Are There Any Coreg Side Effects?

[bzmed]

My doctor just changed me from another Beta Blocker to Coreg CR.  Has anyone had side effects from Coreg?  I took my first one this afternoon and I am really, really tired but it could be that darn CT with contrast they did today.  I am at 40 mg right now.  Is that a low dose?

Thanks to any responders,
bzmed

[anacyde]

I'm not certain of doses on Coreg, but I do know it is an excellent medication and preferred over others in its class for certain conditions.  There can be side effects, as there are with anything, but they usually abate with time.

[Flycaster305]

Are you sure that is the dosage?  I was started with 3.125 mg morning and evening, and that was doubled and doubled until I reached 50 mg per day.  Each dosage, including the 3.125 X 2 simply floored me, I was really tired for several days until I got used to it.  I had wonderful results, my ejection fraction increased dramatically and it helped me survive a recent severe blockage.  Yes, Coreg really tires you out, but please give it a chance, it is a wonder drug for heart failure patients.  Good luck.  

[maggiemag]

I was on Coreg for about 3 years and had to switch to another beta blocker for about 6 months when I was severly hyPERthyroid.  After that returned to normal, I was switched back to Coreg at an equivalent dose, (although not CR).  I had no problems with increased fatigue at all although my cardiologist did warn me that I might.  He didn't really believe that I would because I was still on blockade with the other drug, but had had other patients say that they did.  I just decided I wasn't going to! ;-)  You will be fine.

[bzmed]

Thank you for your responses.  They have been most helpful.  Just to answer the dosage question - yes it is 40 mg - but he may have started there because I was on 40 mg of the previous beta blocker.  I have to go back in two weeks for him to see how I am tolerating and I think I recall him saying something about wanting to increase the dose... ugh.

I didn't start with high blood pressure so my bp and heart rate are really low now.  I guess that is the point but it really makes me tired sometimes.

Many thanks again!
bzmed

[va_tony]

There is a website called askapatient.  You can find it though google.  They have 107 largely positive patient reponses listed on coreg (just type in coreg where it says enter drug name)... so you can get a good idea of typical side-effects from these.  A word of caution... usually these surveys are slanted towards the negative because folks with a great coreg experience typically won't post a comment as frequently as those with bad experiences.  My understanding is that coreg is considered a wonder drug for those with cardiomyopathy.

[Candlelight]

Coreg.com has a downloadable pdf. giving you most of the information you seek. It has only been used since 1995 and new studies have been done. It has many possible side effects. I believe it will fall out of favor soon enough. You and your doctor must weigh the risk/benefit ratio. Good Luck

[Candlelight]

Sorry, gave you the wrong url. This is the correct one:
http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_coreg.pdf