Blood Pressure Medication

[Gabrielle01]

Good Morning,
I was placed on clonidine to control side effects of another  high blood pressure medication I'm taking.I was using the clonidine patch,but had to quit due to an allergic reaction to the adhesive. I'm currently taking pill form, but am having difficulty with severe fluctuation of blood pressure before second dose is due. What other medication can I take that will have the same effect as clonidine yet last longer? The clonidine affects my ability to function because it makes me tired after taking it. I can only take beta blockers up to a certain dosage before having problems with my asthma.

Thanks.

[chrisr]

Jeff, This is exactly what I experienced with Atenolol about 5 years ago. It would significantly quiet down my pounding heart beats almost to inaudible initially for about a week but then severe PVCs -what were called trigemeny- started abruptly. I actually have these recorded since I was on physical threadmill therapy at the time when the PVCs occurred and the attending nurse was so scared that she halted everything and sent me to the Cardio who immediately weaned me off the Atenolol with the warning never to take BBs again. However my present palps and beats are again so heavy and my most recent recorded EF was 42% and the new Cardio who did the stenting work has prescribed Coreg at 3.125mg which he says is the lowest dosage and good for the heart??. This is why I am so persistent in this discussion and am appealing to anyone or any doctor about the pros if any of Coreg over other BBs in inducing PVCs in someone susceptible like myself. I am again appealing for any comments/suggestions/advice from any and everyone. Please help.
Thanks again,
ChrisR

[Jeff-67]

Toprol was a disaster for me.

[anxious john]

I have PVC,s and PAC's and The pounding one in a while and started TOPROL XL and it has almost illiminated everything. I think it is a good choice beta blocker. I wonder though if mabey I just put something at bey for a while because once in a while, I get one big hard PVC or a wierd feeling of an irratic 3 beats in a row type thing. Any one else?

[jan]

I took atenolol (beta blocker) for IST and NCS.  I couldn't tolerate anything more than 1/2 a 25mg tablet and that wasn't enough to control the tachycardia, so my dr. added a dose of verapamil (calcium channel blocker).  I took the atenolol in the morning and the verapamil at bedtime and it worked fine.  Years later I was switched to bisoprolol (another beta blocker), because I was grasping at straws about why I was having fatigue again and thought maybe it was the atenolol.  The bisoprolol seems to be working fine, even without the verapamil.  (I miss the verapamil in that it helped with the Raynaud's and I shouldn't be taking a bb with Raynaud's).  

So, maybe switching your beta blocker or adding a calcium channel blocker would help.  If you look these up you will find a warning about mixing beta and calcium channel blockers, but in small doses it must be ok.

[chrisr]

This is an interesting comment since I also cannot take betablockers per se. However I have just been recommended to take COREG 3.25mg which I believe is an Alpha-Beta blocker but am skeptical as to whether it would give the same side effects. I do need something to relieve palpitations and heart pounding after a recent stent implant. Any comments by the Doctor or anyone else with a similar condition would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
ChrisR

[Gabrielle01]

Yes,I'm max'd out on a couple of the medications I take.I was placed on clonidine because I could not take enough of the beta blocker to control the fast heart rate caused by one of the other medications I take. Are alpha blockers an acceptable alternative?

Thanks

[Cleveland Clinic]

gabrielle,

There are a lot of other types of blood pressure medications available such as calcium channel blockers, ace inhibitors, ARBs, etc....etc...

I dont routinely use clonidine unless a person is maximized on other medications.  Sometimes there are very specific reasons to prescribe specific medicines to an individual such as ACE inhibitors in patients with diabetes, and Hydralazine/Nitrates in African Americans with heart failure.

Without knowing you it's impossible to tailor your therapy, but there alternatives that I usually look to before clonidine, especially if you are having side effects.

good luck