First day off beta blockers - is it normal to feel this good?

Question

In preparation for Wednesday's ablation, my cardiologist instructed me to stop taking beta blockers (in my case Atenolol) three days prior to the procedure.   Today is my first day off the meds.  

For the last several days, I've been having a really bad time with PVC's, especially all day yesterday and last night.  The intermittent skipping and pounding were so bad that I was afraid to fall asleep.  

This morning, I woke up and have been completely symptom free.  I haven't felt this well in years and am hoping I can stay this way until Wednesday.  

My question -- is it normal to feel this good?  I had heard from others that you need to be stepped down gradually from beta blockers, and was frankly surprised that the cardiologist took me off them "cold turkey", even though they don't seem to have been working lately.  I've only been off the beta blockers since I got up about 4 hours ago.  Not that I'm complaining, but it seems almost too good to be true.  Pulse is normal, and the low grade headache I've had for the last several days is gone too.  

Any thoughts?

Jannie411 · Answer

Thank you, Chris........I hope it works too.  I've had SVT for most of my life and I am soooo sick of it so I am pinning a lot of hopes on this procedure.  Will let you know how it goes.  My best to you.  Keep me posted on how you're doing.

tom_h · Answer

Yes, I felt pretty zippy too being off Metoprolol for a few days.  But, I also had an SVT episode 2 nights before my procedure in the middle of a nice restaurant.  There I was sitting in my chair, knees pulled up in a crunch, and face beet red as I strained to convert it.  I got it, and finiched my dinner without further incident.  I was happy to be back on it afterwards!  I continue today at 50% of my pre-ablation dose and expect to continue to do so for blood pressure regulation, and inhanced heart attack survival (I'm getting into that age bracket!).

pvcchris · Answer

I felt like a champ when i was taken of metoprolol!  Had so much energy was happier felt amazing and didn't have any weird side effects.  buttt that only lasted a few days and symptoms came back :/  but know knows... enjoy it!

PS im looking forward to hearing about the ablation.  hope all goes well and it works : )

Jannie411 · Answer

Thanks Linda for your kind thoughts and prayers.  I will definitely get back to you after tomorrow's ablation - maybe not till Thursday or Friday though, so don't worry if you don't hear from me right away.  I am looking forward to feeling better and to sharing my ablation experiences with everyone.

Jannie411 · Answer

It's unbelievable how much better I have felt since Sunday when I stopped taking atenolol at my cardiologist's instructions.  I didn't know how bad I really felt until now.  Feeling like the "real me" for the first time in 10 years.  Much more energy.  I have keep reminding myself that I need to take it easy for now......walked briskly up the stairs this morning and brought on some PVC's and felt dizzy and faint, had to go lie down for a while.   I think I'll be staying on the couch for the rest of the day.

Jannie411 · Answer

Hi.....my EP and cardiologist are the same person, so he will be handling my post-procedure care. I am also planning to ask him for a referral for a new PCP. Although the PCP isn't a bad guy, I am very unhappy with how he has handled my SVT situation. I could have cried when the cardiologist told me this could have been fixed a long time ago. There is no reason I should have suffered this long. Thanks for the well wishes - I'm all set for tomorrow and will post my ablation experiences on this forum and in my journal.

LindaTX · Answer

You know, it's so hard to know exactly what to do or what or how much to take.  It's more of a trial by error.  i couldn't take atenolol...it kept my HR up too high. I tried multaq, rhythmol and other anti-arrhythmics to no avail.  I took digoxin after i got out of the hospital for my ablation.

The first 3 months after the ablation I had almost non-stop a-fib or sinus tachycardia.  I went from one drug to the next,  Finally in Dec with a high enough dose of flecainide, 400 mg a day, my heart settled dow and started behaving itself.  I am still in the process of weaning off the flecainide and am down to 50mg morning and night.  It's quite tolerable and if my Dr will let me I may stay on this as a maintenance dose.  I'm really feeling quite good....after 6 mo.

It's all about finding the right Dr. and the right med for the right patient.  Good luck tomorrow and keep in touch and let me know how you do.  Just try to relax and enjoy the ride. I will pray that all goes well for you.     Linda

RNRita · Answer

I went off atenolol for about 1 week to 10 days and I did feel somewhat better.  Of course that was during a time of no PVCs/PACs and I felt invulnerable...you know (normal, shhhh)  I had a stress test and they said my HR rate went up way too fast and they said I really needed the BBs so I went back on.  Now I might try off again. Geeshhh.

