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Question about Atenolol(Beta blocker)
I don't take Atenolol (25mg) regularly but only take it when my heart rate seems too fast. I was taking it regularly before with hyperthyroid medication to slow down my heart rate. My thyroid is normal now but my heart rate is still high and I am waiting for my family doctor to return from vacation so I can discuss that with her. My heart rate jumps up to 120-130 when I stand up and higher when I walk around. It is 84-90 when I am sitting. For now, I take Atenolol only when I go out because I have to walk a lot outside and that gets my heart rate very high. I take 2-3pills per week and not everyday. Is it okay if I take it like that or do I have to take it daily? I am asking this because the drug info. says that your condition may worsen if you stop the drug suddenly and that if you no longer need this drug, you must gradually decrease your dose so your heart can adjust to it.
Hi i read your post too....i am on a low dose of antenolol also .25 per day and the thing to remember avatar is to take your meds exactly as your doc has told you to or what is written on the side of the bottle. You do not want to adjust your own medications ever...it can be very dangerous to do so...as far as stopping the meds suddenly...that is super true...i am on one of the lowest doses there are at .25 and close to 6 months ago i was not able to take my antenolol for 3 days because i had forgotten my pills while out of town and on the 3rd day was rushed to the hospital because of a little something called re bound...my heart rate rebounded and went up into the upper 200's for hours and they had to convert me in the E,R,.....and that was terrible because i had had an ablation a couple of years ago with basically no issues after except for a couple of little things and what happened is when i failed to take the antenolol for the 72 hour period my heart decided to re bound on me sending my pulse rate X 3....not smart. With all heart meds you need to be weaned off of them and i know better w. my medical background so i ended up w. a little slice of humble pie on that one. I wouldn't change a thing w. your meds unless it is under the supervision of your doctor to be safe because re bound is incredibly ugly believe me......
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The low dose you take may make it alright to take as needed. I think the warning about stopping a beta blocker suddenly is for those taking 50 mg and more a day. I've take as much as 200 mg a day. But even in that case I was able to move back down to 50 mg when told to by my doctor...I did not experience any troubling side-effects.
I suggest the aspirin caution as the high HR could be signal a higher risk, than normal, for blood clot formation. Please, don't get frightened I said you'll have a blood clot, I doubt very much that will happen, but better safe, I think. Also, please discuss taking aspirin long-term with your doctor. I take a half aspirin every day and have for several years.