Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 92) (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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Hi Anthony,

Thank you for replying. Greatly appreciate it. It's tough. My HR so far is 65-72. BP. 140/90, highest is 150/100 but that's lower than before I was on a full dose. Worst at docs office was 180-200 over 98-110. Anxiety I'm used to. I have pretty awful PTS from being a flight nurse in OIF/OEF so I have Xanax on hand if it gets bad but I don't use that med regularly. Only if needed. I'm such a non Med person and wish I'd researched this better as a Nurse to boot but have been ill with MS and my husband (Marine) was wounded in combat so several tough years since all that happened. The anxiety just blindsided me one days. Years of going through the war and keeping it bottled up. Every time I went to the doc my BP was crazy high and I suffer from awful dizziness here and there. So I just agreed to the Med even though I felt I truly have white coat BP and the anxiety. A year later I'm sicker than I've ever been. Praying to get this poison out of me. If you don't mind what were your BP readings? Thank you so much.

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I agree with you Anthony 200%
It's the worst drug I've ever been on and I've had tough drugs for MS

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i started taking metoprolol in january of this year only side effect i had was tiredness i have never had high blood pressure in my life i am 55 i had 2 stents .one was in my L D A. and another artery of my heart i took metoprolol intill a week ago cause of the sideffects my employee health insurance made me start useing their mail order pharmacy in june of this year so 3 weeks ago the side effects started messing with me really bad and i stoped taking it you wouldnt believe how it did me i am finely getting over it i would tell anyone not to take it.

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I have been taking Losartan 160 mg for 5 yrs. The dosage has been adjusted many times. When I started my bp was 252/115. Went to ER. Thought I was gonna have a stroke. Lately, my bp is all over the place. Could wake up with high 180/90, take meds, stabilize and then start bottoming out by mid afternoon. Bp could be 90/60. I've read a few of you describe these symptoms. Anybody ever resolve this problem?

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Has anyone tried clonidine? It is an alpha blocker, but serves to block adrenalin, similar to beta blockers.

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I will follow up my writing earlier in this thread. As I said at last took E-vitamin and it works well. But I yesterday got sick when had eaten some chicken for lunch and some other meat for dinner. I have my own "hospital" at home and could see that my bloodpressure was very high the morning after. I remembered an old relative that had stopped eating meat and now only took fish. So next day I eat very carefully and saw the result next morning in a much lower blood pressure. So now I quit meat. Maybe also soda drinks and coffee(sorry for that)

I eat LCHF so I automaticly follow in your footprints. But have started with short time fast like you inspirated by Jasong Fung. As one of his example I don´t eat breakfeast and lunch and a little dinner. Then nothing more until next lunch. That makes 24 hours without food. If this goes well I will go on with 36 hours fast (also quit dinner on the fasting day). Will report to the site how it goes.

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I have been taking metoprolol tartrate for 4 weeks and want to get off it because of panic attacks. My blood pressure shot up to 180 over 90. Is it safe to stay off it?

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Betty. Please check with your doctor This drug must never be stopped abruptly according to the FDA. I'm not a doctor therefore please check with whomever prescribed the Med. I'm on a six week taper and going into my fourth week you have to carefully taper off this medication I made up my own schedule and my doctor approved it and there of been some tough days through it but I think hopefully there's an end in sight and I never want to be on this poison again it's made me very sick the last year of my life that I've been taking it in my opinion it's a horrible drug Every week I Faxon my blood pressure and heart rate readings and any notes I make on how I'm feeling to my doctor so she can monitor it week by week with me I only have two more weeks to go and I'm off this but I know that after you finish your final those you can still have some issues with it so for myself I'm hoping that it won't be too bad I'm not even sure how much damage has been done because of this medication but I keep the Xanax on hand for panic attacks and I use a fourth of the lowest dose available at a time and then increase it if I need more and that helps me get through the worst of the panic part I normally have panic attacks due to having been overseas and war but I am experiencing worse attacks while coming off this medication but the xanax is helping me get through it. Ask for an Rx of something for the anxiety. Use the least amount and be very careful with it but again go to your doctor for everything even though my doctor should've never put me on it I'm still having to keep her in the loop of this until I change doctors which will be a soon as we moved from this area so I'm holding off any changes until our move is complete. Good luck

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I'm on 150mg per day I feel like I'm dying just a few hours when missing a dose. I'm reading that a lot of you are only taking 25mg. How am I supposed to supposed to get off of it?

