Great on Metoprolol for three years, now afraid to exercise. Need advice.
Posted , 5 users are following.
I'm a 55 year old female. Was diagnosed with PSVT three years ago after wearing a 30 day event monitor. Was put on Metoprolol Tartrate 12.5 mg twice a day. Have done GREAT on it. Was tired the first week or two but that disappeared and I've had lots of energy and very few SVTs and they seemed more minor than original ones. I've been doing Cardio dance and other exercise at the gym three times a week. I always wear a heart monitor (chest strap and watch) to keep an eye on heart rate. Maybe it's silly but it gives me peace of mind because if I have a SVT at the gym I want to know about it. My heart rates usually does great during exercise. I'll get it up to 145 -150 at times. That's about the highest and it always comes back down just like it should. Well a few weeks ago it was around 140 and then it seemed to jump to 200! I saw that number and kinda freaked out because I was never that high even during my SVT's. I think the highest I ever went was 170 and most of them were around 150. Anyway, I walked out of the Cardio dance class and it seemed to just go down on it's own. It could be it was a problem with my watch as sometimes it just stops working and I've googled and read where others have had a high false reading with that particular watch. Anyway, I've been unsure about it. But last night I was doing some dancing at home and just had on my Co2/heart rate finger tip monitor. I was doing really well around 110- 125 or so. Then part of the song had a few jumps in it. Well, that made my heart rate go to 138 or so then it started going even higher after I stopped the dance. I slowly walked to another room where my hubbie was and said look at this monitor my heart rate is continuing to rise even though I am standing perfectly still. It kept rising and when it reached 160 I laid on the floor, did my vagal maneuver and within two minutes it broke and came back down. Now, I am really scared to go back to the gym. Thinking of cancelling my membership. I'm even a little afraid to exercise at home. Why would this start happening when I've done fine the last three years when exercising? Seems like I have to keep it under 130 or so or it might take off. When that happened last night it was in the evening right before my next dose of beta blocker. Normally I exercise in the a.m. a couple hours after my morning dose. Just so frustrating because exercise is so fun and important to me and now I'm afraid to do it. Feeling depressed and very anxious. I have also noticed the last couple mornings when I get out of bed my heartrate with go up to 130 or higher and it doesn't usually do that. Settles down after a few minutes when I sit down in a chair. I've also been having a hard time getting a deep full "chest" breath the last several months. I know you should breath from your abdomen but it's hard for me and lately I've been sighing and yawing and trying to get deep breaths. I went to my gp about it but he didn't really know what it was. I do have a small hiatal hernia and have been having a lot of heartburn feeling in my throat lately and I wonder if that can be part of the problem. Anyway, I'm a nervous wreck today. Afraid to do anything really. I guess I'm just afraid that something may really be wrong with my heart. I was putting on makeup and sitting in a chair for awhile and when I stood up I felt slightly faint for a second. I don't normally do that. Thinking maybe it was because I was so anxious. Took blood pressure and it was kinda high at 130/85. Rested a few minutes and it was 103/70. And this doesn't help matters but I was reading about the Metoprolol Tartrate I take and it said that long term use can cause heart failure. Sigh, just what I needed to hear. lol My doctor never told me that. He just said it was an older drug and pretty safe.
0 likes, 3 replies
billiejo86504 rochelle43965
Posted
I take the same med as u I take 50 twice a day after 9 years it stopped working never knew what I had it will only work for act for so long I tried higher dose plus I tries another med both made me worse had ablation done for it still having palps all day heart rate goes up doing nothing had I had ep study again didn't show svt don't mean there isn't don't always show I have recorder in my chest heart rhythm normal that's all he can say I said why my heart go up then come down when doing nothing no answer changed my med not taking till holiday season is over in case it make me feel worse breathing is funny causes anxiety
linda90194 rochelle43965
Posted
Go see a cardiologist, you may need to have your medication changed. After having SVT I was changed to fleccanaide and that didn't work and now I take rythmol. Don't take too much on the metopropol causing heart failure. If we read and took to heart the information, we would never take any medication.
gene91169 rochelle43965
Posted
Rochelle, I think you would benefit greatly from working with health care people you trust. I see some remarkable similarities between your history and mine, though I'm a 70-yr-old great grandfather.
From my late teenaged years on, my enthusiastic participation in all sorts of sports was compromised by similar heart stuff. My military aviation career was similarly affected.
Relatively little was known about heart rhythm disorders 50 years ago, and physicians had very little to offer. Not so, now. Give some good people a chance to help you, and I confidently predict there's much they can do.
Your comments sound so familiar and normal to any of us who battle this mess. I'm looking forward to reading your descriptions of the good help you're going to get. Take care.