PVC's- related to stopping metoprolol?

[Jackie1980]

Here's the question- I am wondering if these PVC's and PAC's that I have been experiencing in the past 2 months have to do with suddenly stopping the metoprolol that I was on for my high blood pressure. I don't recall ever getting them before and now they occurring constantly..I was taking metoprolol 25 mg twice a day and then my dr discontinued it because I found out that I was pregnant. Now I am taking something else for the blood pressure that is safe to take in pregnancy. It just *****, because suddenly they came out of nowhere and I am trying to find a reason for them..they are literally driving me insane- it's all I think about..I don't know if they are going to kill me or not. Tomorrow I go to the cardiologist and they'll do an echo...maybe I'll find out whats going on. Oh well,goodnight.

[achillea]

"I think the doctor's have no idea how to fix this stuff."

Actually, they do have some idea, but the system is tremendously complicated.  Here is an animation of the way the heart's Pacemaker normally starts a heartbeat, and how the electrical impulse travels down the heart:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/23722/29694.html

The trouble is that every heart muscle cell is capable of contracting all on its own, and starting a contraction out of sequence.  Now, a lot of these hyperactive heart cells tend to be in known locations, and doctors familiar with these patterns can do ablations that are successful.

But there are some patients with fidgety cells in odd places all over the heart, and when you consider this fact:

"The number of heart muscle cells is 2 x 10(9) in normal hearts of children" and adults (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_cells_are_in_an_adult_human_heart)

maybe it's easier to understand how difficult it would be for a doc to map and blast ALL the misfiring cells in a patient who had many of of them in various places.

There is a limit to how much heart you can burn and keep the patient alive.

[Ibiza_islander]

They havent... ive been bedridden 2 years with utter terrir and im anorexic due to fear of eating and starting the palps off. Im A broken mess n nobody will help me. The only place i feel safer is in hospital. Ive offered to pay & they wont let me in - just for one nught. Ive list 4st. As i was 13st when i stopped eatin theyve ignored it. Had i been 9st id be in hospital now. Im so do sad.... how id live to walk downstairs n wash the dishes . I cry all day

[MaryLL]

I just had my 3rd ablation and am on Propafenone and Metaprolol for 3 months until my heart heals. I've been taking both these meds for years (12) and went up on the Metaprolol after the 2nd ablation because I was having more episodes. I've been told that once you're on them, your heart gets used to them, which is why the doses are often increased with time.
Side effects I've noticed are: fatigue, getting winded faster, colder quicker, and increased need to nap (I'm 65). BUT, some of that may have been due to a-fib because even though I'm still on the meds, I have noticed since the last ablation that I don't get winded nearly as quickly and am not as tired either.
Seeing our cardiologist and/or electrophysiologist with any problems or concerns is the right thing to do. My heartcare has it set up so we can email directly to the doctors. My doctor writes back within hours and it's reassuring. The healthcare group I was with before could take hours to get through and the stress was huge (can't have helped any)!!
Wishing you the best, this is a difficult thing to have.

[Barbmag]

I have not posted in awhile but thought I would just say that I am 66 and have had PVC's and PAC's since my ablation in 1998. These things can wreck havoc on my life b/c I get thousands and thousands a day. I live with this on a daily basis. The Toprol XL (50mg) that I have been taking for years now seems to do nothing but maybe without them, I would be in constant bigeminy!
Wish doctors would find something that would help!

[RyamRosco]

God after seeing this forum's it does not give me much hope lol..To JJ up there  I had WPW and I did have the ablation for the simple fact that I didn't have a choice. My heart rate would go up into the 260's so they did it. After the ablation I developed AF and have had an irregular heartbeat since as long with panic attacks because pvc's and a irregular heartbeats scare the hell out of me.. Just like everyone else here I get pvc's all the time and force me into the hospital constantly. I go thru stretches of time where my heart beats fairly normal but randomly goes haywire and I end up in er. It's funny whoever was posting that they just say f*** it go home you just have pvc's, I am 31 and this is ruining my outlook on life because I figure it will kill me sooner or later. I think the doctor's have no idea how to fix this stuff. And  we are just doomed to live with it till it kills us..Oh well. Good luck to you all!!    

