Headaches after reducing Atenolol

[gari5891]

I am a newbie here and am 10 months into my mitral valve replacement with a mechanical valve. I am doing fine most of the time but I seem to be aware of every little pain and ache in my body which takes me to the internet to research. I know that I cannot believe everything I read but just cant stop myself from doing that. I had a maze procedure done along with my OHS since i had AFIB two months prior to surgery. I seem to be in sinus rhythm but I also experience skipped beats and fast beats atleast once or twice a day. My cardio doesn't seem to be concerned. The most recent developement was that my cardio reduced my atenolol from 100mg to 50 mg after being on 100 for almost a year. All was well for almost a month but then slowly I started developing headaches and they dont seem to go away completely. I find relief from Tylenol but I dont want to keep popping them all the time. Has anyone experienced this ?? and when is the time to go get an mri ?? is MRI safe with a mechanical valve??My headaches have been going on for almost a month and I am also going thro pre menopause.

 

[nngbwh]

Welcome aboard ! Never experienced anything like it. Hopefully someone here can help out. Sorry...........

 

[Bina]

I guess that a good start would be to check the blood pressure and heart rate a couple of times a day.

When I started on Metoprolol and had twinges in the blood vessels in the side of my head, my home nurse said that it
was an adjustment from the med regulating the blood pressure/flow. Keep your doctor up to date.

 

[Optimus]

I had a maze procedure done along with my OHS since i had AFIB two months prior to surgery. I seem to be in sinus rhythm but I also experience skipped beats and fast beats atleast once or twice a day. My cardio doesn't seem to be concerned.

To the skipped and fast beats....I too, was in AFIB, more than once, and had MAZE at my surgery. I am having long bouts of sinus, and then "flutter" type rhythms....skipping, etc. many times thoughout the day. My Cardiologist is fine with it as long as I feel good, (which I do.) I am going back on Multaq for 4 weeks to see if it helps my rhythm smooth out, then I will wear a holter for a day and we can check the results. If no improvement, options are: Live with it, try cardioversion now that my valves are repaired....or different meds. Not sure about the headaches. It does take awhile to really recover, everyone says that so THAT must be true, just hard for us to believe!!!!! Good luck!

S.

 

[Guest]

I had headaches post op, but I have history of migraine with aura. Now I get the aura, occasionally the migraine afterwards, seasonal allergies are also a trigger for me. Fluctuating hormones can cause migraine. My sister has headaches and she is in pre-menopause. If you have a history of migraine, talk to your PCP to see if you can use a prescription like imitrex or maxalt (sublingual tablet)...as long as your cardio is okay with that too. My cardio said that beta blockers help with migraine so maybe your adjusting to a lower doseage is allowing them to occur more frequently.

I wish you the best of luck, headaches of any kind are no fun at all. :frown2:

 

[gari5891]

Thanks, For all your replies. I met my cardio yesterday and made him reduce my atenolol to 50 mg . With 75 my heart rate drops down to 55 by the middle of the day and with that I am experiencing a little fatigue and dizziness. He was insistent that 150/90 BP will not result in headaches but I can bet my life that the high BP is causing my headaches, because i am recording my BP whenever i have one. I also read that reducing betablockers might trigger headaches. I am going by real life experiences than some clinical studies because each body is different and reactions are totally individual, but if these dont disappear soon I will go get an MRI done