no mo metoprolol

[The Thief]

If there has been any topic beaten to death on this site it is the topic of metoprolol, specifically not taking it anymore. I was on 25mg for 3 months (since my surgery), took 12.5mg per day for about a week, skipped a day, then took 6mg today. The first day off of the drug was a doozey. My question is:

I know people talk about lower exercise tolerance, but has anyone felt any shortness of breath while laying down or while exercising? My heart rate is elevated, which is expected, but the shortness of breath makes me a bit nervous. I got checked out by the doctor, and everything looked fine. Wondering if anyone else felt this?

 

[Agian]

I tried Metoprolol. It wasn't for me. I think you can get withdrawal symptoms as it wears off, or if you stop it. I would take 50mg in the morning. Just before my night-time dose my HR would hit 120 plus. Freaky.

 

[ChicagoMammy]

I am on 100mg twice daily. I'm on it for life, but when I'm not sure if I've taken my nighttime dose or not all I have to do is take my pulse. I'm around 50 on it and 80 off it.

 

[Elgato]

My Cardiologist put me on 12.5 twice a day to help relieve the BAV symptoms.
It seems to help.

 

[tom in MO]

I went off it w/o any noticable symptoms. I was getting light headed occasionally when standing up. That went away with the metoprolol.

 

[clay_from_nj]

I read here about the bad side effects people are getting from metoprolol, then read things like this: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/791565, and http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0215/p958.html. Maybe some folks ought to give carvedilol a try?

 

[Carol]

I was on Metoprolol for about a year.It dragged me down. I was changed to Carvedilol and what a difference.I feel normal not tired.

 

[AZ Don]

The only side effect I ever had from Metoprolol was trouble sleeping. That was when I was at a higher dosage and I got around it by taking it when I went to bed, so I was asleep before it kicked in. Based on the discussions I've read I have a number of questions next time I see my Cardiologist - including why I am taking it at all, and now whether Carvedilol might be a better alternative. Since I am not in heart failure and my valve is still working pretty well, perhaps this study is more relevant since it was done with healthy subjects: http://eurjhf.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/3/343.full

Conclusions: We conclude that clinically recommended doses of carvedilol cause a clinically relevant beta-blockade in humans predominantly during exercise where it appears to be slightly (although not significantly) less effective than metoprolol. On the other hand, the effects of carvedilol on heart rate at rest appear rather weak, particularly in subjects with a low sympathetic tone. This might be caused by a reflex increase on sympathetic drive secondary to peripheral vasodilation resulting from the alpha-blocking effects of the drug. These results might be helpful in explaining why carvedilol, in contrast to metoprolol, may fail to cause up-regulation of beta-adrenoceptor density and does not decrease nocturnal melatonin release. This, in turn, may be a reason for the weak side-effects of carvedilol resulting from the beta-blockade. In addition, our data might be of interest in the interpretation of the forthcoming results of the COMET trial, although it has to be emphasised that they were derived from healthy subjects and, therefore, cannot be directly extrapolated to patients with heart failure.

Net: Metoprolol slows heart rate slightly more than Carvedilol, especially at rest and Carvedilol has less side effects.

 

[big_L]

I was quite worried about the metoprolol prior to taking it, as I knew that some people have trouble sleeping well with it. I'm on 50mg 2X a day and it does not affect my sleep. I think it is dragging me down a bit and I will talk to my cardiologist this spring about reducing the dose.