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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
beta blocker and more
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
beta blocker and more
by LynnSB, Feb 17, 2004 12:00AM
I have a (documented)history of hypersensitivity to many drugs.I was prescribed 25mg of atelenol(starting with 1/2 once a day)for my continued brief runs of fast beats and PVCs/PACs.An ablation in sept. for AVRN tachycardia eliminated the 210(rare)BPM but not what apparently causes most of my daily (sometimes hourly) symptoms -- bursts of fast beats ( 3 to 20) and skipped beats.the beta blocker made my BP go to 88/48,pulse from 80 to 60.I am now just taking 1/4 (for 2 days) and my BP is 90/60,pulse 65 or so.
If i decide to go off the atelenol, can i expect rebound problems at this tiny dose? I am still having what feel like PVCs/PACs but not so many fast runs. an option is to do another EP study/ablation but the EP doc says i am in no danger and seems to think if i could learn to live with, or ignore, the palps, might be the best solution. I'm trying!
another problem since starting the BB a couple of weeks ago - when I eat anything other than the tiniest amount of food, when i have a regular meal, i feel weak afterwards.Last night i had a salad and sandwich and felt VERY weak, heart went to 110.could atelenol cause post-pranial (may not be spelling this right)drop in BP?
also, I noticed my pulse pressure can be quite small sometimes - if you have a pulse pressure of 30 or even less is that indicative of any problem? dysautonomia? FYI:I had an echo last week -- normal with trace regurgitation of mitral valve (tech said so slight could be variation of normal) and EF of 60.Thanks as always for answering my questions. Lynn
If i decide to go off the atelenol, can i expect rebound problems at this tiny dose? I am still having what feel like PVCs/PACs but not so many fast runs. an option is to do another EP study/ablation but the EP doc says i am in no danger and seems to think if i could learn to live with, or ignore, the palps, might be the best solution. I'm trying!
another problem since starting the BB a couple of weeks ago - when I eat anything other than the tiniest amount of food, when i have a regular meal, i feel weak afterwards.Last night i had a salad and sandwich and felt VERY weak, heart went to 110.could atelenol cause post-pranial (may not be spelling this right)drop in BP?
also, I noticed my pulse pressure can be quite small sometimes - if you have a pulse pressure of 30 or even less is that indicative of any problem? dysautonomia? FYI:I had an echo last week -- normal with trace regurgitation of mitral valve (tech said so slight could be variation of normal) and EF of 60.Thanks as always for answering my questions. Lynn
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-M.D.-RCJ, Feb 17, 2004 12:00AM
LynnSB,
Thanks for the post.
Q1a:"If i decide to go off the atelenol, can i expect rebound problems at this tiny dose?"
Quite possibly, yes.
Q1b:"but the EP doc says i am in no danger and seems to think if i could learn to live with, or ignore, the palps, might be the best solution."
I recently read "Full Catastrophe Living", by Jon Kabat-Zinn. You might find it interesting, and useful.
Q2:"could atelenol cause post-pranial (may not be spelling this right)drop in BP?"
Interesting question. I suppose by blocking the reflex tachycardia after a meal, the beta-blocker might cause post-prandial hypotension. I've never seen someone with this symptom, however.
Q3:"if you have a pulse pressure of 30 or even less is that indicative of any problem? dysautonomia?"
Not when the BP is low to begin with. A BP of 200/170 would be unusual, for example, but a BP of 90/60 could be perfectly normal.
Good luck Lynn.
Thanks for the post.
Q1a:"If i decide to go off the atelenol, can i expect rebound problems at this tiny dose?"
Quite possibly, yes.
Q1b:"but the EP doc says i am in no danger and seems to think if i could learn to live with, or ignore, the palps, might be the best solution."
I recently read "Full Catastrophe Living", by Jon Kabat-Zinn. You might find it interesting, and useful.
Q2:"could atelenol cause post-pranial (may not be spelling this right)drop in BP?"
Interesting question. I suppose by blocking the reflex tachycardia after a meal, the beta-blocker might cause post-prandial hypotension. I've never seen someone with this symptom, however.
Q3:"if you have a pulse pressure of 30 or even less is that indicative of any problem? dysautonomia?"
Not when the BP is low to begin with. A BP of 200/170 would be unusual, for example, but a BP of 90/60 could be perfectly normal.
Good luck Lynn.
same thing with ibuprofen... is it ok to take atelenol with ibuprofen? aspirin?
sorry i forgot these originally.
L
Thanks. Read it when it first came out some years ago. I do meditate, do yoga, yadda yadda... still have the frigging heart palps and they still bother me.. maybe some day this will all be better. I sure hope so.
Lynn
I just saw your follow-up. I've not encountered anyone who described a "cross-reaction" with prozac and atenolol.
Also, while I've certainly heard of yoga and meditation, I've also not encountered "yadda yadda" in my studies of coping techniques. Is this an Eastern philospohy? ;) It sounds yiddish ...
I only take 12.5 mg of atenolol and on two occasions stopped it. On or about the 3rd day, ea. time, I was sob and in tachy. I take verapamil for the tachy, too and even with that...
I take many different drugs while taking atenolol and many you will find saying it is a bad combo or even dangerous, like taking verapamil with it. If you have concerns ask your dr. and let him put your mind at ease, ask a couple of times if you have to. I did. LOL
Of course, if someone is frightened or anxious, catecholamines are pumped out by the body and can cause heart rates to increase and the likelihood of heart "skips". Unfortunately, it seems that this fact has been extrapolated -- especially when it comes to women -- to mean to many docs ( not talking about the docs here) that women with palpitations = women with primary anxiety/panic problems.
I was recently talking to an electrophysiologist who said he's sending a paper that shows that it takes women with arrhythmias -- including SERIOUS arrhythmias -- an average of THREE YEARS to be taken seriously and get a diagnosis.. they are usually blown off as "anxious".
Several years ago, an interesting study came out in JAMA,I believe, about PSVT being mistaken for "panic attacks". here is some info on that. hope this helps:
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Garden/8988/heartrhythmindex.html
http://www.personalmd.com/news/a1997031002.shtml
I too am very sensitive to drugs. I take 1/4 of a 25mg of tenormin every night before bed. Even that lowers my blood pressure but for the most part I feel pretty good on that low dose. If I tend to have a breakthrough (those scary high rates of 220 which fortunately only happen once or twice a year) I just take another half and it calms things down without any other side effects. I take Advil all the time with the tenormin. My doctor said that it was actually one of the safer drugs to combine other drugs with (ie antibiotics, birth control, aspirin, Advil, etc.) Good luck to you.