Re: Lopressor and Pregnancy

Posted By Brenda on March 28, 1999 at 22:31:09:

In Reply to: Lopressor and Pregnancy posted by Maria on March 24, 1999 at 15:57:29:






: I am a 26 year old healthy female. About a year ago I began to experience a
: rapid heart rate of about 150 beats per minute. I saw a cardiologist and
: wore the holter monitor for 24 hours and was diagnosed with a healthy heart
: that beats too fast. No cause was found. I was prescribes Lopressor 50mg
: daily. My question is, I'm thinking about becoming pregnant and was
: wondering about the risks to the fetus. If there are risks, what would the
: risk to myself be if I discontinued the medication for nine months? Thank
: you.





Dear Brenda,
Thank you for your question. Lopressor is a class C drug which means there is limited human data on safety in pregnancy.  In general most doctors feel it is safe during pregnancy.   I would discuss your concerns with your doctor.  It may be worth a trial off the medications now before you are pregnant to see how you do.  Don't stop taking it however without first discussing it with your doctor.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.





Brenda - In July I was diagnosed w/exercise induced ventricular tachycardia (after 3 days in ICU and numerous tests).  I was put on lopressor.  I had been trying to get pregnant for quite some time and my (male) cardiologist said that there should be no problems.  My problem reoccurred and I went to a new (female) cardiologist who suggested I increase the lopressor dosage, but also referred me to a (female) electrophysiologist.  She switched my medication to sectral, which she said had a better rating for pregnancy.  It seems to have worked, and as luck would have it, I'm 9 weeks pregnant.  The potential side effects of the sectral are slightly lower birth weight and potentially lower heart beat, none of which are problematic.  The one major draw back is that the sectral concentrates in breast milk and I will be unable to breast feed.  I saw my cardiologist shortly after I learned I was pregnant and we discussed going off the medication so I could breast feed and she strongly recommended against it.  The episodes I had were severe enough that I wouldn't want to repeat them, especially with a new infant, so I am adjusting to the fact that I won't breast feed and concentrating on having a successful pregnancy after 2 years of trying...  Also my cardiologist wants to see me regularly throughout my pregnancy.
I hope this isn't too much information, but my cardiologist has dealt w/several pregnant women with heart problems and has assured me everything will be fine.