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Chest discomfort and tired after stenting

My husband had a stent put in the lft. Anterior descending art.which was 95% blocked in 2000
he has a 25-50% blockgage in the rt. cornary arterior. He now takes Toprol xl 25 mg. and norvasc 10 mg. Our problem is and no one seems to know, why is he so tired all the time? He still works and its a hard job forklift mechanic. He is always so tired since this happened? he keeps his nitro with him at all times, i don't know if he is not telling me something. Stress test every year shows fine. We live in Kansas City, and I think I had the best doctor for him at St. Joeseph Hospital. But i watch my hubby and he holds his lft arm sometimes up across his chest and has bad headaches all the time. They checked his legs last time they were fine. He is 62. I just feel something is being missed. Thank you for being here. cwbblb.
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Avatar universal
I was placed on Toprol after stent and was so tired I could hardly walk.   After trying several doses I was switched to a low dose of lopressor which is shorter acting and I felt better in a few days- and even better after being able to resume exercising. I do not have a major blood pressure problem .  May want to see if you can get along with a lower dose (ask physician).  I also bought a blood pressure monitor which is easy to use and is helpful,
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
hi i had the same probs with toprol xl my doctor gave me propranolol 80 mg 2 times aday i have a lil more energy.i had the problem to where they  would cath me 2 times a year blockages would show up in stress and then it would show up sometimes in the cath but the last cath no blockages now they have figured it out i have stress induced spasms in the heart the spasms will show up just like a blockage they can not tell the differance.i was just diagnosed with that this week after 3 months ago getting the bad news that i had 3 blocked arteries and now they are all clear.now i have to figure out how to deal with this they say only 2 or 3 % of heart patience have this form of spasms if any one has ant info please pass it  to me i need to know what the heck is going on
***@****
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
TSG
Hello,

I've had PVC's now for about the last 3 months and my Cardiologist put me on 100mg of Toporol.  Now my PVC's are between 700-1500/day, but the Toporol makes me extremely tired and tight chested with shortness of breath.  I'm thinking the cure is worse than the problem and have a call into him today.

Anyone else experience this?  The lopressor aggrivated my PVC's which is why he switched me.  All tests were OK (echo, stress, ekg, blood etc).  

Thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
he is also taking the xl, tsg what did your dr say about sotness of breath, etc. toprol xl 25 mg he is upping it to 50 to see if there is a difference. we are also trying the stuff at night like suggested to see if it helps. stress test soon if not working am going to make them switch him.

thanks for all your help my friends
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am on Toprol 50 mg as well.
Tell him to take the drugs at dinner time. He will experience the fatigue at night while he is sleeping.

It works great for me. Whenever I take the Toprol in the AM it wipes me out all day.

Try it, it really works.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
TSG
I spoke with the doctor today and they are halving my dosage to 50mg daily.  The side effects of Toprol are shortness of breath, dizziness and tight chest.  Doctor feels that I started on too high of a dose and this should correct it.  (I hope)

I'm getting used to the PVC's (if that's possible) but he is trying to lessen the sensation.  I cough almost non-stop when I'm having the pvc's because my heart beats so hard when I'm having them.  It has helped...but side effects are worse than they are at this point.

Anyone else experience the violent ones?  What does your doctor do?

Thanks all
TSG
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Are those of you with fatigue talking about Toprol or Toprol XL? Toprol is the same as lopressor and metoprolol. The XL type is a long-release version.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
don't ever stop taking beta blocker without dr's orders
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
sorry no we were never put on plavix he had one of the first medicated stents there was.
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Avatar universal
TSG
I'm taking the XL....sorry.

Afraid to quit taking it cold turkey, but the fatigue and shortness of breath is really something.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
For me Toprol is short for Toprol-XL which is the long acting form of metoprolol.  There is no Brand name Toprol (just Toprol-XL). An example of short acting metoprolol would be Lopresor.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
let me know what he says about the toprol, hubby also is short of breath, which i forgot to ask the doctor. but he is only on 25mg the lowest you can go.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Were either of you put on Plavix after the stenting.  I am told I need to be on Plavix for a couple of years to keep the stents open.  This med can also cause fatique.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Toprol also made me very fatigued, so they switched me to something else.

marching on
Helpful - 0
74076 tn?1189755832
Hello,

Sorry to hear your husband is having problems.  From a cardiac perspective, an exercise stress test possibly with imaging (echo or nuclear) to rule out ishcemic causes (causes from coronary blockages) and to make sure the heart is functioning normally.  If these tests are normal and there is not good reason to suspect they are falsely incorrect, the lack of energy is probably not related to his heart.

Is he having symptoms?  Is he using the nitro glycerin tablets and not telling  you?  with the negative stress test, this is probably not the case.  The other question is he fearful of having a heart attack or cardiac problem so much so that he is cutting back on what he does?  We do see this sometimes.  With his doctors approval, a regular exercise regimen may be the best thing for him.

I hope this helps and good luck.
Helpful - 0

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