Hello

Sorry about that Mark, I missed some of your posts, they didn't come through for some reason, I only saw one and that was the one I responded to, neverless, as a previous poster commented, I think he said it all, you should never just stop taking any medicine, you should at the very least

notify your doc of your intention and the reason for doing so to avoid a

possible medical emergency, because you would be the one paying in the

end, no one else.  Were your bps high in the first place, I'm assuming they

were or you wouldn't have been put on any medicine.  Here in the U.S, it's common for many practitiioners to get the patient to reduce if he's overweight, cut out sodium or reduce it, but 145/95 (i think that was 1 of the readings you got while on the toprol, that's not all that elevated.  Excess weight can elevate pressure in some individuals anyway, and Zertec would never be approved by any doc in this country treating a

patient with hypertension.  Did your doc even know you were taking this

OTC med?  I would think not.  I don't know how often you check your BP,

but here in the states docs generally like their patients to check it 2 ot 3 times a week, anymore than that is discouraged because oftentimes a

person may anticipate that it's going to be elevated, and that mindset alone will elevate it everytime, thus making it harder in the long run for the

practitioner to manage.  I personally have had a lot of experience with hypertension, as I inherited it from my father who was diagnosed at 17. He

was skinny when he was diagnosed, so weight wasn't a factor.  Nevertheless, he died at 62 of a massive coronary due to longstanding

hypertension. He took his medicine when he felt like it, sometimes

not bothering to take it at all.  I, on the other hand wasn't treated medically for mine until I was 32, but I had high BP, by definition from the age of 28, and I wasn't overweight either.  I take 2 medicines now, I have heart failure from 3 heart attacks ( that I've had through the years) and you better believe hypertension played a part.  I have no blockages though, all my heart attacks were due to coronary artery vasospasms.  My vasospasms

were propabably stress related due to my occupation and other factors,

which I don't fully understand at this point.  I don't smoke (never have), I eat healthy and still get exercise, even with heart failure, because If I don't,

I will succumb that much sooner.  Have you been evaluated for sleep apnea?

You're right, by medical definition that is stage 1, and in the U.S it's usually not treated with prescriptions at that stage, if they're are other contributing

factors, like obesity, smoking, poor diet, etc.,, especially if a person is young,

because none of these medicines are without side effects, and they know 

their patient will be on them for the rest of their life.  There is no cure for

essential hypertension, however if a person has malignant hypertension, 

then that's another matter.  A  lot more serious as well, because if they don't find the reason for that kind, you can die pretty quickly, no matter your age.  I was worked up for that initially, and I'm thankful I didn't have 

that kind, because it is a lot more serious.

Mark,   that's one  of the side effects of the drug it slows down the heart rate so you will feel tired.. I also take metoprolol and am tired all the time, the other part of this drug is concerned with the blood pressure and I have found it's not that good at bringing down the bp..

Don't they prescribe Bystolic over in the UK?  I've been taking that for 3 years now, and even with stage 3 heart failure (63) I'm not tired, unless

you're confusing tired with feeling fatigued.  Now, I do feel fatigued, but 

I would expect that with an uncorrected heart defect combined with heart

failure.  Bystolic is a third generation beta blocker, and it's quite an improvement over metoprolol.  I took that for a long time, it lowered by

BP nicely, but I was always looking for a chair to sit down.  I sit now, but

not nearly as much as back then, and I'm older now, so I definitely would

never go back to the older generation beta blocker.  I'll pay more, it's worth

it.

Hi Scotgal... I'm in the U.S.   I've tried to get off metoprolol a few months back, the doctor prescribed Bystolic/Hrtz... it was awful and I had to go back to metoprolol.. for some reason I can not take hrtz.. a water pill doesn't work for me..

ann c.04098...there are other diurtetics besides hrtz. Ask your Dr. about Adapamide..it's an excellent quality diuretic. 

Metropolol as you know is a beta blocker, & beta blockers cannot be abruptly stopped. Weaning is necessary. 

Thanks Mike, yes I know beat blockers can not be stopped.. this was a combination.. also have been on other "water" pills.. they do not work for me..

Hi Ann,

I take just plain Bystolic without the thiazide, because I also take Valsartan, and that is combined with a thiazide.  I would'nt even be takinging any thiazide, but because of the heart failure I'd be taking on water like a sinking ship if I didn't.  I also take a pretty powerful newer

generation loop diaretic once a week called torsemide.  Back in the day

when I took metoprolol I did notice a slight difference between the tartrate

formulation and the succinate formulation.  They reduced my heart rate

so much I couldn't even get to 80% of my target rate.  Bystolic also reduces the heart rate, but you don't want a faster heart rate anyway with

heart failure, you won't last as long as you would with a slower heart rate.

If I live long enough I'll probably end up with an LVAD, because I definitely

couldn't afford a transplant.

What are you allergic to Mike?  Maybe you should look into purchasing

an air cleaner.  I'm not sure if Flonase conflicts with BPmeds, but I'll check

into it for you.  Can you purchase Claratin (sp), I used to take that a while

back and that is compatible with some BP meds.

Mike,

According to a legitimate online drug side effects site, there are no known

interactions when taking Flonase and beta blockers, but they also add that

doesn't mean there couldn't be, they're just not aware of any that would have been reported.  Hope that's of some help to you.