getting off atenolol

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hensylee

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2001
Messages
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snowy - Sharpsburg, Ga USA
my dr gave me permission to cut out the atenolol with cautions to check my bp and pulse rate. The pulse rate is the problem. After about a week being off it, the pulse rate was up to 82 one evening so I tried taking one every other day and it seems to work. I am afraid, tho.

Some of you have mentioned that you had trouble getting off it. What were your experiences?
 
Last November my cardio said that I could stop my Metoprolol.
I'm only taking 50 mg per day and my GP agrees that if I am happy with that then why change it...
Anne, are you on the lowest dose already?
 
I am on 25mg atenolol once per day. I take it in the a.m. to avoid the bizarre dreams.

is 82 bpm too high? It alarmed me because it's been in the 70s for years - lowish 70s
 
Ann. I went off the beta blocker (had been on atenolol for 2 years, then switched to ToprolXL...basically same stuff, I think, but still had the vivid dreams and was given okay to stop altogether) very very very very slowly. Maybe if you wean yourself off of it then your heart rate won't be so high.

I cut my dose by 1/4 pill for 5 days, then another 1/4 pill cut for 5 days then on down to a tiny 1/4 of a pill for every other day and then every 3rd day. I really took about 3 weeks to wean myself off of them.

My heart rate had been running high (80's 90's) once I quit, but I didn't care since I was so relieved to be off of them. Then, for another reason, 9 months later, I went in for some acupuncture. My heart rate dropped into the 70's almost immediately and has not returned to it's higher rate. Obviously I am now a true proponent of acupuncture!!

Good luck. Go slow. Keep track.

Best wishes.

Marguerite
 
I had a horrible time myself. Doc took me off it for 2 weeks to see how I felt. This was 5 months post-op, and my heart rebelled. I had numerous events of V-Tach and a truckload of PVCs. Doc then put me on sotalol (Betapace) which has proven to work a heck of a lot better, though if I forget a dose (so easy to forget my evening dose!) I get all PVC-ish. Drawback to the sotalol: shortness of breath. But I'd rather have that than PVCs all day! ;)

The BPM: 82 is high for me, and I'm nearing 33 years old. I try to keep mine between 60-70.
 
Ann,

I was on Toprol XL for about one year before surgery and two years after surgery. Toprol (same as Lopressor or Metoprolol) is in the same class of drug as atenolol (hence the "olol" at the end of the generic name :D ). At my second annual checkup my cardio said I didn't need to take it any more. I asked him if it was ok to wean myself off of it and he said that was fine. I went from 50mg to 25mg to 12.5mg to not taking it. I still noticed that after stopping it my heart rate went up about 10 beats per minute, but after being off of it for awhile my heart rate slowly returned to what is normal for me. BTW...in adults a normal heart rate is considered between 60-100 bpm, so low 80's is not unusual or uncommon. My normal heart rate is about 80 bpm. When I stopped the Toprol it jumped to 88-90 bpm for a few weeks and then gradually fell back to around 80 again.
 
Ann

You said that your HR was up to 82 one evening. Does that mean that it is in the 70's the rest of the time? If so, then perhaps there isn't much need for concern, if it was an isolated elevated reading....My surgeon seemed to think that even if mine was in the 70's he'd of been happy enough, and I'm a couple of years younger than you!! ;)

Before my 1st surgery (2001) my resting HR was 67. After surgery, when all had stabilised it was 62.

After my recent surgery a few months ago, I was on 25mg of atenolol, twice per day. (and a 4mg ace - perindopril/coversyl). My resting HR was somewhere in the low 50's.

At my post surgery review, my surgeon recommended that we try other alternatives to the Beta, to get my BP below his reccommended target of 120/80.

So my doc took me off the Beta gradually and retested my BP after being on the 4mg Ace (only) for 4 weeks. At this appointment my BP was around 124/85 or so. My HR is around 60/62 I think.
So at my request, we are now trying 8mg of the Ace daily, to get the BP a little lower. If that doesn't work he may add in something else.
 
thanks for the input. I have been taking one every other day, but maybe the half pill would work better. And I will keep track as to whether the bpm is constant or intermittent. You have been a great help. Blessins, y'all..........
 
