slipkid, I always make sure to eat something when I take my night pill even if I’m not hungry. This lessens that side effect.
To metoprolol or not to metoprolol
- Thread starter csigabiga
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slipkid
Well-known member
Didn't seem to make any diff with me. Even when taking the pill in the A.M. I had the horrible nightmares instead of when they switched me to evening (I used to take it with dinner at that point). Waking up screaming (or the sicko voice trying to scream in your sleep that made me sound like Frankenstein) was not fun.
Wow! Sorry to read this though I laughed reading it! Mine are vivid dreams, mostly pleasant! I hope they will never change. I had and would have nightmares when I eat too much at dinner or just before I sleep.
I'm also on 12.5 mg twice a day and tolerate it well. My initial 25 mg twice daily made me tired and my bp too low.
Did you have a bicuspid aortic valve like me? If so, there's another reason to consider staying on Metroprol.
Following my surgery, I consulted with a cardiologist specializing in congenital heart defects, including bicuspid aortic valve.
While a mechanical valve and the repaired aorta are likely unaffected by blood pressure, the concern is the remaining unrepaired aorta. The same disease process that associates bicuspid aortic valves with ascending aortic aneurysms can lead to aneurysms in other locations of the aorta.
Lowering blood pressure with a beta blocker will reduce the risk of another aneurysm. That risk is relatively small, but since I'm tolerating Metroprol well, I'm staying on it for that reason.
slipkid
Well-known member
Wow that's interesting, I did not know about that bicuspid connection with aneurysms. I had bicuspid aortic valve all my life and no Dr (including 2 cardiologists) ever mentioned anything about that risk.
slipkid
Well-known member
Another factor in the dreaming/nightmares, and I may have mentioned this already in another thread (I 4get) is that I am also on a PPI (proton pump inhibitor to help reduce my horrible acid reflux problems).
When first put on PPIs I immediately noticed a big increase of very very vivid dreams as you say. Ramped up my memorable crazy dreaming a thousand fold. But the dreams were never nightmares, just really detailed crazy stuff, very enjoyable to laugh about and tell them to people. Going on metoprolol changed them to nightmares, extremely frightening ones which took on another dimension as to actually think I was awake and experiencing them for real. Wonder if those two drugs in combination increased that effect?
Yeah, my cardiologists never mentioned it but referred me to a congenital heart disease specialist for a consult, who brought it up. She also suggested skipping an echo every few years and doing a cardiac CT or cardiac MRI (to reduce radiation exposure). Otherwise, you won't know if you have an aneurysm growing in an unrepaired portion of your aorta. The odds are pretty small, but the risk is easy to mitigate.
"Current clinical and scientific studies are revealing that bicuspid aortic disease is not a simple valve condition. It increasingly appears to be a genetically based connective tissue disorder."
Source:
https://www.bicuspidfoundation.org/whatisbav.htm
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Ouch. Just wondering if the dosage or the filling in the pill makes a difference! What dosage were you on and what pill color and which manufacturer if you remember!
I find Teva is a good manufacturer.
slipkid
Well-known member
Are you asking about the PPI or the metoprolol?
For now I'll assume the PPI because that is a capsule with unknown filler (as opposed to a tablet like metoprolol) - in which case the answer is 30mg Prevacid. And it is the brandname not any of the generic "lansoprazole" options like Tevas.
It is ridiculously expensive now but wasn't supercheap when I started on it either. I was waiting eagerly for Teva to release their generic (they were the first to come out with a generic prevacid) way back when (early 2000's?). I can only afford to buy Prevacid from Canada btw, and even then I would not call it "cheap" (costs about $100/month from Canada but like 7-8 times that here in USA IIRC).
The Teva generic got delayed because of lawsuits by TAP (joint company of Abbott and Takeda I believe who are the makers of real Prevacid) but eventually it came out. Long story I won't attempt to go into with all the details but over the years I've tried all the generic "prevacids" and NONE of them work for me. And I discovered WHY they don't work.
slipkid
Well-known member
Wow, that is really interesting and makes sense as far as my own medical history goes. The genetic makeup probably affects a lot of things not just that.
slipkid
Well-known member
They were tablets. Do not recall what they looked like other than they were small and white. Dosage was 25 mg. Don't know who made them - wait a minute, let me look around, I save my pharmacy receipts and keep them with my tax record each year, that might say who made them....hold on.........OK here goes!
The prescription info receipt says (amongst other things):
Metoprolol Succ ER
Active ingredient: Metoprolol Extended-Release
Common Brand Names: Kapspargo Sprinkle, Toprol XL
25mg tablet
MFR: Lannett Co, INC
Doesn't list inactive ingredients. I assume that Succ means it is the Succinate form of Metoprolol.
Also was extended release. Would have thought that means you shouldn't cut them up since the outer coating affects the absorption doesn't it - but they had me cut them in half after about a week or two of being unable to function on it at all at 25 mg? I'm not a pharmacist though. It does specifically say not to crush or chew. Strange...
Hi @slipkid,
So, you were on the same dose I have been on since January…25 mg (Succ ER white pill)!
Strange how we, patients, have different reactions to this medication.
Recently, my heart rate has been rising up, so my doctor advised me to take an extra half pill twice a day. So, it’s ok to cut the pill!
So, you were on the same dose I have been on since January…25 mg (Succ ER white pill)!
Strange how we, patients, have different reactions to this medication.
Recently, my heart rate has been rising up, so my doctor advised me to take an extra half pill twice a day. So, it’s ok to cut the pill!
DJ-Rae09
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I stopped metoprolol about 3 months after my AVR. I didn't wan't to stay on it for long, and as soon as my HR went back to normal, high 60s low 70s I stopped it with the doctors approval.
macvalve
Member
I'm a 40 year old male, about 7 months out from surgery and down to 25mg per day (from 200mg I believe). I had a rare mono-cuspid valve but am on the metoprolol due to having a lot of a-fib right after the surgery. I no longer go into a-fib and my cardiologist is pretty on the fence about me coming off or staying on metoprolol.
I definitely get out of breath easier than I used to when working out, and worrisome is that every once in a while I also get lightheaded when standing up.
I hate seeing how low my VO2max is on my Apple Watch, but I also worry about another aneurysm if I get off metoprolol. I'll likely choose to stay on it, but am not 100% sure. I kind of want to get off it for a few months to see if I feel a huge difference.
I definitely get out of breath easier than I used to when working out, and worrisome is that every once in a while I also get lightheaded when standing up.
I hate seeing how low my VO2max is on my Apple Watch, but I also worry about another aneurysm if I get off metoprolol. I'll likely choose to stay on it, but am not 100% sure. I kind of want to get off it for a few months to see if I feel a huge difference.
