Intolerance of Beta-Blockers

[Nancy]

Before Joe went into the hospital last week, his card had just started him on Atenolol. I believe it contributed to his CHF incident, possibly the diarrhea, gave him bruising on his arms and a rash on his back, plus he then developed an irregular heartbeat.

While in the hospital, they switched him to Coreg (carvedilol). He's sicker than a dog from it, nauseous, sleeping much of the time, and is not able to do much of anything, plus he's not urinating much at all, and that's not good with his CHF.

Every card. he's ever had has tried to put him on Beta-Blockers, and it seems that he cannot tolerate them. I know they would really help him and do help many. I also know they are well tolerated by most.

The reason they want him on them is because he has afib and aflutter most of the time.

Are there any folks here that just can't take beta-blockers?

 

[Ross]

Now this ought to be interesting. I'm taking 50mg Atenolol every 12 hours and I can tell you it makes me very tired though I'm still unable to sleep.

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi Nancy,

I hope Joe gets to feeling better soon.

I have been on a Beta Blocker, Atenolol, for 4 years now, 50 mg per day. I have not had any major problems with it, other than it making me feel cold at times, and also being photosensitive to sunlight. I will breakout in a rash at times if exposed to the sun for too long a period of time.

Looking forward to some more responses to your question on this topic.

Rob

 

[Nan]

Nancy, I am so sorry to hear that Joe has been having problems. Hope they all get straightened out soon.

I am currently on Betapace, having some trouble (feelings of flushing) with an increased dosage, but I can manage to take it. I had trouble with Nadalol, another type of Beta Blocker, but it was probably dosage related....heart rate dropped very low, and felt so tired and bad.....I did switch from that.

It is very hard when there is a class of meds that you can't take.

Again, my best wishes to you and Joe!

 

[Rush20]

Sorry to hear about Joe. I am on the beta Toprol XL (I hoped I spelled that right). Pretty low dose - 25 MG/day. My cardio recently switched me off a calcium blocker; Cartia/Cardizem (120Mg) and Digoxin/Lenoxin (25mg) over to the Toprol XL and I feel better, plus no heart flutters. He also changed my routine by taking the Toprol beta blocker right before I go to bed (with a big glass of milk) vs. taking the Digoxin/Lenoxin first thing in the morning and the Cartia/Cardizem mid-morning. Theory is that this will make me less tired during the day. So far it's working, however there are still nights I have a hard time falling asleep.

I hope Joe gets better soon. Best wishes.

 

[Marge]

I am sure sorry Joe can't tolerate the beta blockers. I gather, though, that he is not the only one who has trouble with them.

I've been on coreg now since early November, being titrated up to the target dosage for my weight -- 25 mg 2X a day.

I've been on that dosage for about three weeks now. It has not always been easy, particularly the final jump to the top level. Worst thing was the feeling of intense fatigue that would hit me suddenly -- what bothered me was not so much the sense of physical fatigue, but the way I felt that my mind was just being taken over -- I felt like a zombie, couldn't focus or concentrate, had episodes of short term memory loss. I seem to have adjusted, most of that has dissipated, but the fatigue recurs from time to time --every now and then I still have this feeling that I've hit a wall -- it's a sense of being totally drained physically and mentally that I never had before. (Of course it could be the CHF, but since I never had the kind of fatigue to this extent until I started to take the coreg, I think it's the coreg.)

I've been told you don't see the full effects of the coreg for about six months, but I think it's already helped me some. For instance, I can walk much longer and faster now without feeling any chest pressure or SOB. I am now seriously thinking of maybe even doing some running! I don't know what else could be having this effect since I really haven't changed much else since November.