I was originally given Toprol XL prior to AVR (3 years) to try and treat A-Fib...Long story short the Ablation at the time of my AVR took care of the A-Fib, I switched from Toprol XL to Metoprolol due to insurance coverage change. My cardio REFUSES to talk about me coming off of it:mad: ....I never have had BP issues but he says he wants me on it because of the valve....I did go from 100mg to 50mg to now 25mg....I can't tell a difference between the 50mg and 25mg in the way I feel......Does anybody know of a non-BP/non-A-Fib reason for me to be on it?
 
Ann,
I think your plan to skip days and cut the dosage is a good one. I came off the atenolol (after also coming off Toprol) and although my HR was high for awhile, it has settled down.

Cooker, I don't know of a reason for you to be on it unless your heart rate is high. I was put on the Toprol to lower my HR, but the side effects were too much for me.
"
 
It is NOT recommended to go 'cold turkey' when coming off any Beta Blocker.

My Cardiologist recommends cutting the dose in Half for Two Weeks, assessing the result, then cutting that dose in half for another Two Weeks, etc.

'AL Capshaw'
 
hensylee said:
I am on 25mg atenolol once per day. I take it in the a.m. to avoid the bizarre dreams.

is 82 bpm too high? It alarmed me because it's been in the 70s for years - lowish 70s

Hi Ann,
I am on 1/2 tablet of atenolol 25mg each day. It is enough to keep my resting heart rate in the 80s. It would be in the 90s or even a little higher without it. It is a low enough dose that I really don't get any side effects but still get some benefit. They are awfully little tablets to split so I use a pill cutter and that works. Were you having problems that made you want to come off the beta blocker?
 
Atenolol is different from other beta blockers inthat it's the only one that doesn't pass the blood-brain barrier.

I've been off it quite a while. I recently went onto a new (shiny-new) beta blocker called Bystolic. So far no side effects that I'm aware of, with a possible exception of slightly blurry eyesight, which may well have nothing to do with it at all.

It has muffled my "hammerheart" to at least some extent. My HR is in the sixties most of the time with this, so I don;t know how much more he can up it. Dosages go from 5mg to 40 mg, and he started me on 10mg.

I wish you good fortune with stopping the drug. When reasonable and possible, it would seem the best path. People wind up on them for way too long after surgery sometimes, and I fear the body adjusts to them, and then may not adjust back for quite some time, if at all.

Best wishes,
 
Just curious:

Can atenolol cause kidney problems? Has anyone ever had such problems with atenolol?

I am curious because we had to put a cat on atenolol in 1996. Rocky -- age 15 or 16 -- had become blind & we thought it was just "old age." Our GP vet checked him out, referred him to a veterinarian ophthalmologist, who diagnosed HBP, causing him to go blind.
The DVM specialist Rxed atenolol, but it affected Rocky's kidneys so we had to switch meds.
 
cooker said:
I was originally given Toprol XL prior to AVR (3 years) to try and treat A-Fib...Long story short the Ablation at the time of my AVR took care of the A-Fib, I switched from Toprol XL to Metoprolol due to insurance coverage change. My cardio REFUSES to talk about me coming off of it:mad: ....I never have had BP issues but he says he wants me on it because of the valve....I did go from 100mg to 50mg to now 25mg....I can't tell a difference between the 50mg and 25mg in the way I feel......Does anybody know of a non-BP/non-A-Fib reason for me to be on it?

I have some of the same probs as you,and I think that the Beta Blockers
prevent the electrical excitability that causes arrhythmias. I am also on
Toprol XL and have never had hi BP, but did have atrial flutter 3x in 2007
and had 2 ablations.I was told that it was important to prevent hi pulse
or BP because of the pressure it puts on a new valve.
Do you find that Toprol causes edema ? Im 9 weeks postop tricuspid
valve replacement and have as much ankle fluid as I did pre surgery.

Wishing you the best,Dina
 
I tried to get off Atenol and am still taking it voluntarily with the concurrence of my cardiologist. I'm on 25 mg every day but when I tried to cut back further the PVCs and increased HR bothered me so I went back to my 25mg dose where I feel pretty good.

BUT, lately I've been noticing blurry vision. I wear contacts and don't have great eyesight anyway but my prescription has been pretty stable for several years now. Geez, now I'm going to fret that the vision is related to the Atenol.

I've never really been aware of any side effects of Atenol. But, what do I know, there's no baseline, I've been on it since pre-op for PVCs. Blurred vision or kidney problems would not be cool, I'd rather put up with some PVCs.

Sigh. I hate drugs.

Peace,
Ruth
 

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