Metoprolol Withdrawal (Page 93)
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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:

Glad to hear you're doing well. Can I ask what range your bp goes? Mine is on the low side, but will spike up here and there. ...but I've weaned off of metoporol, Lisinopril and Xanax, so I guess I need to give my body a chance to reset and settle into the new routine.

So good to hear from you.

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Hi Tony:

I'm sorry you had to go back on, but I hope it won't be for long. Good luck with the lorazepam. I'm recently off of Xanax...it was a struggle.

I agree with the comments about the guest...was he ever even on bp meds?

Good to hear from you

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Hey Tony! Sorry to hear that you had to go back on the BP meds, but hopefully you can avoid the beta blockers. Hopefully you can get off the lorazepam soon, too. I also agree that a certain guest sort of shifted the focus a bit here, but I guess it is what it is.

I've been doing pretty well. I still get a heart palp on occasion along with some very slight chest discomfort but, for the most part, I'm pretty much back to feeling normal. Odd thing is, my BP has been a bit lower than normal for the past six weeks or so. It doesn't seem as though I'm having any issues with that, but it's something I need to keep an eye on. I would suppose that continual exercise along with keeping my weight down are contributing factors, so I'm hoping that's a good thing. All in all, though, life has been good! Getting off the Metoprolol was perhaps the worst thing I've ever experienced, but it feels damn good to be off of it. I would never wish that horrid experience on to anybody.

Wishing everybody the very best........ : )

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Ty jimbo, I hope u r doing great too my friend. I been doing ok. I had to get back on bp medication. It's been good but I get occasional spikes that I believe is lorazepam withdrawal. But I have to be cautious, so I take some. I'm down to .125mg lorazepam daily. I'm almost off it. But it's a pain to get off of.

I think it got quiet on here because one of our guests irritated people. I hope everyone is doing great and all of you have a wonderful Halloween this month.

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It's been pretty quiet around here lately. Hopefully everyone is doing ok...... : )

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Could be. Even in the last 10 years, our choice of effective, safe antidepressants has expanded. Since we know the diagnosis, find a shrink who specializes in psychopharmacology. As far as I know, we have no Board-certified Specialty in PP, but most doctors listed on their professional cards as doing psychopharmacology have some advanced training. I have a PhD in Pharmacology, but that's NOT necessary to select and prescribe antidepressants (and possibly mood stabilizers, etc.) safely and efficaciously.

Editor's note: We do not verify the credentials of our users and nothing stated in our forums is intended to be taken as medical advice.

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Steven, My story sounds exactly like what you have experienced. It has been going on for six years now. My afib was brought on by hyperthyroidism and I got my thyroid ablated. I have still continued to have tachycardia and was recently diagnosed with SVT. Are you doing better now? Maybe you have SVT, mine is triggered when my heart rate exceeds 100 bpm sometimes

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Anita that stress is definitely a life changer. I pray all will be safe for you and your family. The comments here are good support and show that other people have similar complaints with Metoprolol. Mine is hair loss mainly! I mentioned that earlier.

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Thanks Tony. I'm going to carry on and if it worsens, I'll go back to the er and get cleared again. We have had The added strain of the California wildfires being in our community...close to our home and devastating to us all. Yes to say I've been stressed is an understatement. Thank you for your patient and kind support.

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It does sound like u r under tremendous stress. So I certainly wouldn't discount it. It is possible that's all it is. Or could be lisinipril. Of course it's hard to know. I'm not saying to change bp Meds because they all have some sort of side effect of it is. It's a matter of tolerance.

I couldn't handle lisinipril but some people can. I would assume the ache is harmless but obviously bothersome. I know it doesn't feel normal for u.

I know this has to be a very scary time for you and your husband. I am so sry it's so awful. Just try and convince yourself that things will be fine. Because panic will only amplify things. Of course, that's really hard to do considering what you guys are going through.

If you have been to the ER and gotten cleared , I would just assume it's nothing too ominous.

I know when I get really stressed , I go for a walk in the sun and try and refocus. I sincerely hope you guys have brighter days ahead.

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Hi Tony,
Thank you for your concern. The sensation isn't really "pain" but more of a constant ache, like a sore muscle with an occasional twinge. Yes, I have been very stressed. My husband had a heart attach last week and just came home from the ICU. He is making a major lifestyle change and of course, this whole thing has been terrifying. He almost died. My 10 mg of lisinopril seems to be handling the added stress, which is a good thing. Maybe this is just constant low grade anxiety? Thank you again.

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Hi Anita. I'm sorry to hear that you are still having difficulties due to metoprolol. I'm not sure what the twinges are. Do they feel more like a twinge rather than a flutter? Do they have a mild tickle sensation or perhaps a slight pause in your beating rythm? If so, I'd say maybe it's a pvc... I know it's difficult to say for sure but is it possible the next time you get one to describe it just a tad more accurately? I know that isn't easy to do since sometimes it can be so brief.

And the burning you are feeling... Is it located right near the heart or more toward the shoulder? I seem to recall some similar feeling when I was on metoprolol. I'm trying to recall.

Are you on any bp medication right now Anita?

You know, I know some people have asked if there could be any metoprolol left in their bodies after 2 or 3 months being off and I'd have to say no. Now I can't say for absolute certainty this is true but I'd say it's very doubtful. But of course, that doesn't mean that some people who were on it for a while are not still having to adjust with life without it. People respond so differently that it's hard to say.

