Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 89)
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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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Hi Jimbo:

Thanks for speaking out. I lost over 100 pounds, and when I took my bp at home it would get down to 80/60ish. When I called my doctor, they told me to make sure that I was drinking enough water to keep my pressure high enough. ...And this my current Doctor whom I respect, trust and like. That being said, I knew I had to do my own research to find my own health answers to get off of bp meds or lower dose, etc. little did I know that weaning off of it would cause a slew of physical, mental and emotional side effects. Once all of the side effects started, of course, I wanted to not wean off even with bp that was too low. The positive support from people on here who generously shared personal details of their struggles are what validated and helped me get off of the stuff. I felt support because everyone on here has been through or is currently going through getting off of this stuff. If you aren't trying to get off of it, why would you be on the thread?

I take my bp several times a week and keep a log. My bp is typically 110/75. I agree that people on here understand bp issues, and some aren't even on met for bp issues.

i agree that I wish there were more honest and positive threads like this one for other topics.

Thanks for listening...

Merry Christmas to All :-)

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Hi Lauren...you hit the nail on the head for me when you said, "We can't all be wrong."

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Dr. Joey, I don't mean to sound critical of your contributions here, but most people on this forum fully understand what hypertension is and how to deal with it. In my case, I lost enough weight that my blood pressure and heartbeat dropped to dangerous levels. I absolutely needed to get off of the Metroprolol. Other people are on beta blockers for other reasons other than hypertension, too. The fact is, Metroprolol (and beta blockers in general) causes an extreme reaction with serious side effects in some people, and the vast majority of doctors out there have no understanding of why this is occurring. My point is simply that most people here seem to have a pretty solid idea of what they're up against when it comes to knowing what they need to do about hypertension and the drugs they may or may not need to take. For most folks on this forum it's simply about getting off this horrible drug. Joey, unless you've experienced this first-hand, I doubt that you'd understand. Sorry for the mild rant!

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Christmas......... : )

Frank

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Lol I never have been hypertensive. Fortunately for me my PCP realizes how hypersensitive I am to everything and is working with me, not throwing some other toxin at me. THANK YOU all for continuing encouragement. I just went thru about of food poisoning, and after feeling normal yesterday, really normal, I am having M-Zapp today. Pushing thru it. We can't all be wrong! I have basically nixed all my holiday plans because I can't depend on feeling ok yet. There's always next year. ANYTHING to feel better for good. Jimbo I am SO looking forward to THAT day!!!

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Did anyone here consult his or her PCP and substitute another of the many different families of antihypertensives rather than treating metoprolol as if it were methadone. Many of the symptoms described clearly are rebound hypertension and I'm not even a cardiologist. I"m a psychiatrist. Even docs only make very minor changes to their meds without consulting the prescriber or experiencing an unacceptable adverse effect de novo. Even so, the prescriber is informed, You can't just forget about hypertension and think it'll go away. (It may seem to "go away" — I did enough autopsies as an first-year resident on former people who labored under that erroneous assumption.) Hypertension is not known as the "Silent KIller" without good reason.

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Glad to hear you made it, Toonces! That's great news! You're spot-on about this thread, too, for it certainly helped me as well. I wish there were more 'user-friendly' forums available to us, but thankfully this one is here for us.

Hey Tony.......are you out there? If so, it would be great to hear how you're doing!

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Hi Lauren:

Listen to Jimbo...I've been off of it for months, and my blood pressure is fine. ...but when I was weaning, I never thought I would ever be able to completely get off, and I never thought that I would ever feel normal again. If you can hang in there and let time work for you, it will be worth it...and I honestly don't know if I would have been able to hang in there without this thread. Remember, all of us has been through this, so we understand. You can do this. We're proof that it can be done. At some of my lowest points, I would reread the thread and it made a huge difference.

Hope this helps

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Just stick with it and hang in there, Lauren! You'll make it! Each week will get noticeably better until one day you'll wake up and feel somewhat normal again. It'll be the best feeling ever, because that'll be the day when you'll know with absolute certainty that quitting the "M" was well worth the effort. I can't even begin to describe it, but you'll know once you're there.

