Metoprolol & Simvistatin

[lieb2101]

Hello Everyone!
It's been some time since I've been on here. I'd like to check in and say that everything has been going very well since my surgery in January. I consider myself to be 110% recovered although I am still taking it easy with lifting anything heavy (and probably will stay that way for anything greater than 50lbs).
My only problem is with my meds and I wanted to ask about your experiences with metoprolol and simvistatin. I've been trying to get in touch with my Surgeon or Cardiologist but haven't had much luck lately.
When I got out of surgery, my BP was high because my heart was used to pumping hard through my bad valve. Once I got new plumbing it took it a while to re-adjust and figure out that it didn't have to work as hard anymore.
After surgery they put me on 25mg of metoprolol and then bumped it up to 50mg (at my request) when I was having trouble sleeping.
The problem is now my BP is VERY low because my heart has adjusted and I can't get them to re-evaluate my dosage. It's starting to really affect my work and I've been noticing an increase in depression and mood swings for no reason. After reading up on the stuff, I'd like to get off of it completely. I've taken myself down to 25mg (breaking the pill in half along the score mark) and I've noticed an immediate improvement. I'm just afraid of going off completely because I've heard stories of bad withdrawal symptoms.
Right now, with taking 25mg a day for the past week, my BP is at 110/60, and that's mid day AFTER drinking coffee! I really don't think that I need to be on a beta blocker anymore.
As for the simvistatin, I'm not sure why they put me on it in the first place. My dad has a history of bad chlorestorol but mine was only borderline high before surgery and it's pretty low right now. I've also made some big diet changes and I don't like the additional risk to my liver from these statin drugs. From what I've read, they're nasty too...
From my standpoint, the less medication I'm on, the better. I just want to make sure that I'm not putting myself at more of a risk by going off them.
I promise I'll consult a doc before doing anything but I wanted to check and see if anyone here could relate one way or the other.

Thanks for reading. I wish everyone the best.
-Brian

 

[Superbob]

I take one 25 MG metoprolol twice a day, and one 20MG simvastatin once a day. I am not aware of any ill effects. My BP and cholesterol numbers are very good and my doc thinks the meds have helped. You are right, though, the docs should always be pushed to reassess the meds for various meds. Also, different people react in differing ways to meds

 

[Bina]

I also take 25 mg of Metoprolol twice a day.....it's my insurance that my BP won't get too high and that I can be guaranteed a good night of sleep. Brian, your BP of 110/60 is just fine for mid day, I'm usually a bit lower than that at noon and get up to 110 later in the day. You are almost 5 mths out and will still benefit from the BB. Enjoy your great progress!

 

[aussigal]

I personally like the idea of taking a BB full-time as Bina says "its kind of an insurance" against your BP going crazy and it also keeps that heartrate fairly slow'n'steady. 25mg isn't that much. The Statin probably is helping keep your Cholesterol low, there may be room for an adjustment or compromise there. Have you had a Cholesterol test lately?...and how are your levels?...

I take 50 mg of Metoprolol twice a day, down from 75mg and almost immediately noticed a good difference in how I felt...I dont however wish to decrease it further, I had very bad high BP before my AVR.

 

[gerrys]

I'm seven weeks post surgery and taking metoprolol 25mg twice per day, lipitor 40mg once per day, cumadin 2.5 mg oncer per day (this stops at 90 days) - no issues.

I was also on Benicar immediately after surgery but my BP bottomed out and I had to discontinue it.

I'd keep trying to get an appt with your cardiologist for evaluation. If it's that difficult to see him (her) I'd get with an internal medicine guy.