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You can look up my posts on here if you can find them, I'm not sure how. I always have a hard time looking for certain posts with the format on this page, but I've been on it for a year. I only went up to 50 mg twice a day, but I'm now going into my fourth week of tapering off this drug. In the last year I've become so ill taking this medication that I can't even put into words anymore, and I don't even know how much damage is already been done by taking this medication. I was put on it mistakenly but I'm in my fourth week of tapering off. I made up my own schedule and the doctor approved it. You must contact your doctor and tell them that you want to get off the medication but it must be a slow taper if you read all the information from the FDA you will see that they strongly advise against stopping this medication abruptly as it can be very dangerous. I did my first two weeks slowly tapering and now I'm in the fourth week of the six week taper. I won't say it's been easy I've had some days that weren't bad but some days where my anxiety has been worse than it already is and that may be due to this taper but I also have anxiety for another issue and another illness but it just got magnified on this medication. My heart rate seems to remain within a certain range which is no problem. My blood pressure has always been a little elevated, nothing to any of my former doctors were ever concerned about but when I had a couple Highwinds here my doctor here immediately put me on this medication. At the time I really wasn't paying attention. I should've done my homework.

Had I done that I would've never taken the medication but I have a lot going on during that time frame. Long story short, I'm in the middle of getting off of this medication now but my doctor knows every move I'm making. I sent her all the information on this medication. It should've been vice versa but that's neither here nor there as whatever is done is done. Now my goal is just getting off of it but I faxed her weekly every Friday a report of all my blood pressure's heart rate and any sort of issues I'm having coming off this medication so that they're in the loop. We're in the process of moving so I can't start with a whole new doctor here. I'm going to wait until we get to our perm home until I get a new doctor. What kind of things are you feeling if you go without it? I wouldn't be skipping any days either. This is by no means medical advice but I would definitely not skip any days and I would definitely call your doctor and tell them what you want to do in terms of getting off this medication and come up with a plan to slowly taper off it gradually over time. I'm told that even once you're done with your taper you may still have side effects for a month or so until you feel better and they say some people never really feel right. I will never let this happen to myself again. This is the worst part of my life with medication. I don't even call it by any other name than poison.

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Are there any withdrawal from stopping nifedipine I am taking for blood pressure

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Anyone have withdrawal from stopping nifedipine, taken for blood pressure

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Hi Matt
It is scaring to hear that you still have abstinens after 14 month even if you have taken Metoprolol for so many years. I have only taken it for two years and have now after five months big problems.

I first got help by a acupuncteur with slowly stop taking it. No problems they come some weeks later. First I was helped with the breast pain of Magnesium Taurate. But only for 14 days. Now I take E-vitamin and I have to increase the dose all the time. I also am starting a program which helps to lower the blood pressure which also have gone a little too high. If this does not help I don´t know what to do.

I know that the doctors will say I must go back to Metoprolol or other betablockers. But I prefer to die because of terrifying side effects. They don´t understand the problem and there seems be nothing written about it. It is a big scandal that they give this medication to people that could been helped by more natural ways to prevent stroke. The drug companies want us to take this for the rest of our lifes so they can earn a lot of money. When will this stop?

I heard a man say that he had vascular spasm but cured it with fasting (with only water) for three weeeks (not the weekends) Can it be something?

Want to hear from somebody that had bad abstinens and come over it? How long after stoppiing? Did you do something special?

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Matt.......man, 20 years is a long time to be on this garbage drug. I totally understand why it's taken you so long to get beyond it. Hopefully you'll get past it once and for all soon.

