Name and Rate Your Beta Blocker(s)

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Duff Man

VR.org Supporter
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May 1, 2008
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I want to make this one of those 'game' type forum threads where everyone just kinda follows the premise of the thread. Basically just say what beta blockers you've taken, and what you've noticed about them, or what you think about them. Everyone has an opinion of some sort about beta blockers, and probably a particular one... so I bet this could be kinda fun.

Ok, ok, not everyone has an opinion, but if you've been taking them for 5 or 10 years I bet you do. :biggrin2:

Bystolic - Way, way easier on my lungs and stomach. The 20mg dose did not "feel" as effective as a 100mg dose of tenormin, and the heart rate was not as well controlled as on tenormin. The half life is longer and it didn't feel necessary to take it exactly 24 hours after the last dose like tenormin or metoprolol. If my heart rate weren't such a problem, I'd probably still be on this one... largely because I didn't have nearly as many asthma/gerd problems on it. The only other issue is that it was around 27 bucks a month... definitely not a 4 dollar generic.

Tenormin - So far this has been the best BB to control my heart rate. It wears off too quick, in my opinion, so I take 50mg every 12 hours instead of 100mg every 24. It's cheap, and I have a two year stockpile in an airtight container with water absorbing canisters to protect the pills... since they're hydrophillic. I started taking this med about 7 years ago and I really think it's been crucial to keeping me alive. I feel very grateful for the doc who originally prescribed it, the company who designed it and the fact that I decided I would take the leap of faith to take the first pill. Not to be gross, but I think it makes the stools more loose and it's probably an unavoidable side effect of the way it's not super specific as to beta 1 or beta 2.

Metoprolol - The most memorable about this med is that it gave me bad dreams and upset my stomach. I think the stomach upset came from the controlled release formulation, where the medicine actually released some in my intestines instead of my stomach. This medicine also seemed to "wear out" too fast, and I felt the need to take it every 12 hours instead of 24 because my heart would start to pound around the 21st, 22nd hour. I'm not sure why it gave me bad dreams, but that alone was bad enough to not take it anymore. I'm just generally not a fan of this one, even though docs prescribe a ton of it.


Bisoprolol - tried it for two or three nights at 10 mg and my blood pressure became scary high so I abandoned the drug entirely. I also had some bad dreams on it. Bad dreams with a switch from one BB to another isn't uncommon for me though. I'm too scared of the high BP to try it again, but I was hoping it would be a good blend between tenormin's effectiveness on heart rate and bystolic's gentler disposition on my lungs and stomach. It's also a little scary that it's not a very commonly prescribed beta blocker... I kinda like to stick with the rest of the herd on some things.


Go!
 
I take carvedilol, twice a day. Had taken metroprolol for a few years and my doc decided to switch me, not exactly sure why. Anyway, the "c" seems to work well. Not aware of any bad side-effects and all my numbers are good.
 
Bisoprolol (generic for Zebeta). I took 2.5 mg of this from probably the late 1990's til Nov 2009. I had the perceived side effect of difficulty handling heat/humidity. Medical sources vary on whether this is a true side effect. After my AVR I started exercising more and joined the Y. Apparently my heart rate reduced from fitness so that my resting heart rate was about 40, and I had a lot of lightheadness, so my cardiologist let me drop the beta-blocker (but not the ACE inhibitor she prescribed after VR). Again my subjective feeling is that I can handle heat with humidity better--though I still don't like it one little bit.
 
Metoprolol....regular release formula. Prescribed for pounding HR and PVC/PAC and SVT runs.
Taking about 56 mg per day split into 4 doses, it just wears off too fast.
No stomach issues. Initially had nightmares but those have all but disappeared.
 
Carvedilol, current dose 12.5 2x day, prior dose 25 mg 2x day, prior prior dose 50 mg 2x day. At highest dose, I had trouble with dizziness and being out in bright lights - like I'd been to the eye doctor and had my eyes dialated. Other than that, little problems.
Sotalol - dose 80 mg 2x day. No problems. I take both drugs simultaneously, 'cause I'm just SOOOO special.
 
The "big bummer" IE BB or beta blocker
On 2x25mg Metoprolol daily until surgery later Jan 2011. Knocked the energy out of me and brought on depression at first. It's not bad now that I have adjusted. It just kind of saps my energy and enthusiasm. Sometimes it makes me a little blue.
 
