Concerns about Beta Blockers

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kfay

kfay

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
1,906
Location
North Carolina
After trying to wait out all of my pvc/pac's, and hoping they will subside on their own, I'm giving up today and calling my cardio and telling him I want to go on something to stop them. I haven't had to take any medication for my heart since I had my first surgery almost 28 years ago, so I'm a little discouraged. Here is my concern about going back on a beta blocker...my blood pressure has already been running low (90's/50's) and at rest my hr is in the high 50'-low 60's (this is NOT because I am in great shape!) Do I need to be concerned that they (beta blockers) are going to drop these numbers even more? Would digitalis do the same?

Thanks,

Kim
 
kfay said:
After trying to wait out all of my pvc/pac's, and hoping they will subside on their own, I'm giving up today and calling my cardio and telling him I want to go on something to stop them. I haven't had to take any medication for my heart since I had my first surgery almost 28 years ago, so I'm a little discouraged. Here is my concern about going back on a beta blocker...my blood pressure has already been running low (90's/50's) and at rest my hr is in the high 50'-low 60's (this is NOT because I am in great shape!) Do I need to be concerned that they (beta blockers) are going to drop these numbers even more? Would digitalis do the same?

Thanks,

Kim
Click to expand...

Ask your doctor if taking "magnesium" tablets would help you? I was having a lot of pvc's & my PCP put me on it & they virtually disappeared. I take 5mg daily of beta-blocker called Altace (ramipril generic form) & my blood pressure stays pretty steady at around 118/70 or so. However, when they started me on Altace, I was taking 10mg per day & my BP was way low all the time & I felt really sluggish.

For me, magnesium did the trick. Good luck to you! :)
 
Deff check your magnesium and calcium levels. But for me i didn't notice a difference when i took beta blockers. My blood pressure and pulse stayed about the same on or off them. Maybe, and this is a guess, they kept me from having dangerous or too many pvc's, i don't know. but i would try them and keep a eye on your blood pressure. they work differently for different people i guess
 
Kim, if you do try a BB, like Metoprolol, make sure to start out with maximum 25 mg twice a day or even split the pill in half, 12.5 twice a day. The pills look small, but are strong.
In the morning I take 25 mg and 2 hours later my BP is usually 98/72 and then it rises somewhat during the day.
I really need the 12.5 mg at bedtime to ward off the worst of the PVCs and heart jumps.
 
as long as we're talking about electrolytes, it might be worthwhile to check potassium too. The heart rate thing is something you should definitely talk to your doctor about. None of us laymen know if you'll be ok with an already bradycardic heart rate when you introduce a beta blocker to your system.
 
I have been taking magnesium, hoping that it would help. No go. I use to take a pretty high dose of Inderal with digitalis years and years ago. I remember my blood pressure always being low then, but the low heart rate thing has only been since my surgery. .

I've got a call into my cardio, so I'll see what he suggests.

Kim
 
Kim, I've also had my magnesium, calcium, potassium, and thyroid levels checked.
I'm glad you are having a chat with your cardio, the meds are confusing and he can best determine what you should try.
 
have you had a holter monitor done? If you did, how many are you having a day? Is it just PVC/PAC's or is it VT/SVT?

The reason I ask is because I was thinking maybe it's time to see an electrophysiologist depending on the holter, etc. Especially since you have wolfe-parkinson-white syndrome.
 
Aaron, I've worn so many holters/event monitors in my life that I'm thinking of buying my own! There were pvc's/pac's on this last one although the one before that there were a few very short runs of svt.

I am a pioneering member of ablations. I was in the original group of people to first have them at Duke in 1980. The only difference is that then, they had to do it by OHS and I was on by-pass for over 2 hours. Before this last surgery, I had another EP study in which they could only induce a-fib/flutter (the ablated pathway for my WPW held up) so they did a maze for it.

Kim
 
Kim, same here. My holters catch mild runs of SVT and some PVC/PACs.
No VT, thankfully, because those are the more dangerous ones.
But it's frustrating because we think that post op we are going to be "normal".
 
Update

Update

So, I talked to my Dr. today and he is going to try me on toprol xl 25 mg a day. He thinks all of these pvc/pac's I've been having are due to the remodelling of my heart and hopefully, it will continue to change and they will stop. If the beta blocker doesn't help soon, he wants me to come and talk to his EP guy.

I asked if this was going to cause problems with my low pulse and already low blood pressure (last time he took it it was 90/50). He said we won't know til I'm on it, then I'll either faint or I won't. How's that for scientific?

Fingers crossed!

Kim
 
Kim, I have a naturally low BP(100/70) and the metoprolol didn't budge
it much. I'm pretty sure that 90/50 is the borderline for contraindication
for BP lowering meds.
My best-Dina:)
 
So, typically, how long can I expect it to take for these beta blockers to start working if they are going to? I have been on them now for 4 days and today has been a non-stop day for pvc/pac's..

Kim
 
Slow heart-rate and fainting?

Slow heart-rate and fainting?

I am just new to this forum, but was interested by your question and your history - I have to have a tricuspid and mitral valve replacement and the former seems quite rare.

I also had a very low pulse rate - under 50 resting and under 60 if not exercising - and I had experienced a few close-to-fainting spells. So in order to bump up the beta blockers to see if they would help with the severe regurg I was experiencing I had to get a pacemaker to speed things up. So, I did that and began a steady increase in beta blockers until I got to the maximum dose. This took 9 months or so! Unfortunately, the desired hoped for effect did not happen and the regurg did not reduce.

I am meeting with the surgeon in a couple of weeks to discuss when I will go in for surgery.

Anyhow, you will have to be patient - the effect of the beta blockers is not instantaneous. And I found in the beginning it took three or four weeks to get over the initial light-headedness and spaced out feelings. I continue to be on the beta blockers with no ill effects - I feel pretty much like 'normal.

Good luck?
 
S Walker said:
Anyhow, you will have to be patient - the effect of the beta blockers is not instantaneous. And I found in the beginning it took three or four weeks to get over the initial light-headedness and spaced out feelings. I continue to be on the beta blockers with no ill effects - I feel pretty much like 'normal.

Good luck?
Click to expand...

Fortunately, my Dr. isn't going to allow me a long trail period or a higher dosage to see if they help or not. He said if I didn't see results pretty quickly, he wants the EP guy here at home to see me (I don't know exactly what that guy might want to do...I just had an EP study in April, which was basically ok, I'm scared they are going to say pacemaker).

I lived on beta blockers and digitalis for the first 17 years of my life. I was taking over 300 mg of Inderal at one point trying to control my WPW, so I know what it is like to be on them, it has just been a long time.

Aaron, today, I would have to say that yes, they seem worse. I just told my husband if he wakes up in the middle of the night tonight and I'm not here, I've gone to the hospital becuase they are literally driving me crazy.
 
Hi Kim... I'll be really interested to see how you go with the BBs since I've got much the same problems as you (quite low BP & HR - much the same as your own). My cards haven't wanted to put me on BBs precisely for that reason, even though I'm getting massive amounts of PVCs and short runs of v-tach. I'm hoping post PVR things will improve.


A : )
 
Hi, Kim--

Same here. I also have low blood pressure and have had my own, not-so-fun experiences with beta blockers. My PVCs drive me nuts, and I still have VTach (not sure if it's because I've been on 4 different meds in the past month, but still a pain in the butt). I hope everything works out for you, though.

Love,
Debi (debster913)
 
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