Regarding high blood pressure, I was one of those that was prescribed Metoprolol for borderline hypertension. At the time I was about 40 pounds heavier than I currently am, and it was enough to put me at risk. Long story short, I lost the weight, I got back into a regular year-round exercise routine - primarily cycling and walking - and I switched to a much healthier diet. Those three things alone have kept my blood pressure at normal or even slightly below normal levels. At 63, I doubt that I'll ever need to go on a BP med again as long as I can maintain a healthy lifestyle. I'm not saying that this will work for everyone, but it's a comforting feeling to know that my average BP went from about 145/90 to 115/75 in a matter of six months or so.

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I have been prescribed lorazepam for the anxiety, but It does not always help.

At 14 months off, I am still nauseous for days at a time. There are days when I almost feel normal, but they do not last long enough. My heart rate and BP are still high and cannot take any other BP meds as they cause things like nausea and depression.

Meanwhile, I have had other things develop on the way and never know whether it is due to withdrawal or from something else, perhaps another drug I am taking. I had a bout of pain in the chest when breathing deeply, like when your doctor is evaluating your lungs. An inhaler with steroids has eliminated that. All my joints ache, but they tell me I only have mild arthritis in my knees. So does beta blocker withdrawal cause that?

I stopped my statin for cholesterol, but that does not seem to be helping my aches and pains and stomach. I have taken it for 15-20 years so that may take some time as well.

The biggest problem is that if I try to take a nap in the afternoon after not sleeping well the night before, I get extremely anxious, almost frightened, as I try to get to sleep and that precludes naps.

All the doctors want to go back on beta blockers, but I do not see that as a possibility. They think I am nuts. Guess what this withdrawal makes you nuts. I wish I could transfer these feelings and symptoms to the doctors; then they might comprehend how difficult this is.

Eating anything has possible consequences. Caffeine and soda are out of my diet.

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Hi Jimbo!
I am impressed how you worked to lower your BP. Did you exercise also when you had abstinence from stopping Metoprolol? How did you do to lose so much weight? Metoprolol seems to undo such try so I have now started to try lose that extra weight I got when taking the pill. But I don´t seem to lose weight. Could it be because of that my body still act as if I eat Metoprolol?

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Bob,

Have you looked into the effect the beta blockers has on the vagal nerve. It controls electric messages to the heart lungs and GI system from the brain. Since most of the symptoms here refer to those three systems/organs, it may well determine what the release of adrenalin after stopping beta blockers and how it affects the vagal nerve, which is the longest nerve in the body.

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Hi Jimbo!
Thanks for answering my questions. After reading your answers I have som more questions.

First. I don´tunderstand why yhou were given Metoprolol for diverticulitis? Or did you take it for in earlier sickness? I also wonder what symtoms you got from Metoprolol when you lost weight?

Thanks for describing your trainings. I suppose none can train under the weaning process from Metoprolol. which is a catastrophe because many people have had the drug because of high blood pressure. Of course it easily comes back when you try to stop the drug.

When started your symtom to disappear och how looked the process. How long was it?

I know that Metoprolols adrenalin stops the ability to let fat go from the cells. It is a swedish doctor and researcher who first understood that. But he did not got any attention from colleges and slowly saw that the medical assosciations is not interested in new knowledge about drugs which have been used for long time. He is now chairman of a new organisation for knowing more about metabolic probelms.

That the sideeffects of Metaprolol has not included weight rise can be that it can take long time to see that and think it has other reasons.

Hope go you on with taking care of your health! I am trying now.

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Re: James (# 18)

Yes I can hardly breath and I have a hard time swallowing. Horrible side effecte

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Re: Steve (# 17)

Very good point. Hopefully the JAMA and FDA will get this message and get serious about it.
I've been on Metoprolol for 3 wks and have developed chest pains (never suffered chest pains before), breathing sifficultues, bowel movements are tan and grainy.
I want off of this stuff but to date I'm still waiting on a callback from my doctor. It's been 3 days.

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