Medicine side affects - Metoprolol

[kimcdougc]

Hi all you experienced people here. I am 25 days post op from my AVR. I have been doing pretty well except now for the last couple of days. I have been on Metoprolol 25mg twice a day since surgery. At first the coughing I had I thought was related to the surgery. Now I have bronchial spasms all the time which make me want to cough. I can't talk (which I of course love to do) or sleep. The bronchial spasms are involuntary. I called my heart surgeons office today and they told me to stop taking and keep a watch on my blood pressure which has been great. I noticed after not taking the Metroprolol for over 16 hours the coughing and bronchial spasms went mostly away but I have been having a erratic heart beat from 96 to 166. (Called the dr. but they haven't called me back yet). I went ahead and took 1/2 (12.5 mg of the Metoprolol and here comes the bronchial spasms and wanting to cough again) in the meantime to get my heart rate back to not being so erratic. Have any of you experienced any of this and what did you finally end up doing to make it work? Thanks for any of your wise comments. They have helped me through this whole AVR and being on the other side. Kim

 

[AZ Don]

I have been taking Metoprolol for almost 4 weeks, no apparent side effects. I was started at 25mg twice a day but bumped up to 50mg twice a day after my first episode of Afib.

 

[kimcdougc]

Thanks AZ Don. Isn't it funny how all of these different medicines affect each of us differently. Thanks for your input. Kim

 

[canon4me]

I have been taking 1 - 50 mg tablet twice daily to get on top of atril fibs. No apparent side affects. One thing I did notice was anytime I have eaten anything really cold like a Popsicle, I immediately go into atril fibs.

 

[Oilman]

Hi Kim,

Sorry to here you are having difficultly with the Metropolol, I also was on the Tartrate brand twice a day, for my first six months, to control some of my PVC's. I only ever had the side affect of getting up from sitting to fast and would experience light headed and dizzy. My cardio thought we should back off the dose also, but I found the PVC's to increase right away, so I remained on the higher dose until just last month. I switched to the Bisoprolol once a day 5mg, which is the same as 100 mgs of Metropolol. So far things are not bad. My heart rate is stable at rest, 60 bpm and blood pressure good at avg 115/75. I just wanted to take my meds once a day, easier for me and my work schedule.

I only ever had the one crazy Afib attack two months before surgury with a HR of 180, needed a cardio version. Now post op I do experience the annoying PCV's and arrythmia's, but not a big run of Afib, so far. I'm thinking I will be needing this heart protection (BB) for awhile yet. Hope you to can find a med that will agree with you as you get more active in recovery. Take care.

 

[dwhist]

I was on Metropolol for maybe 16 weeks after surgery and had a constant cough that went away after I stopped taking it. Is reported a side effect on the drug.

Doctor should be able to put you on something else to help with the heart rate.

 

[epstns]

I've been taking metolrolol succinate (the timed-release version of the drug) for over 2 years now. I started out at 100 mg once a day. I had some coughing, but after a few months, it subsided. I did have other side effects, though. I had a lot of abdominal bloating (looked like I had gained weight, but hadn't) and always felt like I was towing a sled full of rocks behind me. I discussed it with my cardio, and over time we have reduced my dosage - first to 50 mg/day and then to 25 mg/day. We watched my BP and heart rhythm, and I watched the side effects. Now, 2 years, 3 months out from surgery, taking only 25 mg/day, my BP is fine and I have had no afib for over 2 years. The bloating is gone and I feel like the self I felt a few years before surgery.

I guess what this means is that for some of us, when the cardio feels that metoprolol is the best med for the patient, and we have a patient, caring cardio, we can make it work. If your cardio really doesn't want to switch you to another drug, ask about the timed-release version of metoprolol and ask about altering your dosage to see if the side effects diminish. Maybe if you can get the effects to lessen, you can tolerate them until they subside.

 

[tom in MO]

Make sure you are talking to the right doctor. In my treatment post surgery, all medications for the heart, BP, etc. like Metoprolol were handled by my cardiologist not the surgeon. Muscle relaxants and pain pills for the physical trauma were done by my surgeon.

 

[Mom2izzy]

Medicine side affects - Metoprolol

My cardio has me on Metoprolol because he says he "likes it for me"...I haven't had any weird rhythm issues since surgery. Would really love to quit taking the metoprolol...it feels very mood leveling to me. I don't necessarily miss the lows, but I do miss the highs. Also I find some level of stress to be a good motivator...and it's missing now. My GP has ordered an event monitor so we can watch for any weirdo things, but he's thinking it would be OK to try stopping it...I'm only on 25mg/day. I have experienced some dizziness on what seems to be a monthly cycle (stupid hormones), but low BP is normal for me, so I notice even slight drops. Hoping when I quit Metoprolol that will get a little better.

 

[epstns]

Mom2izzy mentioned a point that I had forgotten. One of the "off-label" uses of beta blockers (like metoprolol) is for reduction of anxiety. I'm not aware of it having any effect on "lows" but it does definitely level the "highs." It also suppresses the "fight or flight" reflex.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Kim: Any update after you have spoken to the doctor? I'm on the same med and dose as you. I have no apparent side effects but I am only 2 weeks post-surgery.

I hope things turn around for you soon. Take care. -- Suzanne

 

[tom in MO]

The anti-anxiety and "fight or flight" features were good for me post-surgery. At the time, my wife and 17 yo daughter were fighting like cats and dogs. It made it real easy to sit a dinner and not intervene but just listen to it go around me.

 

[Carol]

I was on metoprolol for 2 years but now on carvedilol.Much nicer.I do not feel I am dragging a load of bricks and no coughing.

 

[sood]

I've been on metorprolol for about a year and a half. They increased my dosage post surgery, I'm at 50 MG per day. I've had no problems with it.

 

[kimcdougc]

Thanks for all your replies. I was taken off of metoprolol cold turkey Tuesday. Nurse said to watch my heart rate and blood pressure. My heart rate would go up to 166 down to 80 in a second. Called the Dr. and off to the ER I go. (Not taking the metoprolol did help with the bronchial spasms which were killer) Thought they were going to shock my heart, but thank the Lord, they put me on a new medicine a calcium channel blocker named Diltiazem 180 mg once a day. It a time released medicine. So far so good. Coughing all but gone, spasms almost gone. My resting heart rate is in the 90's but I can live with that and it should settle down from what they said. The ER advised me to follow up with my heart Dr. ASAP. Here is the kicker...I call my cardiologists and they can't see me till July. So that tells me something...now on the hunt right now for a new cardiologist. Stopping by my surgeons practice today to see who they recommend.

SuzanneSLO, my symptoms didn't start until the 3rd week out and the spasms were so bad I couldn't talk or walk, thus hurting my recovery. Now the new medicine has allowed me to go back to walking etc.

Thanks to all of you here on this sight, I have learned that I am my own best advocate for my health and should not settle on any one Dr. or thing. I am becoming more "educated" thanks to you all as we move along in this "heart journey of ours".

My hat is off to you all. - Kim

 

[virginian777]

the beta blocker didn't make me cough but the lisinopril did, the bb takes away alot of my get up and go but whats one to do most drs love it