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Switching from 25 MG Metoprolol to 5 MG Amlodipine - Bad Experience

Posted , 8 users are following.

JohnHornbuckle
JohnHornbuckle

Hello,

36 year old male here

My Dr. switched me from Metoprolol to Amlodipine a week ago after I had complained of asthma/breathing issues. I am also an anxiety sufferer and had assumed my breathing issues were from my anxiety. I had been on a beta blocker for about 7 years. I also take Losartan 100mg once daily. I specifically asked my Dr. if I needed to wean off the Metoprolol and he said it was fine to stop cold turkey.

The Good - My breathing has already been much better and my blood pressure is even a little better. I would like to make this work if possible. My resting heart rate was elevated for the first 2 days but now it has returned to normal in the 60s.

The Bad - Any type of physical activity and my heart rate immediately goes way up. Eating a meal it goes up to 100-110. I carried in a few groceries and it went up to 130. I started raking the backyard and after a couple minutes it went up to 155. I had to stop and rest every couple of minutes. It goes back down almost as quickly as it rises. My HR never went up like this on the beta blocker. Will this get better over time?

The Very Bad - I have woke up twice now in the night with my heart racing. It throws me into a panic and I both times I had to run to the shower and sit there until it calmed down. The first time I had drinks that evening so I figured it was due to that and decided not to drink any more until I fully adjust to this change.

Last night it happened again. I was actually dreaming about my heart racing and my skin burning before I woke up to it actually happening. I put my face in front of the fan for a few minutes until my heart rate slowed but my skin literally felt like it was on fire. I have never felt my skin burning like that and I had myself convinced that I had Coronavirus. It freaked me out! I had to rush into a cold shower when then I immediately started shaking uncontrollably for 5-10 minutes. I was finally able to fall back asleep for the rest of the night. This morning I still feel like I am hot (although not as bad) but my temperature is normal.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Since it has been a week should I assume the worst is over and just power through it or take a tiny bit of metoprolol for a few weeks to wean off slowly? I have an appointment again tomorrow with my Dr to discuss, but I would trust the opinions of people that have gone through this over his.

Another bad thing is that some of these withdrawal symptoms including the burning are also possible side effects of Amlodipine. 😦

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • jx41870
    jx41870 JohnHornbuckle

    Edited

    What was your dosage with Metoprolol - 25mg once a day or twice a day?

    In either case it appears to have been a minimal dosage, and yet it might have been a little optimistic to drop it cold turkey.

    Beta blockers are good against anxiety-like systems, amlodipine, is not.

    And maybe the "anxiety" was just an unstable heart rhythm in the first place.

    I've been taking a really minimal dosage of another beta blocker, atenolol, for several years, and yet when I occasionally have a lack of symptoms and try to cut it out entirely I get the fast heart rate, tachycardia, from very minor things, as you describe. Frankly, I suspect I've had that my entire life and maybe should have been on beta blockers decades earlier, but that's a whole other discussion, LOL.

    Don't know what to say about breathing problems.

    You might try another beta blocker, presume the major reason was for blood pressure, I've been pretty happy with the atenolol, though I take it at just 12.5mg/day, that's about 1/4 of a "normal" minimal adult dose, but the full dose makes me feel like a zombie.

    • JohnHornbuckle
      JohnHornbuckle jx41870

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply. It was just 25 mg once per day so maybe that is why he said I could stop all at once. Now that you mention it, I do recall when I was younger my heart used to start beating rapidly even from something like just standing up. I may have just been used to it and of course that was before I had a smart watch that allowed me to constantly obsess over my heart rate.

      Now I don't know if my current symptoms are the withdrawal, side effects from the new medicine, my anxiety, or a combo of all 3.

  • brett00627
    brett00627 JohnHornbuckle

    Posted

    hi john have these problem resolved for you yet? withdrawing from atenolol having exact same problems high heart rate. pain. obsessing

    • JohnHornbuckle
      JohnHornbuckle brett00627

      Posted

      Hello,

      No it hasn't resolved. My dr. now switched me from Amlodipine to lisinopril to see if that changes anything. He wants me to check back in 2 weeks and then go see a cardiologist if the fast heart rate is still there. He seems to think it's not normal but everything I read online says it's common to have a fast heart rate after stopping a beta blocker until your body gets used to the change. I just want to know how long that is going to take.

      Also, the burning sensation I was having was caused by the amlodopine. That part did resolve when I switched to lisinopril.

  • joshuapryce1987
    joshuapryce1987 JohnHornbuckle

    Posted

    This naturally happens fear brings fear. Anxiety brings anxiety. I suppose you have to learn on being calm and relaxed and being able to know how to be composed when having these issues is something you need to work on.

  • tara77076
    tara77076 JohnHornbuckle

    Posted

    How are you now??? Has your heart gotten any better? I too am having breathing issues on the Metoprolol and I am scared I do NOT like it. I have read many others complaining about it too. I was on the pill from 15-25 and I was pregnant around the time I was feeling short of breath THEN.. the cardiologist took me off the 50 mgs cold turkey 7 months pregnant. Well, after baby I developed Graves disease/hyperthyroidism and that too makes the HR fast. Well.. after he thyroid is in normal range you should have a normal HR.. mine never went to normal and I have now been diagnosed with inappropriate sinus tachycardia.. look it up. NOW, I am wondering did coming off metoprolol cause my heart to always be fast now? Now I am back on this crap 1/2 of 25 mgs and I am not once again short of breath. Had a breathing test and I was one point off being normal and now I believe they are trying to diagnose me with COPD at 28.... I am so scared... How are you today?

    • JohnHornbuckle
      JohnHornbuckle tara77076

      Posted

      I ended up going back to the Metoprolol and they even increased it from 25mg to 50mg. I suffer with anxiety so could not handle the increased heart rate off it without having a panic attack. The strange thing is my breathing hasn't been too bad. I had a diet coke addiction and I discovered that my breathing woukd be bad when i drank a ton of diet coke so i stopped and it went away. i also found that my breathing isnt as good if i lay around a lot. if i stay active it helps. maybe gets more blood/oxygen pumping through?

  • tara77076
    tara77076 JohnHornbuckle

    Posted

    I am noticing many more people complaining about the SOB (shortness of breath) too and I am thinking it is linked to this medicine. I was put on it at age 15 for tachycardia and anxiety, but was taken off it cold turkey when I was pregnant at age 25 because I felt breathless and didn't know if it was my pregnancy or what. So my OB sent me to see the cardiologist just in case and he took me off it no tapering. I didn't notice anything thank God, and my breathing returned. Was it this med? But now I am having a hard time coming off it and I am on a lower dose than before. The cardiologist sent me a new med that ALSO has bad side effects man It is a lose lose.

    • JohnHornbuckle
      JohnHornbuckle tara77076

      Posted

      Yeah we just had a big cold snap in Texas and I found it hard to breathe in the cold air. I have a feeling it is from this medicine. You're right though it is a lose lose. If I try to come off it the anxiety and racing heart come back worse than ever.

  • richard76988
    richard76988 JohnHornbuckle

    Edited

    My doctor just switched me from Metoprolol- 25mg once a day to Amlodipine 5mg once a day because my pulse rate dropped to low. Amlodipine is not lowing my blood pressure like the metoprolol did and has awaken me early in the morning with my blood pressure 180/112. Has anyone had this problem?

    • rene73866
      rene73866 richard76988

      Posted

      Richard76998 this same thing happened to me has yours regulated yet?

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