Beta Blockers - Temporary or Permanent?

[ron]

Hey guys,

My blood pressure is 118/75. I saw 2 different surgeons today about my valve/anuerysm surgery that is impending.

One surgeon told me that I would have go take Blood pressure medicine until my BP stabilized after surgery. The second surgeon said that I might have to be on them for the rest of my life.

What has been your experience(s) with this? Has anybody else here been weaned off of Beta Blockers?

Ron

 

[yotphix]

My personal experience was that I was put on, like most, as a protective and precautionary measure post surgery. At around 8 weeks post surgery my dose was halved, and at 12 or 14 weeks and at my encouragement the doc let me stop after I wore a Holter monitor for 2 days and showed regular heart rate and rhythm and normal bp.

After the surgery there seems to be a fairly high probability of experiencing irregular heartbeats of various types and the Beta Blockers can help with that. I don't actually remember if my BP was high after surgery or not. I'd have to check my old notes but I do know that it came to normal very quickly and stayed there after I quick the BB. I did also have a couple of fairly extensive bouts of Atrial Fibrillation in my first week home but they passed.

 

[ron]

Hello Yotphix,

Thanks for this info. That is good to hear. I have never had a problem with blood pressure, and the thought of being on BP medicine for the rest of my life kinda sucks.

Looks like I will need an ascending anuerysm and valve replacement.

 

[Duff Man]

i'm 28, i've been on them since 20... i'll be on them for the rest of my life. I think my doctor originally put me on them because of left ventricular hypertrophy, but I think the other reason that he didn't tell me about was that my aorta was getting bigger.

There's proven survival benefit for people with arrhythmia, hypertension, aneurysms, etc... Yeah, it sucks taking pill(s) every day, but it's my life now. It's who I am.

 

[OldManEmu]

I was able to get off beta blockers after my first surgery 1 year post surgery and the second time round I was given the OK to discontinue them 3 months post surgery.
I am still on ACE inhibitors however I find these far more benign than beta blockers.

 

[neil]

am on beta blockers bp tabs etc, found them hard when first started but doc says that i will be on them until the old ticker stops lol, as duff man rightly said its who we are, and ive gotten used to them,as i had a few bad cases of af my beta blocker is my little comfort blanket lol

 

[ron]

thanks guys.

I have heard of some smaller short term effects, but are there any major long term side effects?

I know that lots of things are listed as negative effects, but not all of them apply. Or, the pharmacuetical company is trying to cover its ***.

I have been reading these beta blocker posts and I have not seen any significant long term negative results...

 

[OldManEmu]

Ron the side effects I experienced lasted as long as I was on them.
The side effects decreased as I titrated off them and disappeared when they were discontinued.

 

[Jason]

Ron,

I am 3 months out of surgery, and have been on metoprolol since the surgery. My dose was dropped 3 weeks ago or so due to my heart rate dropping too low, and I am still hopeful to get off of them eventually. However, I have noticed that some of the time (not all the time, maybe 1/4 of the time) when it gets close to time to take the pill, my blood pressure steadily rises. I believe the metoprolol is wearing off, and the 'natural' blood pressure is rearing it's head. This leads me to believe I may still need them, although my doc said to give it until 6 months and we will check then. My heart is still remodeling, so very well could have no need for the blood pressure component after some time.

 

[Greg a]

As others have proven we are all different and yes side effects lessen with time and over time you may need more or less ( I am on 150mg metoprolol in the am and same at night) taking pills is "the new normal" for me and I am glad to enjoy my family every day of that normal

 

[nngbwh]

I will be lay to rest with a bottle of metoprolol and lisinopril for the rest of my life. :biggrin2:

 

[epstns]

I'm another who is taking metoprolol post-op. In my case, it is prescribed to help my heart remodel after valve replacement, and to help control arrythmias I had immediately following surgery. It really doesn't seem to do much for my BP, which was elevated prior to surgery (150/100 before meds, 115/72 after ARB), so we are cautiously adding other meds to bring the BP back under control. I am hoping to eventually be able to discontinue the beta blocker, as I believe that it limits how much I can elevate my heart rate under exercise conditions. Time will tell.

