Cialis & heart?

[johnnyky]

I'm a 33 year old male, in good overall physical health. I have had benign palpitations pvcs, pacs for some time now. For about a year I've been taking Metoprolol 25 mg twice a day for benign tachycardia. I have a structurally normal heart. Question, sometimes during sex I feel my heart rate get up very high, I know this is normal. My doc prescribed me 5mg Cialis to take because I told him I was having some trouble maintaining an erection at times during sex. That is partly the metoprolol probably, and partly the Lexapro I take. Will the Cialis be enough to give me back my erections? Also, I've never taken an ED drug before. Are they safe for the heart? Like do they cause any abnormal heart rhythms or tachycardia? Thanks for any answers.

[researcher09]

The situation is obviously affecting your quality of life greatly and met is not helping.  While I understand your desire to maintain a positive outlook by calling it benign, it is affecting your sex and probably other things that make life enjoyable.  If I were in your shoes, I would quit Met and see what happens and I would also consult with an EP that can capably offer an ablation option should quiting Met not work out.  If you live in Kentucky, there is a well respected specialist in Lexington (trained at Cleveland Clinic and Duke).  His name is Gery Tomassoni.  See if you can get an appt to consult with him.

[johnnyky]

I used the term benign because I've had numerous echos and ekg's and chest x-rays and they all said my heart is structurally normal. I've just been prone to bouts of tachycardia as long as I can recall, since my late 20s. I'd like to wean off Metoprolol because it does affect my sex drive and being still young that's a concern for me. But is there a good alternative for it that could control the tachycardia bouts without the erectile dysfunction?

Yea I do notice that during sex while I know it's normal for the heart to beat faster, I'm uncomfortable with feeling the fast heart beat and I may just be more in tune with it than other people, because I also have some anxiety too. I take a low dose of xanax for this. Going to the cardiologist again and see if I can come up with a better medication regimen, because I'd like to avoid taking Cialis at my age if I can avoid it.

[researcher09]

Ok thanks. Now I am confused by the adjective benign used with tachycardia and Met being prescribed.

[itdood]

The doc prescribed to the BB for the tachycardia, not the PVCs.

[researcher09]

I am confused by your doctor telling you your PVCs are benign but deciding to prescribe Metoprolol.  Just trying to understand the reasoning.  Would appreciate is_something_wrong's thoughts as well.

[is_something_wrong]

Sorry to hear about your trouble.

Yes, Cialis is safe for the heart. It's not safe together with nitroglycerine, and possibly not with alpha blockers which dilate the blood vessels, as blood pressure can drop too low (additive effects) from vasodilation.

If you still are having tachycardia despite the 25 mg x 2, you can talk to your doctor about increasing the dose. 50 mg is still a small dose.

Your discomfort with feeling a rapid heart rate during sex probably contributes to the ED.