Dr. Stopped toprol cold turkey

I had an SVT in Sep of 2007. Cardiologist started me on Toprol XL. The side effects were awful. After doing a stress test and telling me I had no heart problems, he took me off of it cold turkey. I was off of it for 48 hours and the whole time my blood pressure was high and pulse never went below 120. I went to My family physician and he was very concerned about my blood pressure which was 162/106 at the time of my visit with a heart rate of 129.  He put me on Cardizem CD 180mg ER once a day at bedtime. I have taken two doses. My blood pressure is already coming down, but my pulse rate isn't thus far. I know it takes 7 to 10 days for the Cardizem to reach full affect, but I am wondering if the problem is the Toprol is still in my system.

I took the Toprol for six months. How long does it take for the Toprol to totally leave my system? I have looked everywhere and can't find out anything.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

The Toprol would be out of your system in about 3-4 days.  Toprol does not cause fast heart rates, it actually decreases heart rates.  There is still a lot of room to increase the cardizem CD to help decrease your heart rate.k

I hope this helps.

[heart2]

I thought Beta Blockers were not supposed to be stopped "cold turkey".  Why would a doctor do that?