Labetalol - am I having a reaction to it??

[evo123]

I hope you are all doing better than I am lately x

I was given Labetalol a little while back by my Cardiologist, but was unsure whether to start it as it is mainly taken for hypertension.  I do have increases in BP when standing but when I lay down my bp goes low - so I was a little worried!

So, last night I thought I would give it a try and see if it helps me.......now I wished I hadn't!!

About 2 hours after I had taken it I started shivering and feeling really cold and shaky, My laying HR was elevated and I felt horribly unwell.  I also went quite cold to touch and my feet were freezing.

I am due to take another tablet today but still feel really YUCK and wouldn't like for this to happen again........
What do you guys think??  Has anyone had this experience before with meds??  I am so pale today.....

I am quite sensitive to medication and have had quite a few reactions to some, even ones I have taken for years.  So every new med for me is a chance I suppose.  

I have also been experiencing really bad back and abdominal pain over the past few days, I know it is not a UTI as I have tested my water with urine multistix - so I supose I will have to get this looked at if it continues........just fed up with doctors and hospitals!!!!!!! lol x

[Heiferly]

PS—Don't use the girls as your spotters.  They're too cute to get fainted on!!!  :-p

[Heiferly]

Get a set of your orthostatic BPs and HRs and try to get them as accurately as possible:  lie down for 10 minutes before you take the lying one and stay nice and still throughout that time, keep feet uncrossed and flat on floor for sitting, prop arm up on a table at heart level, again keep still and quiet (talking can affect the reading too, especially in dysauto patients), wait a good few minutes of sitting before taking that sitting reading, for standing you want to be on your feet two minutes before starting the reading, have your arm propped up at heart level (stack books on top of a table if you need to to reach the correct level), no shifting your weight back and forth on your feet or pumping your calf muscles or any other fidgeting while those two minutes tick by (things we naturally do without thinking most of the time because it helps pump blood back up to the heart and make us feel less symptomatic), and try to breath normally during the reading (both deep breathing and shallow, hyperventilation-type breathing affect heart rate unless you have autonomic failure like PAF).  You can remember all that, right?  :-p  

Just make sure you have everything set up for the position changes (to balance your arms at proper heart level in sitting and standing positions) next to your bed/couch before you start, and someone nearby to "spot" you if you think you might get faint whilst doing it BEFORE you start!  LOL

Hopefully you have old numbers you can check these against to see what's different now that you're on this medicine.  You did say your supine HR was elevated.  One thing that can happen is that if something lowers your BP (such as a medication), your body can react by raising your HR.  Was the point of prescribing the beta blocker mainly to reduce tachycardia and standing hypertension?  If so you want to watch out for whether it's causing a reactive tachycardia in response to the lowered BP, and report this to your doctor if it is.  

PM me if you want me to look over your numbers.  I'll keep an eye on my inbox for you.  Sorry you're having trouble with this one.  :-/  HUGS, H.

[craigory1962]

I started taking a beta blocker (propranalol) about 3 weeks ago. When I first started I was to take 10mg 2x daily. The first couple of days I had the exact same reaction. I talked with my pcp and he told me to try 5mg 3x daily which has been working much better. I dont know if my system just needed a little time to get used to it or if taking less is what helped but I am no longer experiencing those problems. Im no physician, just a nursing student, so I would recomend speaking with the prescriber to rule out an adverse reaction. Everyones body is unique and sometimes a change to a different beta blocker can help too. I know labetalol is non-selective and can cause other issues. Some such as metoprolol are beta 1 selective and can cause fewer adverse reactions. Again I think talking it over with the cardiologist would be step #1. Hope you feel better and keep me posted!