[dunnegan]

Iive been on Metoprolo for pvs an high blood pressure for a few years now. the pvs stopped and my blood pressure is under control but my hair has been getting real thin.  My doctor just told me that certain betablockers can do that to you.  I want to stop it.

[AAPLAY1980]

I TOO STARTED HAVING PVC & PAC S AFTER TAKING METROPOLOL.
ON FEB 2009 I WHENT TO THE URGENT CARE FOR A FAST HEARTBEAT, THE DOCTOR THERE GAVE ME METROPOLOL 25MG SHE SAID TAKE HALF PILL EVERY DAY. I STARTED HAVING PVC RIGHT AFTER TAKING THE FIRST PILL, BUT I KEPT TAKING THEM BEC I THOUGHT I HAD TO GET USED TO THEM. THIRD DAY STILL PVCS. WAS HAVING ABOUT 20 PVCS DAY, SO I STOPED TAKING THE MEDICATION. WHENT TO THE ER THE 4RTH DAY TOOK BLOOD WORK CHEST XRAY ALSO HEART MONITOR. THEY SAID JUST PVCS GO HOME. AFTER THAT I WHENT TO A CARDIOLOGIST HE SAID JUST PVCS GO HOME. 6 MONTHS AFTER THAT I HAD A VERY BAD PVC DAY I WAS HAVING SO MANY PVCS NON STOP I GOT SCARED WHENT TO THE ER AGAIN THEY KEPT ME OVER NIGHT THEY DID A ECO, BLOOD WORK,HEART MONITOR ALL MY PVCS WHERE CAUGHT ON THE HEART MONITER THEY HAD ON ME. NEXT MORNING THEY SAID JUST PVC'S GO HOME. THEN I WHENT TO THE SECOND CARDIOLOGIST I ASKED HIM IF THE METROPOLOL DID THIS TO ME . HE SAID NO METROPOLOL SHOULD  HELP STOP PVCS. SO I JUST GAVE UP ITS BEEN 8 MONTHS SINCE I STOPED TAKING METROPOLOL STILL I HAVE PVCS. THANKS

[TiffanyinTupelo]

ABSOLUTELY, I take the same medication and if I miss one or two doses my heart will jump around like a kid on a trampoline. I would not worry about it.

[Red931]

I was taking Toprol years ago when my doctor was experimenting with blood pressure meds to find the right one for me. It made my heart stop. I was lucky that when I hit the floor it kicked back in. Needless to say that was not the right medication for me. I was then put on Procardia which gave me extreme chest pains. Finally I was put on Cardizem CD and it worked well for me for 17 years until my resting heart rate started going down into the 30's about a month ago.

My doctor switched me to Norvasc and it is controling my blood pressure well but I too ended up in the ER two weeks ago with palpitations. I never had them before. I have always had a resting heart rate of about 60. They didn't find anything wrong in the ER and I have to get a Holter this Wednesday and an Echo on Thursday.

Things have been normal since so my doctor said that he thinks it was because of lack of sleep but it also could have been the switch of the meds. The Cardizem slows your heart rate and the Norvasc doesn't according to him.

I have Mitral Valve Prolapse so that is why he is doing the Echo. He doesn't think that it has gotten any worse but you never know. I have had a lot of surgery over the past two years so who knows what is going on. I do notice I can feel my heart beating in my chest in the morning when I first wake up but my pulse rate is normal and BP has been good. It seems to be less noticable each day so I am thinking it was the medication change.

[painter207]

Hi, I went of off 25 mg of Amitrypteline in Feb. and that's when i started getting palpitations. They have not gone away, in fact I went to bed last night and they started pretty regular couple of times a minute and were still pounding away this morning. I have cut out wine and caffein but it still doesn't help.Maybe i shouldn't have gone off the drug cold turkey but my Dr. didn't tell me to ween off.

[gethprime]

Amit is on the list of drugs that can prolong the qt interval

[Jackie1980]

Well, I am not taking the beta blocker anymore because I am pregnant, but I experienced chest pain from it. When I was taken off of it(without weaning off) the PVC's started and they have not stopped since..It probably effects people differently though.

[FightThePower]

What side effects are you experiencing from beta blockers??  I honestly can't say I have noticed any side effects.  I've been taking toprol XL 50mg for about 6months.

