anyone using metoprolol for tachycardia ---please help

[bluebird94]

Hello,
My doctor as put me on 25 mg metoprolol extened release daily for palpitations. I am reading on the web about weight gain and hair loss. Does hanyone has any experience with this medicine--good or bad? I am 38 years old otherwise healthy, active person and I eat right but  am little nervous about starting the medicine as i have heard once you go on it, you have to take it forever.
Someone please advise---share your experience with the medicine.
Thank you.

[Tifftiff25]

Bluebird I just got diagnosed as well with tachycardia I am on the same meds I have not gained weight or loss my hair in fact this med has helped me. But I also have been told I may need to be on another med on top of it. I was also told that once this med is strated it will have to be taking forever. Good luck on everything

[Tifftiff25]

I just got diagnosed with tachycardia and I am 31 I have also heard that once you go on the meds you have to take them forever as well. I have been on it for about two weeks know. I haven't lost my hair or gained weight so far it's has helped alot. But I have also heard that I may have to be on another med on top of it. I have felt better snice I started taking it. It's a very scary thing but it well help. Good luck on your health and God bless

[2210485]

We can absolutely take patients off betablockers.

You just need to be weaned off, or the med needs to be replaced by something else.

In terms of just how dangerous the med is to stop... Thats a tough question because it literally is different for every patient. Theres no hard and fast rule.

Thats why im always a big promoter of never stopping cardiac meds without a doctors advice. Theres just alot of factors to consider and you need the advice of a physician that knows all the details, such as the cardiologist or your pcp to be sure what youre doing is safe.

For example if you pull a patient with baseline hypertension(high blood pressure) off beta blockers abruptly, they could have a hemmorhagic stroke and die.. Pretty much instantly.

Someone whos on the drug for arrhythmia control, without hypertension on the other hand might tolerate the withdrawl fine.

Another person also with arrhythmia control and no high blood pressure might go into vtach a week later and die.

You get the picture.. Theres just alot of variability here.

As for adding another med, sometimes you have to.. Sometimes you don't. Of course if you begin to get tolerant to the betablocker then yeah.. You need to try something else. Theres really no tool available to predict how patients bodies will react to these meds in the long term.

I will say this much, aside from the whole lethal rebound effect business beta blockers are very safe drugs. Even if you have low blood pressure or resting bradycardia they dont seem to be too harmful.

Ive given them to my own family members (technically their cardiologist gave it to them.. And i watched them take it..) with resting (sleeping) heart rates as low as 42, and blood pressures as low as 85/60.. A situation that would terrify most providers (so definately dont try this at home!) and it didnt compromise them in low doses. I havent looked at any research on the topic but im pretty sure somewhere someones come up with a curve demonstrating the effects.. Speaking from anecdotal experience though these drugs are pretty dummy proof.. Making them a great selection for physicians and patients everywhere.

If they work for you thats a great thing, and it gives your doctor alot of options without as many risks if they ever stopped working.

Think of it like having chronic pain... The doctor tells you to put hot packs on it.. The pain goes away! Even if the hot packs stop working a few months later theres still a hell of alot more things that can be done for you before you have to go on something like morphine. It means you respond well to therapy and finding the next drug will probably be a bit safer and easier.

[Bromley]

Boy, nothing but positives to report here. I take low dose of this drug and it always seems to take out my tachycardia with only minor affect on my mood.  I do notice a slight decrease in my ability to exercise hard. It also causes my heart rate to get a little low, but not bad enough to cause major issues....

[tom_h]

What kind of heart problem do you have?

[kitty5439]

I've had hair loss , weight gain and more noticeable palps and skips with this drug I started out on 25 mg 2x aday then now at 100 mg 2x a day . Still having a fast pulse
And high BP . I've also taken propanol land labetol
It has caused false bold sugar readings . But !! It helped to . As for me I think the help is coming to a end . But ya know everyone is different and if it really helps you , then take it .. I've had this heart prob for 18 long years . Blessings to all  

[questionnone]

can you explain to me more about indigestion and tachycardia connection? I experienced two PSVT episodes when I believe was hungry at the time. Whenever I get hungry for an extended period of time I get alot of stomach acid build up.

