Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 78)

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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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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Tabitha,

It is a battle. I am 69 years old and have had eight major operations including a triple bypass open heart surgery. This battle getting off Metoprolol is the most difficult thing I have ever had to endure

Day by day....I have suffered from anxiety/depression most of my life and was able to fight it through exercise and medicines, but now that I am unable to relieve stress, so this is even worse for me.

It is a struggle but many have made it through and are living their lives again....so can you. Be strong....

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Hello all,Tabitha I'm still here,currently having the headaches which are horrible,and acid reflux pretty bad I have to have a endoscopy done next Wednesday kinda nervous about that

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What about you Tabitha still getting a lot of anxiety and heart racing,and have you tried any supplements,one a days,magnesium,fish oil anything? I've tried it all down to massages and acupuncture and I must say I'm a long way from where I first was before

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I am about 9 days off now (I had only taken it for about 4-6 weeks at 50mg to start and then 25 for 3 days, 12.5 for a day and then stopped as told by my dr due to side effects I was having. Also had a CT of the heart done in there somewhere where I required 100mg pill form and then a couple iv form to get my heart rate low enough for the scan) Having the scan is when I realized the reactions I was having were due to the metoprolol. Serious weight loss (about 20lbs in 2 weeks) hair thinning, high heart rate, extreme depression and anxiety, night terrors and only 3-4 hours of sleep a night, tremors, numb face and arms, stiff legs, and very shortness of breath. Anyway, I have my first electrophysiologist appointment on Wednesday and just want to get through till then. This all started with what seemed to be an SVT episode in the middle of the night but they immediately put me on a CCB and then switched me to metoprolol 5 days later and now I don't know if what's going on is the withdrawals from the metoprolol or from the initial heart episode. They can find nothing physically wrong with my heart. I've had the CT done of my heart and a separate one done of my lungs, an echo, PLENTY of EKGS, labs. Found nothing and now just waiting to see the electrophysiologist. I am currently on Xanax 3 times a day to help with the anxiety and for the most part it helps but sometimes it doesn't. I felt like I had a good day or two and now everything is just terrible again and it's so discouraging. I just want things to back to what they were before my episode.

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I tapered off a few days then stopped it. I started on atenolol. I am tired dizzy a lot too. Thought it was the atenolol but might be the withdrawal of metropol. It's been over a month prob. Annoying!!

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Wow Tabitha they started u on some really high does? How fast was your heart rate during the svt,I was started on 25 then tapered down from there I only took about a month and a half as well

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My mom takes metropolol and is 95. She chokes a lot and always coughing. My brother also takes it and coughs all the time too. Anyone else have a coughing problem with this medicine? Thanks.

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I don't get the dizziness so much maybe very rarely but for me it's the constant heart rate. If I take my Xanax before bed and my hubs and rubs my feet, I can have my heart rate down to low 60s at night lately but by the time 6am rolls around, I can feel everything kicking back up, so I take another Xanax and am able to sleep a while longer. If I'm sitting or laying down, my heart rate generally remains between 80-95 but if I'm up, it's easily 110 and then housework about 120. It's been lower in and out depending on when I take my Xanax and also depending on the time of day. The evenings seem to be the very worst points for me. And I can always tell when my heart rate has reached 100 or higher because it was both sides of my jaw under my ears tingly and my left arm gets cold and tingly in and out in different spots and chest pains under my left breast. I've been to the ER MULTIPLE times for this and am seeing my dr every 3-4 days right now until my electro appointment and no one seems concerned and chalks it up to anxiety each time. Some days are better and more are worse. I'm tired of living in bed trying to keep my heart rate under 100. I'm so depressed and will be until I get a full diagnosis. If I was having just the high heart rate, I honestly wouldn't be as concerned as I am when I get the physical symptoms. It's scary, especially when no one has an answer for you except "you're not having a heart attack right now and all your blood work and EKG look great." I've been doing this for over a month now and I'm exhausted. The cardiologist originally couldn't get me in until October 11th but I wasn't having that and called until I snagged a cancellation on August 31st. I just want it to be the metoprolol and for the symptoms to finally just go.

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They "don't know" if it was an SVT attack but it was up to 176, which seems almost low compared to 200s that I'm seeing most people post. My arm started hurting, then both my arms went numb and my whole bottom jaw. Then my chest and back got super hot and radiated out as my heart started pounding. Thought I was having a heart attack but it went away like 3min later, by the time I got to the ER it was gone but as they were getting me checked in j could feel the surge start and told the nurse it was a bout to happens and she got me hooked up to the monitor fast and that's when they caught at topping at 176.

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Matt,
I was on atenolol prob 15-18 years before my surgery. I never notified any side effects. I think my problems are still the withdrawal of the metropolol. I have lost 33 lbs so far. Still need to lose about 60 more yet. I have a artificial heart valve. Prob will always have to take a beta blocker.