[Jackie1980]

I definately agree with you that the meds made it worse..I think this happened with the metoprolol that  was  on.I never had PVC's before I was on it and now I get them constantly. I also know how you feel about not wanting to be on them for life..You are 20 and that is way too young..The side effects are also sometimes worse than the actual problem. They scare me.

[Jackie1980]

I am still waiting from the call back from my Dr..we have ben playing phone tag. Everytime the phone rings  I get a major anxiety attack and I swear that my HR jumps up to 150..That is the thing my HR goes up and  down so quick, it can be 80 and then bam- 110...Does anyone else deal with this? The lady doing my echocardiogram commented on this too...

[paanda2]

i take atenolol 75mg a day (broken down to two doses), and my dr told me that if i ever wanted to go off the meds, i would definitely have to taper off of them. i take them for IST (inappropriate sinus tachycardia), and one time, i forgot to take my morning dose, and my hr was 140 resting! i was having palpitations like crazy too. my heart is entirely dependent on it, because my resting hr before being on the meds was 84-88 (now it's 70ish).

i want to get off of it, too. i'm 20 years old, and i don't want to be on this medication because of the side effects and my dependency on it is really scary (i think it's made me worse, in a way).

[Jackie1980]

thanks for the responses. yeah, stopping the metoprolol suddenly is no good. My dr. felt like it was  ok though because it was such a small dosage. My heart was not fooled though. That is when the PVC's started coming. (This was 3 months ago and they have not gone away since.) My labs have come back andmy magnesium and potassium levels are a little low, so I am hoping that this is what is causing the PVC's. They are especially bad tonight, I am considering going to the ER....i don't know..These scare me so much and they are starting to hurt!!

[Barbmag]

I have been on Toprol XL 50 mg for a few yrs now. I did try to wean myself off a year or so ago b/c I just hate taking meds, plus the BB did not seem to help suppress my palps...but my heart did not like me not taking the darn things. I would get SOB when I would walk up a flight of stairs and I am in good health, active and walk daily. A few other symptoms as well when I went off so I got back on them. I guess I am stuck with this med forever.

[jj1017]

Im also  fellow Toprol roller coaster rider..I had an ablation for WPW in January, in hopes of getting off this hot mess of a medication. But Im still taking it for V-tach that the EP also found during the study, but left it since I had been in the lab for close to 8 hours already. He said the VT is originating  in the pulmonary valve and to keep taking the toprol untill my next appt in August. Really considering an ablation again and wonder if anyone has had an ablation for this type of VT and how it went. I too have to mess with the dosage to get it just right, and cutting the little suckers is always fun, especially when half of it goes flying accross the room.

[dancingheart]

Oh, I take Toprol XL too.  I am 42 years old and have been taking it 4 months...it's been a roller coaster ride.  Wish I could get off.. the ride no fun.... sorry.

[dancingheart]

I don't know I have these same questions.  My pulse drops too low sometimes so my doctor says to cut back...like cut a 25 mg pill in half and my heart notices the difference right away and then my pulse is too high.  I don't think that you can get off of BB once you start them...that is my experience anyway.  My pulse is either too low on them or two high...seems to be a fine line in how much to take.  I have even had to break the pills off the score line to get to where my heart tis happy.  I take anywhere from 75-100mg a day, depending on where my heartrate has been for a couple of days...too low start backing off....too high add more.  For me it seems a hassle trying to figure it out the right dose and cutting them up with a knife...I am also tired of the up and down pulse!!!  If anyone comes up with the answer as to how to get off BB or why my heart is dependent on them, please by all means let me know.  I am as desperate as everyone else for answers.

[FightThePower]

I'm taking Beta Blockers too, Toprol XL 50mg.  I'm 30 years old, am I supposed to take these forever??  I've read that you should not stop taking Beta Blockers suddenly, b/c it could increase risk of complications.  I guess your suppossed to slowly decrease dosages until you stop.  Is that correct?
Does anyone know about long term side effects of Beta Blockers?

Good luck on your echo.  

[Jerry_NJ]

Let us know what your cardiologist says.  I think that was your best bet, see a specialist.

I sure sounds like your heart came dependent on the BB, and didn't like you stopping it.  I don't know, but I'd think that after a period of time your heart rhythm would adjust to the absence of the BB.