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Reading thru all the posts again has been once again so helpful. Day 7 completely off, I see now that the Day 6 Kick was grabbing me yesterday. I slammed a ton of water and rode thru it and felt a bit better by late afternoon. Today I am slightly 'buzzy' but no where near where I was yesterday. From all the posts I guess I can anticipate more fun times as I get farther out from last dose. Hopefully I will shed most of this completely at the one month marker. I did look up the Tapping, boy does THAT look interesting! I tried some last night and it did seem to quickly tamp down anxiety. I will be exploring this further! Before thyrotoxicosis issues and then M poisoning I was the Supplement Queen, but I am down to very little because of my now exaggerated response to EVERYTHING I intake. As I head back towards 'normal' I hope to be able to restore what was a very helpful regimen of supplements. I eat a grain free diet, and very little to no dairy, take Ubiquinol (very helpful with palps), Choline, and Oregano Oil- best thing for avoiding colds and pneumonia I have found. Tart cherry at night. Onwards and forwards one day or hour at a time to good health. Thank you one and all for this wonderful forum of information and support!!!

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Sandra and Lauren, so sorry to hear that the two of you are struggling with this stuff. Perhaps Bee could pipe in with some thoughts about supplements, for they really seem to help some people. For anxiety, I found that L-Theanine helped some.....not great, but it did help to take the edge off a bit. I'm not sure what to say about weaning, but it was about a six-week process for me followed by a month of hell during the withdrawal period. But I got through it, as many of us finally managed to do. It's a tough ride......no doubt. I feel for you, and I sincerely hope the two of you can get beyond it.

Terry, I'm pretty familiar with aspartame and the harmful effects it can cause. However, I've been avoiding it for years, so I highly doubt that it's causing any palpitation issues for me. Still, this is good advice for those who are continuing to have issues with Metoprolol, for it certainly can't be of any help in any way.

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I have been off this stuff for a week now, and yesterday was iffy and today is BAD. Pounding heart, feeling like I'm falling, anxious, just AWFUL. Why on EARTH is this stuff so bad that even a slow careful detox of a tiny amount still entails backlash like this. It's SO HARD to fight the fear and anxiety this produces. I had a few pretty good days last week after the proverbial days three and four after final dose, but gees, now I'm paying for them. I'm scared today. :'(

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Good grief I am still having a heck of a time! I am still taking "dust" every 2 days because I start withdrawling so bad. I have to work and have to take it to keep going. I feel terrible on it but feel like im gonna die when im withdrawling. I cant take a smaller dose its not possible. How am I supposed to get off this crap?! Im at a loss of what to do. The withdrawal scares me bad. I was off for 3 months last time but it was a rough ride and I started a new job and had to get bk on it. Any advice on a better weaning process or vitamins to help? Something??

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I know this may be a shocker to you. I have had heart palpitations for 7 years straight and a year ago I found that aspartame sweetener was causing it. The weird thing was that I had been using that sweetener for 15 years, so this is why it took me so long to figure it out. I use to have heart palpation's daily and always had a fear of dying from them. Horrible 7 year ride! If you use artificial sweeteners and stop them be sure to give it a couple of weeks for palpitations to go away. This stuff needs time to flush from your body. Please let us know if this helps any of you out there. Thanks!

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CJ, for what it's worth, it took me about four to five weeks to wean off of the Metoprolol, and once I went cold turkey, it took at least another month for the majority of my symptoms to calm down to the point where I felt as though I was finally getting better. The symptoms included heart palpitations, dizziness, angina, shortness of breath, etc., etc. My last dose was in June, and I still get palpitations once in a while. For the most part, though, I'm feeling back to normal. I had similar issues with the anesthesia from a surgery I had in 2012, and it took me seven or eight months to fully recover. It seems that most of here have a high-sensitivity to drugs that have an effect on the central nervous system, so about the only thing we can do is to ride things out the best we can. I was tempted to take the "M" several times during the course of my withdrawal period. As much as I wanted to give in to feel better, I decided the better course of action was to stick to my goal of getting off this horrible drug once and for all. The thing is, a person just has to be very careful while being fully aware of his or her limitations, for some of the reactions that some of us have during the weaning process and withdrawal can be life threatening. I'm just sorry to hear that so many folks continue to have problems with this drug.

And Tony, if you're pop in from time to time, let us know how you're doing, ok? I'm quite certain that some of us have been worried about you. I hope all is well!

