Sleepy

[TameraT]

I am 44 years old. At 38 I had a stent put in at (I think it was LAD). Anyway, I had some heart palpitations especially at night, and they always made me sick at my stomach for some reason when they happened. (Doctor seems to think the nausea is not caused by the palpatation). But this is the only time I feel nausea when I have the palpatations.

So the doctor increased Cardizem to 240 and told me to take 50 Toprol. Well, the palpatations decreased by so did my energy. I work at a computer, (LUCKILY I SIT IN A CORNER) and I fall asleep all day long.  I feel like my mind is cloudy, I am UNCONTROLLABLY SLEEPY. It's like I cannot contorl it. So I mentioned this to my cardiologist, he sent me for a sleep study. Ok, now I stop breathing at some point during deep sleep at night. I am now on a Bipap machine for approx 3 months now. Well. I am still falling alseep at my desk, I am purely miserable, and I am so afraid I will get caught and fired.  I am not doing it on purpose, it just seems like I cannot control it. Once I sleep for about 5-8 minutes, I am fine until the next episode of sleepiness. Can this be due to Toprol, I've heard many people discuss this as a side affect.  I've asked my doctor to take me off of Toprol and he said NO.
Need some advice on what to do.

[maggiemag]

I have read that it takes months on CPAP/BIPAP to get over the sleep debt of sleep apnea.  Three months isn't long enough,or even six from what I have read.  Have you tried going to bed earlier in the evening?  How long have you been taking the beta blocker?  It takes a while to get used to them, and the fatigue gradually lessens for many of us.

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

It is possible that the Toprol is producing your symptoms.  Ask your doctor if you could take nadolol which is another beta blocker but is less likely to give you the fatigue side effect.  The dose of the nadolol would be 40 mg.