop is way smaller (in relative terms) and it progress slowly.

So, in rough numbers, it would mean that:
50 Mg of Metoprolol would lower your HR for around +15 on average
25 Mg would lower your HR for +13
12,5 Mg would lower your HR for +10 or +11
And even 6 Mg would lower your HR for +6 +7 or +8

This would explain why the last step in the process of weaning off is the hardest.
Because those tiniest doses, like 3-6 Mg still affect your HR a lot, and a drop from 6 Mg to 0 Mg will cause bigger problems than a drop from 100 Mg to 50 Mg.

I hope that this will help to some people.
Good luck to everyone

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Norma, I hope you bounce back soon, too! Unfortunately, getting off of this stuff has been very difficult for some. After hearing what others have gone through, I feel as though I'm one of the lucky ones. Still, it was by far the worst experience of my life. I felt extremely ill on a daily basis with absolutely no energy to speak of, and this isn't to mention the numerous side effects I was enduring. Even worse, I was beginning to lose my will to live. It just felt as though there was no end in sight and that my body had lost all control of its normal functions. On the other hand, I became very determined to conquer it before giving up all hope, so I took in everything I possibly could from those who were posting here, and from there I went into a weaning process while logging my doses and feelings each and every day. It's just important to find a process that works for you. In just three more days I'll be celebrating one year of being Metoprolol-free, so if I can do it, I'm sure you can, too!

You know, sometimes I wonder why I still visit this site even though I've been doing pretty well, but I have to admit that there's a side of me that became quite angry about doctors and the pharmaceutical profession that allows this sort of thing to occur in the first place. Perhaps even more bothersome is the fact that most doctors refuse to acknowledge that this problem even exists with those who have sensitivity issues with this drug. I find it very troubling, to say the least. In the end, though, I can't say enough good things about the people I found at this website when I desperately needed the help, for they really helped me to get through a horrible period of my life.

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It's great to see that this thread is still alive! Hopefully everyone is doing okay. It's been about 19 months since I've been off Metoprolol.....whoo hoo.....but to this day I'm still feeling mild bouts of anxiety and heart palps on occasion. Thankfully they're becoming fewer and farther between. I still can't drink a cup of coffee, though, for it'll trigger my anxiety and heart palps immediately. It's weird, because I used to be able to drink three or four cups or even more with no problems at all. I am still 100% convinced that this drug really fouled up my central nervous system in some way or another, regardless of what any doctor says.

I hope all is going well for everyone!

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I was on Metoprolol for 4 years and quit cold turkey. It has been 3 weeks now. I feel a little better. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of me. I am real short of breath. Blood presure is good but I am weak and found out this morning that my heart is skipping 4 beats every minute.Got to get an appointment with doctor as soon as possible.

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I hope by now your withdrawl symptoms have subsided. Have taken for a month. Successfully weaned from 50 mg. per day ( 25 mg. morning/25 mg. night ) Now weaning from 25 ( 12.5 twice a day ) to 12.5 in the morning only. I just pray it won't be a lengthy process. The side effects are horrible and episodes of anxiety and night terrors are really really devastating. My son has been going through that. I have taken to sleeping in his room - as the sooner I can calm him the sooner it goes away. The first time, I heard his outcry and ran into his room. He was shaking all over, pale, terrified. We thought it was a seizure but now that I've been in the room I calm him immediately and it goes away with no shaking. BUT just as everyone else here... there are other other side effects when weaning off. A state of not feeling well, tiredness, unable to function normally. THIS IS THE MEDICATION FROM HELL.

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Hi Michael,
It took me about 10-11 days after I stopped the medication completely before I got the withdrawal symptoms out of my system ( increased heart rate, feeling like my heart was beating out of my chest, slight headaches/dizziness). I halved my dose for about 10 days, then halved it again (1/4 of my original dose) for about 4 days. I started off at a low dose though ( 25mg once a day), and was on the low dose for only 3 weeks. So if you had a higher dose from the start, you might want to wean off even slower than what I did. Don't give up..it does work!

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