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Thanks all for ongoing support all. Weirdo head-good description! Glad someone knew exactly what I am talking about. It's so hard to feel awful and look normal. I know my family is as tired as I am of me having Wonky head days. And yes, the Anxiety of worrying that you will never be "right" again is HARD to ignore. Every morning is a crap shoot, never knowing what kind of day is in store once you get up and get moving. Tough to deal with when I have always been a morning person. Thanks for letting me whine.

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CJ in the Vale, Mfog and Lauren hope for better days ahead. Met no fun.

The tablets are ER (extended release) or mine are. That means they are absorbed over 24 hours due to the special outer coating. Cutting them in half means unequal dose plus absorption different. I am sharing because I was told I could cut my 50mg tablet in half when my dosage was changed. This info was by the doctors staff member. I ended up with 2 trips after to ER for irregular heart beat plus high spike in my blood pressure (could have been anxiety from heart irregularity). Was told it was likely due to cutting tablet and getting unequal doses of Met and probably some dehydration. I posted this a long time ago here but thought worth sharing with some newer people checking this sight.

I see a new cardiologist in a week and will query him about the Met and ask if any other options. It's interesting that this Beta Blocker can cause cardiac dysrhythmias when it's designed to help them!! Thyrotoxicosis is one indication, tremors and migraine headaches.

Wishing all success getting off or regulating the drug! Enjoy our Christmas holidays coming up.

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Hi Anita.
wow I know how you feel... when I was getting off the M it was def. a nightmare. I stayed in the house for a whole year .. just went out when I had to do some shopping and that was it.. That was last year.........I had strange things too going on with my heart but I started taking L Argenine and so far so good.. I believe I was getting angina but now I am okay....................I am taking a lot of things now because of the poisen (M)..
I believe its a good idea to detox this stuff out of the liver.. that is the problem. I drank a lot of lemons and beet root and whatever else detox's the liver.
I also took L theanine for the anxiety...

Like I said it took me a year .. After the year I could finally live life. I now can walk a mile a day or few days a week.. ride my bike and go out and do normal things again. no more palps and no more insanity.. there are still days though where I swear I still get the jitters but I am not sure what that is.

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Hi Lauren, I'm sorry you are going through this. I used to call it "weirdo head". I took Metoprolol for about 3 months for high blood pressure, which did nothing for my blood pressure but sure messed me up in lots of other ways. My i**** doctor did NOT warn me of the side effects and I had a terrible time getting both on and off this poison. I have since developed an irregular heart beat, which did not exist before and was one of the major issues while "adjusting to the dose". I told my doctor about it and unfortunately he did not advise me to stop taking the stuff. I had to make that call myself, after months of struggle, going to the Er with spiking blood pressure, lost days to "weirdo head" and so on. Those of us who are sensitive to this stuff are in trouble. I want to tell you it will get better and your body will adjust to life without it, but it can be a rough ride. He tried to give me "atavan" to deal with the anxiety. WTF!!! Let's get her hooked on another powerful and addictive drug while she's trying to get off this one. you have to watch the doctor, they want to give you more and more pills. I am now clear of it, although I still have the heart problem which I am having checked out next week. My heart skips beats and does a big "kathunk" in my chest every so often. My EKg is normal. This "kathunk" and burning in my chest was what happened while I was trying to 'adjust" to the M. I have been off it completely now for several months, and I weaned off very slowly. You can do it. Just go slow...be patient and try not to have anxiety about the weaning process which makes it worse. Anxiety is one of the worst things that happened to me when weaning. I had to consciously tell myself I was ok, and it was just anxiety from the drug withdrawal. You can do it...be patient. Listen to your body... you CAN get off this stuff.

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Bad day today. Dizzy spells, cloudy wonky head, headache. I has a feeling earlier it was going to be a tough day, I've had 2 fairly clear ones in a row, now this. Welcome to the world of M. :/

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Day 5, taking a shave less daily, debating on whether to take any for day today, probably a crumb. Was fairly clear headed yesterday, just nauseous in afternoon, and I suddenly get REALLY tired by 6-630pm nightly. This am I am fuzzy headed, (wonky) and I have a lot to do and a ten hour shift to work later , so I am really frustrated. Trying to remain patient, but that's not my strongest trait.... ?? Time to saddle up and push thru, regardless. I hate having to drive when I am feeling like this.

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