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Oh wow ok Tabitha that is odd especially since they don't know what caused it,I'm sorry to hear that happen to you and that can be scary,the highest mine have been during a panic/anxiety attack is like 148 I believe,no pain just like a warm feeling,and what I think happens the more we panic the higher it goes,im glad to hear everything came out normal with all your test but I'm still curious to what caused it or were u stressed at the time and do u think it was anxiety related?

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It actually happened at about 4am. I woke up and remembered it was supposed to storm and I had forgotten to put the kids yard toys away. I went out and took the dog and put the bikes and stuff in the garage and went back in and laid back down. Not 5 min later it happened. Never had anything happen like that before. The frustrating part is they gave me all these medications with no reasoning because thy had no idea what was happening or if I needed them longer term besides what they had given me in the moment to get me out of the attack. They kept me in the ER for about 8-10 hours watching me and then sent me home. But I see the electrophysiologist on the 31st and am counting down the seconds.

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Yeah same for me. I think doctors are too quick to prescribe drugs. I went in because I was having shortage of breathe while trying to sleep. I was nervous when I went in, my HR was like 115. He prescribed beta blockers. boy do I wish I had researched before taking them. They did ekgs, holter, echocardiogram, everything by the grace of God was normal. Finally did a sleep evaluation, come to find out I have sleep apnea which explained the shortage of breathe waking me up during sleep. So now I'm on the machine, and was taken off that poison, but that's what set in the anxiety and nightmares, weight loss due to loss of appetite, and I myself have been to the Er no less than 13 times to be told I'm good, it's just anxiety and now have tons of bills from it. But when u are not feeling yourself the last thing you are thinking about is money. So I really just think it's a process after 30-60 days off you should definitely see some type of improvement even though you're not completely there!

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Tabitha, what you are describing is that of Hyperthyroid, and a dangerous thyroid storm. Have a complete thyroid panel done immediately. A thyroid storm can be life threatening. Metprolol throws the thyroid out of whack. This is very serious.

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I'm not on the metoprolol anymore now but they checked my thyroid 4 different times in the ER and it was clear every time. I guess I can still mention it to my dr tomorrow though at my next appointment.

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Jules,

Bob, who posts here often, talked about switching among different beta blockers over a period of several years....he described probably what you are having, not knowing whether they are side effects of the drug you are back on, or withdrawal from the one you just stopped.

Your story is similar to mine in that I was on metoprolol for twenty years with some dizziness and lightheadedness, but there could have been other side effects like persistent nausea, anxiety or feeling like I had the flu, but I did not attribute them to metoprolol, just thought I had a virus or some stressful situation.

However, at year 18 on M, I had a triple bypass and I noted a change in my anxiety level after recovery and saw a psychiatrist, who changed my metoprolol, which crosses the blood brain barrier to atenolol. When that happened my anxiety went ballistic and I could not think straight, "weirdo head" serious back pain, sweating, etc. So I attributed that to atenolol, not even considering it might be metoprolol withdrawal. Atenolol does not cross the blood brain barrier. I also passed kidney stones at the same time as switching to atenolol, so there were so many variables occurring.

The thing to watch is whether any of your symptoms match what you had on atenolol over the 18 years and to consider that once certain beta receptors are unblocked while off atenolol, they may have morphed for the time you were on M and so atenolol might not be the same for you anymore.

When I went back to metoprolol after three weeks on atenolol, metoprolol side effects had changed and I was having extreme anxiety, something I never experienced before. It did not go away, so I had to start weaning off M quickly and as soon as I did, I felt the anxiety diminish to a more "normal" level, not gone, but tolerable and able to be treated with anti anxiety Meds, which had no effect while on M, after I returned to it.

So be aware that the side effects you had long term on atenolol may have possibly changed by the switch to M and then back to atenolol.

Many of the atenolol side effects that I experienced over the three weeks I was on them disappeared rather quickly once I was back on M..like the extreme sweating, weirdo head, cognitive abilities diminishing, but the extreme anxiety remained and it was the M's fault, not atenolol's.

Your brain and nervous system change as you age. So your "allergic" reaction to medicines involving the central nervous system, as these head-heart beta blockers drugs are, may be brand new to you.

Just something to consider.

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I have had a couple new symptoms turn up. 8 months off the beta blocker. My right leg constantly hurts. A constant leg ache. I am also getting bad hot flashes the more i get up and move around. Pretty annoying stuff!!

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Sandra,

The leg ache could be a symptom of the sciatic nerve being aggravated in your lower back.

Have you been moving around less? Your back may need some strengthening from the inactivity due to withdrawal.

I am at Day 62 and still get flushing in my head, but it is constant for a length of time, not a flash, both of which are annoying. Likely the adrenalin surging on occasion.

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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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