Bystolic

[LPNGirl07]

Hi, I'm a 33 year old Caucasian female. I'm 5'4, 145 lbs. I developed high blood pressure in 2002 (when I was 22)during the last months of pregnancy, & after the birth of my daughter. My OB then said I did not have Toxemia. I had a really difficult labor having her, and my BP got really high during the delivery. After the delivery, my BP started running higher than it used to, like about 154/95. I've always had somewhat of a faster heart beat than most people (around 80 beats per minute), but it seemed to get a little faster after that (around 90-110 beats per minute).  High BP does run in my family as well. In 2003 my PCP put me on atenolol 25 mg daily for the BP & tachycardia. I was later switched to Toprol XL 25 mg to control the tachycardia better. I was on that several years. I then found out I was pregnant with my second child, and switched to Labetalol. After having the 2nd baby (which was a normal delivery) I was put on Toprol XL again by my PCP. I was eventually referred to a cardiologist by my PCP to evaluate the high BP & tachycardia as a precaution. I now have a cardiologist. The cardiologist kept me on the Toprol XL 25 mg, then increased it to 50 mg daily for the tachycardia, but that was making it too low. The cardiologists then switched me back to Toprol XL 25 mg daily.

My cardiologist has done several echo cardiograms of my heart which were normal, a 24 hr holter monitor test which he said was normal, and several EKGs that 3 different cardiologists in his practice have looked at, and said were all normal, except a non-worrisome incidental finding (can't remember what it was called). After several years on Toprol I felt it wasn't working well anymore. It was making me feel tired & my heart felt like it was "flip flopping a lot". My cardiologist then switched me to Bystolic 5 mg daily. I have been on that about 1 1/2 years now and love it. It controls my heart rate & BP well. My cardiologist was reluctant to put me on the Bystolic though as he said it is a newer medication & I am young.

So my questions are, is it common for women to develop BP problems after their BP spikes during pregnancy & a difficult delivery? Is Bystolic a safe medication for women my age to stay on for years? Thanks...

[LPNGirl07]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not pregnant anymore though, and don't plan to become pregnant again, so was hoping to hear some info from a cardiologist. Thanks...

[Jerry_NJ]

You might get better inpu posting on a pregnancy community, such as:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Pregnancy-25-34/show/1503

There's a bunch of communities on the subject, don't know why.  The one I picked appears to me to be for age 25-34, not sure what the numbers mean.

Check back here too, you may be some help yet.