I now take no beta blockers however in the first 15 months post surgery I was on Metoprolol then Carvedilol and finally Metoprolol extended release.
The Metoprolol was 12.5 x2 daily, I didn't have much trouble with this, however the cardio switched me to Carvedilol after 6 weeks.
I cant remember the Carvedilol dosage as it was 6 years ago, all I can say is it made me miserable and I complained to the cardio after 3 months and said take me off it.
Carvedilol gave me a headache that lasted for the 3 months without relief, extreme tiredness, continual dreaming at night and I am a person that doesn’t normally dream, a complete mental haze much like a bad hangover (poor concentration, poor short term memory and slow reaction time).
I was changed to Metoprolol extended release; however the dosage was increased over time to 95mg a day.
The change back to Metoprolol resolved the headache issue and the dreaming, however as the dosage was increased I once again had the problem with tiredness and mental haze.
The mental haze caused by the beta blockers was such that I tried to avoid driving where possible as I it just didn't feel safe to do so.
The other minor side effect I noticed while on Metoprolol over winter was that my hands and face felt the cold far more than normal, this was really a non issue though.
Fortunately after my heart remodelled and I discontinued beta blockers I feel normal again and have had no rhythm problems and my resting heart rate is steady in the high 50's.
I would need a convincing argument to go on this class of drug indefinitely that the benefits outweighed the side effects.
I would much rather be on ACE for blood pressure control than beta blockers.
 
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Meteprolol

Meteprolol

When I went into A-Fib in 2005 before my surgery, I was on 100 mg (50 morning, 50 evening) of Metoprolol for one week. I found I could barely lift my legs when I went for a walk (and I LOVE walking)! I now take 25 mg (12½ morning, 12½ evening) because I have always had kind of a fast heartbeat, and I feel fine.:smile2:
 
I take 100mg of METOPROLOL daily and have been for about 5 years.The only side effect is I sometimes forget my name??????

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I take a 100 mg AND a 50mg METOPROLOL moring and again at bedtime and I also sometimes forget bigsidster's name
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Ohhhh yeah, coincidentally, I forgot to mention the memory deficits from the beta blockers. :D I noticed less with Bystolic than Tenormin by far. Metoprolol... i didn't really take it long enough to make a fair assessment of its effect on my memory.

Sometimes I find myelf getting kinda worried about being so forgetful, and then I realize I'm on the beta blockers so it's to be expected.
 
metoprolol- ahh! i hated it! it made me gain 10lbs (luckily i lost that 10lbs after not taking it for 2 weeks) it made me tired, dizzy..made my blood pressure too low.... however, i do feel that it relieved my anxiety a teensy bit. i think because i knew what i was doing for my heart so i was reassured everything would e okay. also took care of some slight chest pain i was having.
 
I was on 12.5mg metoprolol 2x/day post-op, with tachycardia and only one short bout of a-fib. Then cut off when I was discharged to home. Then put back on 25mg metoprolol 2x/day after an ambulance trip to the ER with crazy tachycardia (150 bpm!) & a-fib, which became "only" a-flutter after a calcium channel blocker was squirted into my IV.

I feel a bit snoozy since being back on the metoprolol, and my BP is sometimes reading quite low (even for me), like 98 over 75. But at least my resting HR is staying below 100.

What shocked me most about the metoprolol is the COST! I just assumed that all these fancy high-tech heart-control drugs were high-profit items, but a month's-worth of metoprolol was about $2 plus a $8 "dispensing fee"! The druggist chopped 50mg coated caplets in half because the 50's qualify for some senior's rebate and the 25's didn't. My wife got the prescription filled while I was waiting for pickup in the ER. Me, I think I would have saved the nice man the trouble of chopping all those pills to try to get me a $2 rebate!!
 
Metoprolol - The most memorable about this med is that it gave me bad dreams and upset my stomach. I think the stomach upset came from the controlled release formulation, where the medicine actually released some in my intestines instead of my stomach. This medicine also seemed to "wear out" too fast, and I felt the need to take it every 12 hours instead of 24 because my heart would start to pound around the 21st, 22nd hour. I'm not sure why it gave me bad dreams, but that alone was bad enough to not take it anymore. I'm just generally not a fan of this one, even though docs prescribe a ton of it.

My husband takes Metoprolol. Lo and behold, he has terrible dreams, an upset stomach, and heart discomfort at night. He takes it in the morning when he wakes up. Another member suggested that he take it at night if his doctors allow it. Think that'd help with all the side effects?

~Maria
 
I have only been on one beta blocker...metoprolol. I have been on both the extended release (Toprol XL) and the non-extended release version. It does make me somewhat sluggish and the extended release version didn't seem to carry me through 24 hours. I prefer the non-extended release version and it does an excellent job at controlling my heart rate. It is so-so on controlling blood pressure but I have been taking either a calcium channel blocker (when I had A-Flutter) or ace inhibitor (which I am on now) and the combination has kept my BP in the 110/70 range and my heart rate around 70. I can deal with a bit of fatigue if I can continue to keep those numbers. BTW I take metoprolol 50mg every 12 hours and enalapril 10mg every 12 hours. Both doses are the highest I have ever been on but that is mostly due to my aortic root being 5.8cm and I am forced to wait for financial assistance before I can have surgery. It has now been 4 months since I applied for SS disability and I still have not gotten an answer.
 
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