 

[bdryer]

I as well am a slave to BB [Metoprolol] and BP [enalapril] meds. I've adjusted to using them. Fortunately this is because the cardiologist and surgeon have cut the dose of the BB from 100 mg 2x daily to 50 mg. My heart rate was waaaay to slow at 100 mg.

This is for me alone: the medical team has also allowed me to adjust the dosage of the BB up to 200 mg 2x daily should arrhythmia return. So far so good. When I hit the 3 mth mark post surgery, I'm going to try 25 mg 2x daily and see how it goes. Presently my resting HR can be in the high 40's. I balance this with coffee to > the HR. LOL!

I'm also with Duff man. I'm slower athletically but cover the same ground pre-surgery." I'm still who I am, not who I was".

 

[scott.eitman]

See my thread http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?37880-Low-stamina&referrerid=7522

I had an awful experience on Metoprolol. I weaned off at 6 weeks post op and then went back on at 5 months. I cannot imagine feeling worse than when I was on it.

Life is very good for me not on it!

 

[CanoeBob]

I've been on Beta Blocker - Atenenol since '05, 50 mg/day then. Experienced a TIA; another story maybe an indicator of the fun to come eh! Doctor dropped the level in '06 to 25mg/day,stayed there until after surgery. After dilliberation between Surgeon, Cardio and Gp, with me being the bearer of the news, lol, Doctors don't talk very much between each other and they DO have egos...the level was dropped to 12.5/day in January '11 after surgery in Nov '10. At the higher levels I felt sluggish and unmotivated hence the lowering to 12.5 mg/day to help with my cardio rehab and exercise. Surgeon said reassesment is next year as the atenenol prevents the heart from working to much which in turn will reduce its muscularity that developed from working so hard during the stenosis. A side benifit to BBs is anxiety reduction which was there pre-op and post-op-the post-op being a different can o worms...anxiety is stress-is that good for us as we repair?

Bob

 

[tprice54]

I was on BB for 8 weeks, but have been taking an ace inhibitor for BP. They have few side effects. The doctor who mentioned BP meds for life may not have been talking about betablockers...they are many other meds for BP.

 

[ejc61]

Hello Ron,

I took a BP med prior to surgery. After surgery, I take a different BP med. That's kind of permanent. After surgery, they also gave me 2 beta blockers. I was weaned off the first after about 7 weeks and the other at about 11 weeks. The plan was just to take them during recovery not long term. In my case at least.

 

[NealR]

I have been on both, Beta Blockers and Ace I since about 3 months prior to surgery. Appears I will be on them the rest of my life. Blood Pressure can be all over the place, depending on how stressed I am. Now, I am about 115/72, or less, but at times, I can get as high as 170/100, although rarely does it get that high. Frankly, if they took me off the BB's (atenolol, 25 mg), I would probably crawl out of my skin as I am wound tighter than a concert piano. Working out is not a problem as getting the BP over 135 is not recommended by the cardio.

 

[Michellemar]

Me too. The heart has a new function/shape now, and the electrical conduction can be a bit off. Depending upon the heart itself, it somewhere in there would like to be normal.....its what it was made for, the deal is, it's one long, confusing thing for our hearts to "remember normal" when we've asked it so long to be so heroic in one way or another. But NOW with valves that work, or in other words just a normal heart, maybe for some of us the first time our hearts just got to function A-Ok and were clueless and so is our heart! It helps me to remember that the first language my heart spoke in was instinctual, what it was made for. I think we just have to listen very carefully...and give it absolutely the BEST of FOODS!! Michellemar

 

[yotphix]

Since most people seem to take other ones, I'll just also mention that I was on Bisoprolol, and for me there were no real side effects. There was, of course the intended effect which was the prevention of high BP, high heart rate and irregular beats and it did that. My heart had remodeled somewhat when I had an echo at about 6 months, and was normal by the end of the first year.