But... If your bp is good and your ekg is good, then let me ask the stupid question. How stressed have you been? I mean from a scale of 1-10, obviously you are worried.

The other day, I got so stressed my bp was 236/110. And I couldn't believe it. And I got some discomfort between my shoulder and my chest, right in that soft area. I'm not sure why it spiked so high. But I felt that discomfort for like three days after. My bp has been doing pretty well, that spike concerned me. So I decided to try amlodipine again and it seemed to cause me anxiety, but my doc didn't believe it the last time I tried it. But sure enough, the fourth day on it, I got extreme anxiety. So I stopped for 3 days and it went away. So it definitely caused it.

Or it at least magnified it. Still... It's important to look at every single thing you have been consuming lately when trying to sort out an issue for sure. And the other thing is accepting that you will be ok so u can get your tension/ stress down. Anxiety can certainly make anything far worse. I certainly believe what you are feeling is real, I'm just trying to figure what is medication related and what is being generated by your body itself.

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And in what way was my post incorrect? I can't take responsibility for this Civil War-era message board and all my statements of medication are accurate. More to the point, why don't see see people posting that, "I saw my Internist and he..." or "My cardiologist ask if I reduced the dose on my own." Does every pill bottle have to having a giant "C-II" superimposed on the wraparound label for folks to get the hint that LOTS OF DRUGS can have serious adverse reactions if patients decide to "play doctor". My sister called me and asked about reducing her Tenormin (Atenolol). I was about 99% sure of the correct answer. but I called thefts cardiologist I know who treats HER — and we discussed a few points and he suggested a small reduction for now. We're BOTH docs and my recommendation probably would be a little more "radical," but HE's the BEST office cardiologist in two large counties, so I told him up on his offer to call my sister, since she can be very argumentative and the lead argument always is "This isn't your specialty."

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I've been off for 50 days. My pulse is fine. My BP is normal. Im still having occasional chest twinges, the kind I had when I was "adjusting" to the metoprolol and also when "weaning" off. I'm wondering if it caused some sort of nerve damage in the heart region. It's not pain, more like a burning sensation in my chest. I've been to the ER frequently over the past 6 months due to this medication and my ekg is always normal. Anyone else having this sort of thing after 2 months off?

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Sandra... I am sorry but taking a smudge does not sound good except there is nothing wrong with back tracking but after there months.. Gee I don't know.. I did back track early on .. went from 75 down to 50 and felt aweful so I went back up to 75 a bit longer. I remained on each low dose for months until I felt more stable.. Took me a year to get off and I still had the aweful horrific side effects. I cant stress this enough...........People are just too anxious to get off way too fast and then have too many issues..................What is the rush.... Take time and get off as slowly as possible.. Listen to your body .. the body knows what to do... Getting off slow and easy wins the race. Who cares how long it takes.. its not a race...................its better to wean off very slowly and have the least amount of side effects.. To give myself more insurance I even had to lengthen the time I took each dose so if I took a dose at 9 am I kept lengthening the time I took it in order for my body to adjust to not having the drug in my system even if it was a crumb at a time.

Please keep reading the posts about what others used naturally to replace the anxiety.. Magnesium, L theanine, camomille tea.. there are others that I forget now..

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I have been on metoporol for 2 years, 100 mg. Just got cut to 50mg. I.feel ok

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Jimbo — You're right. I'm relatively new and only on occasion do I write for Inderal for "stage fright." I'm also biased, a "whole bunch a" my immediately family members, including one damned good cardiologist, are on beta-blockers wit no untoward effects that I am recall. I HAVE treated patients who were CNS reducers and needed, say, 2.5mg of Valium to my my 10mg (I have the OTHER thing, which I am embarrassed to say I can't recall, but it means I need more CNS drugs than the average patient. SAVE THIS POST! DOC ADMITS HE DOESN"T KNOW SOMETHING!). I hate to disparage Fps and Internists, but sometimes when they're prescribing say, six drugs to a new or newer patient, only the most serious possible adverse reactions crate a mention. One of the reasons we have a NP - PSY in our office is to review meds, answer questions ands, frankly, catch errors. She has the Prescriptive Privilege and she can write for anything I can. I don't think we do it again, but we ALL should ask if "you ever take any meds that caused a stronger reaction or side effectuate you thought they would?". I dead; with this CNS REDUCER-AUGMENTER issue (I remembered!) all the time, but didn't do my due diligence — logical extension to other drug families.

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Almost 3 months off and I gave in to a little dust from metoprolol to give me one day of relief. Probably wasn't the smartest thing but I wanted 1 day to not feel terrible. The side effects were bad but took away the withdrawal. I cant believe after almost 3 mo I am still withdrawaling. I took literally dust so hoping it doesnt set me back too far :(

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Tony, its mild and its not constant. It comes in waves.

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Did you see any decent shrinks? You don't always have to quite your job because of Mood Disorders. (If you wanted to, that's another story.) Affective Disorders (anxiety- or depression-based are common in cardiac patients.) I had open-heart surgery and I was thrilled to have survived a procedure with an 80% mortality rate! The most negative emotion I experienced was boredom, since I couldn't work after I felt well enough to do so. Of course, I was young (30s) for that procedure and Im sure that made me an anomaly. They key here is in the CORRECT MEDS in the RIGHT DOSES. Did your VA shrinks seem "on the ball" or what? I've had to clean up their messes in the past.

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