Anyone take Atenolol?

I have had issues with my heart racing for a while and reccently sometimes it feels as if my heart stops for a second and sometimes it also feels like it has trouble getting into ma normal rythm I saw a cardiologist today was not able to see the cardiologist I saw before due to him not being in, but she said that this was nothing to worry about and gave me prescribtion for Atenolol.  My question is has anyone taken this?  What is your experience?  I am kind of thinking of not taking it since she said this is nothing to worry about though.

[RNRita]

I have taken it for over 20 years.  I really don't have any side effects and I usually have side effects from EVERYTHING!  I will tell you that I started taking it for a fast resting heart rate and it slowed it down wonderfully.  

[Jannie411]

Hi....I have been taking atenolol for 10 years.  The upside is that it does stop the SVT attacks.  The downside is that I had side effects.....not saying this will happen to you, but it does happen to some people.  My side effects were extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and a 50 pound weight gain over the last 10 years.  Unfortunately, after 10 years the atenolol is no longer working for me, I had the worst attack of my life a little over a week ago and have decided to have an ablation to fix the problem permanently.   Again, this does not happen to everyone.  I'm hoping your experience with atenolol is a positive one.  Best of luck to you.

[26scared]

Thanks ya'll for the input I appreciate it

[annie1724]

I have been taking atenolol for three months.  I too was kinda hesitant to start taking it.  I had an ablation for svt in July, but by October it was evident I was still having episodes of PACS and the cardiologist recommended atenolol.  Like you, I thought the PACS weren't that big a deal, so why go on medicine?  I was very concerned about possible side effects and kept thinking the side effects were going to be worse than the condition they were supposed to treat!  But after talking with my family doctor, who convinced me that I should start taking it, I agreed.  I was also starting to have mild hypertension (140/90) so this medicine would cover both problems.  Well I started taking the atenolol in December and I have to say it's been great!  My blood pressure dropped to 120/70 in two months time, and my PACS are almost non-existent.  My heartrate has always tended to be faster rather than slower too, and I feel like the atenolol has just calmed my whole system down.  Even when I do still sometimes feel the skipped beats of PACS, they are much slower and barely there.  I started taking it in the evenings (around 8:00) in case it caused fatigue, as per my doctor's recommendation.  The first two evenings when I took it, I definitely felt very tired within an hour or so of taking it.  But it was getting close to bedtime anyway, so I just went to bed (slept great!!) and was fine by morning.  But this only lasted two nights and then my body adjusted.  I still take it each night before bed, but could probably switch to mornings because I don't feel any side effects whatsoever. I was also concerned about a weight gain, but have not had any problems there so far.
Good luck with your decision!
Annie

[jkfrench]

I have been on atenolol for 20+ years.  I also originally started taking it due to a fast resting heart rate.  It also helped with the psvt and skips.  I used to have a fast resting rate, that would just jump up if I stood up, or raised my arms over my head etc.  Atenolol completely solved that problem.  I take 1/2 of a 25mg in the evening.  It seems to not work so well anymore when my pvcs act up, but it continues to keep my fast rate slower.
This was my miracle pill.  You can always start with just a small amount and see if that is enough to work for you.  Plus taking it at night works best for me.
Jodie

[meggyxin]

I have taken atenolol for 2 years, but on and off (when I feel better then i stop), this winter is pretty long and few weeks ago I recover taking again due to heart racing/arrythmia at night, as I remember doctor had reminded me to have annual heart check, so I went. Just during the weeks I have all checks again, holter, blood exam, maybe echocardiography later if necessary.... at same time I took new medicine from cardiologist while my old medicine actually not finished yet.

Two days ago I was working in the office,I got extreme fatigue and my colleague assist me to hospital emergency, my bp is pretty low ,not sure how it was because nurse doesn't read the number but just immediately assist me lie on bed and wear handring to wait doc,,, then doc comes,check, nurse gives me injection then I feel really tired and fall asleep, 1.5 hours later I was awaken by nurse again, and check bp again, it was then 95/50 as I saw it, then she told me I can try to get up and see whether I can walk so I eventually get back home after that. Doc and nurse didn't tell me reason, just ask me the report of my heart check but I said the report didn't come out so far.

Now I still can't get the reason why I get fainted at normal day but now I think it's side effect of atenolol. Be careful if you used to have low bp like me, that's all I want to tell you here, but wanyway do always keep strong faith in God because that's the real and only support during the whole process on my way to hospital. :)

[twinbee]

I was on it for a short time. I did nothing to help with my a-fib or flutter. The side effects for me were one of the worst side effects I have ever had from a drug. I was soo tired when on it that I could hardly get out of bed. My EP took me off it due to the side effects.
Hope your experience is much better than mine was. Good Luck! Wishing you well, and wishing you enough,...