Beta blockers and palpitations
Posted , 5 users are following.
hi guys,
I may have finally found something that subsides my heart palpitations. Im on 25mg of metoprolol time release tablets ( a beta blocker) the palps are basically gone, maybe a few a day. (use to be very bad for a while) but im wondering if anyone is on beta blockers and what they think? the idea is to stay on them for a few months the weane off slowly. the goal is not to be on them forever, but get my anxiety under control. My other question is, has anyone had any negative side effects? ive been on them for about a month and a few days ago ive been having some chest, and neck pain. a dull and tight uncomfortable feeling. i feel if its not one thing its anotner. i dont want to go to the doc for every time i think something is wrong. ive had multiple echos and holter monitors (all came back fine) could the beta blocker be making my chest hurt? is it anxiety? i feel like my heart wants to beat faster but cant because its slowed down with the beta blocker. if anyone has any tips, please share. i feel like im going crazy and the doctors keep missing something.
1 like, 8 replies
sam75754 annabanana2019
Posted
Hey Annabana
Ive been taking beta blockers for a little while as well for ectopic beats which were driving me nuts ! They did def help a little with the ectopics specially when excercising it suppressed then completely . I took antenolol 25mg a day for about 4 weeks . Im finding they give me a very tight feeling in my chest and they almost male the palpatations worse at night . They slowed my heart rate in the evening down to low 50s and I think that low heart rate almost allows more time for the ectopics to pop up between beats . I'm now trying to ween off them as i hinkt
sam75754 annabanana2019
Posted
Sorry hit reply too soon.
I think they make me feel worse than the pulpatations themselfs ! My plan for the new year is to try upping my excercise to 30 mins a day moderate activity like running and losing 5 to 10 kg and then see what effect that has on the palpatations . Plan b after that is seeing an ep doctor again and see if he has any other suggestion as beta blockers weren't making me feel any better ( even though heart beat was abit more regular )
annabanana2019 sam75754
Posted
thank you for your input. glad to know im not the only one who feels a little off on betas.
jx41870 annabanana2019
Posted
Beta blockers can be helpful, but they usually come with some side-effects, the one I notice is they make me dream more!
But you can experiment with other things while on them too, including magnesium, and taurine, and diet, and exercise. Also dosage. I take about 1/4 of the normal dose of atenolol and that works well for me, larger doses make me feel a bit zombified. Especially with exercise as they keep your heart from reacting as quickly. But maybe after a couple of years I'm getting used to it, but I still take it easy exercising when on the beta blockers.
annabanana2019 jx41870
Posted
maybe i should take half of my dose (after talking to my cardiologist) i just need to stay off google. when i look up chest and neck pain, it screams heart attack. and im 31 yo female, whos had many tests done. i dont want to keep going to the emergency for eveything. helps to talk with people like yourself
sam75754 annabanana2019
Posted
I find it also hard sometimes to believe stress and anxiety can cause all this . Some days I'm not stressed at all and it still happenes! But like you I'm in my 30s and I have had all sorts of tests done and nothing major shows up . So maybe it is the effects of having your body under chronic stress even if it's intermittent over time it takes its toll ! Anyway I'm going to give the life style changes a good go before thinking about drugs again . I'm not sure about you but I almost felt sick from just on the thought of being on he beta blocker . Talk to Ur cardiologist if you've been checked and don't have dangerous arythmias maybe try slowly to cut back on the beta blocker dose and try some life style changes at the same time (specially excercise ) it will at least makemyou feel better mentally even if your still taking some beta blocker dosage
charles61038 annabanana2019
Posted
Hi, I've been having heart palpitations for a while now. My cardiologist says they are PVC's and harmless. I wore a holter monitor for an entire month. It showed many irregular beats, but still he said they were nothing to be concerned about. They cause me a great deal of anxiety. I had an echo cardiogram that showed nothing abnormal. Stress test also normal. I've been on a beta blocker for several years - Carvedilol 20lmg ER. The cardiologist suggested a change from this one and put me on 50 mg of Metoprolol. At first, it seemed good and the palpitations went away for the most part. Then they came back worse than ever. And I started feeling much worse. Feeling like I was going to pass out several times. I talked to the cardiologist and reduced the Metoprolol to 25 mg. It didn't seem like it was helping at all... so I went back on the Carvedilol. So I was back to feeling better, but still the palpitations. I decided to go to my primary care doctor to see if perhaps I had a chemical imbalance or something else that could cause what was happening to me. The anxiety and depression just kept getting worse. He put me on an anti depressant - generic Zoloft (Sertraline). He started me at 25 mg. And after about 2 weeks I was feeling pretty good. The palpitations were few to none. He had me come back after 6 weeks as a follow up. He upped the dose to 50 mg. Then the palpitations came back, and I felt antsy and the anxiety was back. After a few days, I went back on the 25 mg. Things were better, but still not great. He told me the 25 mg was a very low dose. The usual low dose is 50 mg and can go up to 200 mg. I am waiting a few more days, then I will try the 50 mg again. I just want to get through the new year before I try this again. So many of the anti depressants have side effects of increase depression... why can't there be one that will just let you be comfortable and at ease... and not feel so down. Something that will just let you be ready to start each day... and feel good about it. Anybody have a solution?
chris66493 annabanana2019
Posted
Hi Anna,
For the first few years of my heart troubles I was obsessed by the idea of the doctors missing something but the truth is there is some really not very nice symptoms that feel like they must be very important but in reality it isn't a harmful thing for your body. If after using ecg, holters, echo ect they have recorded your heart doing all the crazy stuff it does and they haven't seen anything then the fight turns into managing it within your life because you'll get very few answers from here on out. I understand how hard that sounds because I remember the way I felt when I was sure I heading for serious health trouble but it will get easier I promise. Some stuff that has helped me: stopped drinking, smoking, caffeine, eating late, took magnesium, focused on fixing GERD symptoms (there seems to be a link) and exercising more. Every day is a fight and we've all gotta be up for that fight.