 

[Harrybaby666]

Hi Nancy, I am on Coreg Also

Hi Nancy, I am on Coreg Also

Hi There Nancy,

Sorry to hear that your hubby is not feeling well. I am on Coreg now 25mg twice daily and my experience is that when I first started taking it, it gave me a second wind. I was able to climb the stairs into my apartment without huffing and puffing, and I thought gee, this is great, i feel much better, but now that I am on it for about 3 months now, I also get really tired like your husband and I want to sleep all the time. I also have noticed that I still cannot make it from my apartment to my local supermarket which is less than a 1/2 mile one way without starting to feel chest pressure, shortness of breath and total exhaustion. I have tried to explain this to my cardio, and he has just blown this off, so I dumped the guy and I see a new cardio soon. I know my situation is not like your hubby's however, I felt that sharing my experience might help give you some perspective on the situation. Take Care, Harrybaby666

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Nancy,

Did they ever try him on the "original" Inderal.

Has been around for many years. Have been taking the LA 60MG version with great success for 4 years.

 

[terry40]

Nancy

Nancy

My prayers are with you and Joe, sounds like you are going through a tough time.

I had a terrible time with beta blockers in the pass, they finally found one that worked for me and I'm sticking with it, they tried to change it after surgery, but I had my PCP call and ask if my old faithful "sectral" was okay, and use it instead of the toprol-xl that they put me on in the hospital.

Inderal was the very first beta blocker they put me on, and it made me feel like I had the FLU, but most people do very well on it.

Take care,

Terry40

 

[Bryan B]

I was recently put on Topral XL 25mg daily. The things I have noticed since I started taking it is that I feel sleepy when I'm sitting in front of the computer at work (or should I say more sleepy...lol), I seem to to have a hard time focusing, and I'm more forgetful. But my heart rate has been much better since I started, worth the side effects to me.

 

[Mb]

Dear Nancy:

Nice to see this post. Other replies should be interesting.

My husband was placed on the beta blocker, atenenol, post surgery. He was titrated up to 125 mg. a day, and then down to what he takes now, 25 mg. a day, as his heart rate goes too slow on the beta blocker. He now splits the pill in half, and takes half in the morning, and half early evening. He has to be on the beta blocker, as you know, becuase his heart rate is not controlled when he moves (goes up to 150 just walking regularly).It is called excercise intolerance from persistent chronic a-fib. As you know, his Dr. has recommended a pacemaker for the slow heart rate, hoping to load him with the beta blocker to prohobit the fast heart rate, and the pacemaker would kick in when it goes too slow.

That said, my understanding of beta blockers is that they make you feel much worse, before they make you feel better. It can take one to 3 months before you feel better from taking them. It makes people very very fatigued at first, and each titration up, same thing happens. Some folks just cannot take the feeling bad before feeling good. Of course Joe has such a complex situation who knows just what is going on. I sincerely hope this gets straightened out, as from what I understand the beta blocker is part of the "gold standard" of treatment, and according to tests, prolong life for those with CHF. My very best wishes to you.
Marybeth

 

[Georgia]

I was on Inderal 25 years ago, when I had arrythmia and tachycardia due to (what else) mvp. I hated it; it made me so tired and miserable; and I groused about it so much, that the doc changed me to a calcium blocker when they came on the market.

Oddly enough, although I'm on a pretty hefty dose of Toprol now (100 mg pm, 50 mg am), it doesn't bother me. I don't know if it's because in comparison with how I felt before surgery I'm better; or if because at my advanced age I don't expect as much energy as I did at 30; but I don't feel the huge sleepiness I did back then.

But just as a matter of course I'd like to get off it.

I've never had any of the other side effects that Joe has (nausea, etc).

Hope things work out - again.

 

[ccrawford]

Nancy - Sure sorry Joe is having such a time. When I first started taking Toprol, I also started a lot of other drugs and was sick as a dog for about a month. I can't therefore reliably tell you that Toprol made me sick. After the initial sickness, I had cold hands and feet from Toprol, and highly vivid dreams at higher dosages. (Wish I could have recorded some of those dreams - Do they make a Tivo for dreams ?) I'm no longer on Toprol. Hope you get Joe straightened out soon. Chris