[Marg_Raven]

My doc put me on .5 mg metoprolol about a year ago for infrequent episodes of a-fib, she said it was a very well tolerated drug.  It immediately regulated my heartbeat and worked very well for awhile - no weight gain or hair loss (my hair is thin so I would have noticed that!)  We then cut it back a bit to .5 am and .25 pm because my holter showed my heart rate dropped to 40 while sleeping on a day when there was no a-fib event.

The only thing I have noticed since starting this drug is that I now have the thumpity thumping related to indigestion, that I never had before.  I seldom have any a-fib now, but the heart thumping when trying to sleep or waking up is very annoying.

One of my goals is to get off this stuff permanently and safely.  Taking a magnesium supplement seemed to help quite a bit, I still need to find a good solution to my occasional indigestion - that's what used to send me into a-fib.  it's all related.

[bluebird94]

Thanks for your post.
I had similar experince with cardizam and norvasc. I ended up getting severe palpitations and both didn't work for me.
I am not doing so good with metoprolol, I am very anxious and groggy all day long when I take it so much so that I can't think straight.

[coribell]

Weird how metoprolol works great for some people and not for others.I was only on 25mg and it caused my heart to pound, sometimes my hr would go up alot higher than now with the cartizem im on and it caused palpitations,arythmias really bad.Not a good med for me no how, no way.

[Brandie1225]

I have been on metoprolol for a couple of weeks now. I was put on it for tach aswel. My heart rate will just spike up to 160 out of no where. I havent experienced wait gain or any hair loss so far. But it keeps my hr around 22-55. And I feel really tired since I've been taking it. I have had several episodes of tachycardia since I started taking though. And my blood pressure stays really low. I feel tired, kind of week, and sometimes it's like I'm in a daze. To sum it all up the medacine makes me feel yucky but it has helped sum w/ my tach. Problem. I also have a sinus arrythmia too which may be playing a factor in it aswell I don't know.

[banglamom]

I agree.  It does slow you down metabolically some, but it's really not too disastrous of a price to pay for being slowed down from tachydysrhythmias.  It is a fairly safe drug and usually well tolerated.  All the beta blockers have that side effect.  Sitting around not being able to move is certainly not without it problems either.  I think you will find it a reasonable solution.  Good luck.

[Liz4914]

Taking metoprolol 50 mg twice a day for almost three months - don't feel much different being on the drug except that my pulse is much lower - in the forties now.  I did gain maybe three or four pounds but then again was not as active as previously.  No hair loss!  I think it is an excellent drug - much better than having VT, although I have had more palpitations since starting it but that is probably nothing to do with the metoprolol.  I would not be worried to take it.

[rbeans]

I have been taking this for over 6 months now. I did gain some weight but I also was not doing too much before and after my ablation. (For VT)  No hair loss.  It took awhile for my body to get used to this med. but now I feel fine and the weight is coming off with me walking for 30 minuets a day.

Good luck and if you need it what is a couple of pounds. I gained about 5.   Hope you feel better!

[bondieluv]

Hi there!  I'm a 44 year old woman, I've been taking Metroprolol 25 mg for about half a year now, I LOVE IT.  It seems to keep everything calm, and the palps are much fewer.  I don't think the drug alone keeps the palps calm for me, I also need to eat right and get the proper amount of sleep - which in my case means almost exactly 7 hours (sleeping longer guaranteees palps, as does relaxing all day instead of moving around, go figure).  Anyways, I haven't had significant weight gain, tho I have had a little, because the metroproplol slows my metabolism down I think.  (I had my most significant weight gain 9 years ago when I quit smoking!)  My hair is just the same as always - and I haven't had any side effects whatsoever apart from the calming down of the palps which in turn really calms me down.  Hope this helps!

[tank2003]

hi i was on metatoprol er 50 mg 2 x a day and i was taken off just resently my cardio told me you can go off them at anytime under my supervisiion that he slowly took me off mine but everybodys situation is different though and iwas takeing them for tach aswell butthey didnt like me lol hope it helps