Mom2four85 · Answer

some doctors just don't get it or don't agree with other doctors on treatments sometimes which can be frustrating to patients....I finally after so many years have a team of doctors who seem to be pretty good - even though my primary doesn't quite understand my ANS issues, she tries to get what I'm saying.

Great thing you like your cardiologist, he's the one who ultimately should coordinate your care about heart things unless your EP is planning on that, but most ep's don't want to...they may need to keep you on a bb for a bit after surgery to make sure your heart stays less irritated and until the swelling goes down etc, some stay of us stay on them but some don't.

Good luck on your ablation on Wed in case I forget and have a speedy recovery, when you feel better please post how it went and let us know =)

Jannie411 · Answer

I know what you mean.  I was so worried that I would have problems being off Atenolol, but amazingly, I still feel good.  I've been  up since 7:00 am, went out with my husband for a little while, and experienced no problems all day.  I feel more energetic than usual, not that I'm going to push my luck, but I really thought I was going to be confined to the couch for the next three days with TV and books so as not to set off an SVT event.

I knew I was feeling bad since I started these meds, but I didn't realize how bad until today.  Kind of like the story about the frog that was put into a pan of water and the temperature was turned up gradually until the poor frog was cooked and he never saw it coming because it happened so slowly and by the time he realized what was happening it was too late.  Oh no, not willing to be the frog anymore.    

Hopefully, I will not need any meds after Wednesday, but thanks for the suggestion.  For whatever reason, my PCP had strong opinions about my taking Atenolol and wouldn't even consider any other BB or the possibility of ablation.   For my part, I will consider replacing him soon.  Thank goodness the cardiologist is a reasonable guy!  Finding this cardiologist is the best thing that's happened to me medically in a long time.

Jannie411 · Answer

That was one of my concerns - that my heart rate would shoot way up without the meds.  But it sounds like you were doing OK, so maybe a little of your luck will rub off on me.  

How are you feeling since your ablation?  If you have any details you'd like to share about your recovery, I'd sure be interested in hearing about them.

Jannie411 · Answer

Thanks.  I originally started taking Atenolol 10 years ago.  Started off with 50mg per day, but I was so exhausted I was having trouble functioning.  I wasn't even on them for 2 weeks when this happened.  I asked my PCP if the dosage could be lowered to 25mg per day, he said that would be too low, and we compromised at 37-1/2mgs per day.  

Throughout the last 10 years, I have been experiencing low grade fatigue, sleep issues -- can't get to sleep and the sleep I have isn't restful, I never feel like I get enough sleep, weight gain has also been an issue - and has also contributed to other help issues.  

I thought I was the only one experiencing issues with the BB, but am now finding out that many other people are experiencing problems too.  And then again, some people have no problems at all.

Mom2four85 · Answer

I did pretty much the same thing; I had been on zebata from August 2009 until Dec, caught the flu and couldn't even swallow so I stopped cold turkey no meds and within a coupld of days started feeling alot better. 

I didnt realize how bad I was feeling on them until my body was fully rid of them....A few months later tried Inderal (generic propranolol) short duration and haven't had any problems since.

Maybe you need a med change? make sure you tell your dr about this =)

LindaTX · Answer

I had an ablation for a-fib last Sept.  When I went off my beta blocker, after a couple of days my heart-rate went up from the 70's to 90's for 2-3 days, then back down to normal.  I was a little worried at first but then figured it was just a reaction to going off the beta-blocker.  Like you, I went off it cold turkey. I was taking metopralol (TopralXL).

Jerry_NJ · Answer

It sure sounds like you have troubling side effects from the BB.  That is something to discuss with your doctor, but may (we hope) not be important as you are going for the cure using Ablation - best of luck there.

What dose were you taking.  I have been moved up/down by as much as 50 mg of Metoprolol and can't say I have noticed anything other than feeling a little better, but nothing miraculous.  These 50 mg steps have included going from 50 mg SR to 0 - cold turkey.  

My side effects from BB seem to be trouble dreaming and a low grade fatigue.  The latter may be do to the inefficiency of my heart as it tries to supply oxygen while in permanent AFib.

If the Ablation works, hope it does, you should be off of medications all together, I believe.