blood pressure medicine

[laceylace_2004]

Any one else on blood pressure medicine and feel awful? I got put on some Wednesday to slow down my heart rate, and I feel like death. I know it's normal to feel bad because my blood pressure is low, guess I'm hoping someone with experience will tell me how long I'll feel like this. I'm about to say screw it, and just deal with the palpitations and heart beating out of my chest. I have a 3 year old at home to run after, and I'm 34 weeks pregnant.  

[laceylace_2004]

Im on what your on. I'm on 25 mg, and i cut the pill in half and take it twice a day. My blood pressure Wednesday was 90/?. I have supraventricular tachycardia. I have had chest pain, shortness of breath, chest heaviness, and palpitations. A few weeks ago when i wore the monitor, my average heart rate was 91, with an average tachycardic attack at 143. When i went in Wednesday, resting heart rate was 118 so she kinda made me get on it. I just wanted to deal with it because i was told by the nurse it could affect my sons heart rate and cause preterm labor, but the practitioner said that i was going to get worse and i needed it. I have been trying all weekend to just push past the way i feel cuz i had so much to get done to get ready for our sons arrival, and i started getting bad dizzy with a severe headache in babies r us, and i have been so exhausted i didn't get hardly anything accomplished. She said to give the medication a week, and i will feel better.

[DNP47]

I am not on any currently bc I had to be on such a large dose to control my heart rate that it was dangerous for the baby. I was on 200 mg metoprolol twice a day (which is extremely high). I felt awful and I could not function. They tried having me on a lower dose but it just wouldnt touch my heart rate. I have an underlying heart condition not related to the pregnancy, but it was a recent issue, I started having problems probably 4 months before I got pregnant.

What kind of heart issues are you having? I know you mentioned your high heart rate and palpitations, but what are they specifically?

I had SVT and POTS with PVC's/PAC's and occational Afib/Aflutter....so Ive had a lot of problems lol.

What dose of medication are you on and what medication is it? You're probably on a beta blocker, Ive tried atenolol, propanolol, and metoprolol among other things, and I found that metoprolol was the most tolerable. If your dose is higher then 25 mg twice daily, maybe you could talk to your doctor about lowering your dose and seeing if it will be enough to control the issues youre having. Ive heard that procardia is also more tolerable then some of the others.

Just to let you know, when I had to get off my medications cold turkey (when I found out I was pregnant) I had horrible withdrawls, my blood pressure shot up dangerously high and my palpitations were worse then ever before, I literally thought I was going to die at any moment. So please dont just stop taking it because you may feel way worse then you do now.

I think the reason I felt so incredibly horrible was because I was taking such a high dose and my blood pressure is normally low anyways so it was even worse when on the medications. There are a few things that you can do to increase your blood pressure to see if it makes you feel better (of course, be sure your blood pressure isnt high before doing any of these). The easiest thing to do is to drink a ton of water, 4+ liters a day, this will build up your blood volume and your blood pressure, I always feel better when my pressure is 100/60 as opposed to 70/30. You can also talk to your doctor to see if adding a medication such as midodrine to increase the blood pressure might help you out also.

I know how you feel!!! It is terrible, I have two small children at home also so I was a wreck.