Weaning/Tapering Off Of Atenolol (Long read, but I really need some advice. PLEASE!)

I am very new to taking Atenolol and I absolutely hate it!

I've had an incident back in January of 2020 where I had a headache (I was prone to migraines at the time), and the right side of my body was tingly and numb and I thought the worst as my blood pressure went up to 177/94. I went to the ER and of course there were numerous test done, but all came back normal. They sent me home with Topiramate, a prescription for migraines. I took it for 3 days and it made me feel horrible, so I stopped taking it. Nothing was prescribed for high blood pressure or anxiety, however they did suggest I follow up with a neurologist and cardiologist. Unfortunately, I did not have insurance so I couldn't afford either, so I just made sure to monitor my blood pressure and continue to workout, eat healthy, etc. I have managed to keep my blood pressure pretty stable since then with the exception of it increasing here and there. I stopped monitoring my blood pressure last year until recently. I buckled down and scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist so I could make sure nothing was going on with my heart and I could have a peace of mind. My appointment was on 5/28/21 and the doctor listened to my heart and did a EKG (I believe that's what it's called), and all looked good. After telling him that my numbers had been in the 130s, he prescribed me Atenolol 25mg once a day, however I never started taking it. I wanted to do more research on it first. Because I was a self-pay patient, I felt that the cardiologist that prescribed me the medication rushed my visit and didn't really give me the full attention that I needed. After that visit, I started back monitoring my blood pressure starting the next day and it has been between 123/75 and 136/86 up until 6/13/21.

I had my 2nd Covid shot on 6/8/21 and have had anxiety leading up to it and even afterwards, not to mention it shut my body down for 3 days. I was set to go on a roadtrip vacation on 6/14/21 and for some strange reason on 6/13/21 I had more anxiety and felt very flushed so I took my blood pressure and it was 144/90 then shot up to 162/103 in less than an hour. I tried everything to get it down, drank beetroot juice, meditation, etc, but I had even more anxiety which made it go up to 187/103! The hightest it's every been! I freaked out, so at that point, I told my husband it was time to go to the ER. Of course the ER took blood and ran various test to look at my heart, electrolyte levels, EKG, liver, etc, and all came back normal. I showed them the history of my blood pressure since the end of May and also let them know of the other incident of going to the ER due to high blood pressure because of my anxiety, and once my blood pressure came down, they suggested that I start taking it the next day. However, the ER doctor said I can take it "as needed", but the cardiologist that prescribed it said to take it every day. I went ahead and went out of town the next day and was nervous and had anxiety leading up to getting on the road. I didn't want my blood pressure to sky rocket while on the road, so I went ahead and took the Atenolol the morning of 6/14/21. It made me feel very strange, lethargic, tired and just not myself, however my blood pressure did go down. I didn't like the way it made me feel so I didn't take the next morning on 6/15/21, but then I started feeling nervous again about getting high blood pressure while out of town, so I went ahead and took it before I went to bed that night, the next night on 6/16/21, 6/17/21 and 6/18/21. So a total of 5 days.

However, my chest feels heavy, I find it harder to breath, and I'm scared to exercise as I normally workout 4-5 days a week of HIIT and weight training, but I feel like I will do more damage if I try to workout that hard. I'm not liking the way this medicine is making me feel not one bit, and I didn't have a good feeling about it and started researching it after feeling "uneasy" about it. Thank goodness I did, because the horrible things I have read about this medication is mind boggling!

It is time for me to take another dose, however I don't want to put another pill in my body, however I am nervous about stop taking it. I can't call the doctor because it is Saturday night and of course the doctor's office is closed. I have read that the side effects of stopping Atenlolol is horrible and that you should never just stop abruptly. However, what about if you have only been on it for a short time like I have? Do I too have to ween myself off of it even though I have only taken it for 5 days? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

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