He puts me on BP meds...even increases them throughout the treatment...and every time I have gone back, after looking at my chart, HE ASKS ME, "WHAT ARE YOU TAKING AGAIN?"

Exactly. My doc. told me I had white-coat 7 months ago or so. Yesterday he said that he wasn't convinced even with a reading like 156/85, because my heart rate was 69. "Well you have me on Atenolol doc." Oh yeah he responded. That would explain why your heart rate wasn't higher. My deductible is $100, I feel that I spent $75 for a circus show. Let's see, it went down to 122/76 30 minutes later. I have logs for the 20 months that I have been on meds. Last year at this time my average B/P was 126/76, now it is 116/66 on the meds. Is it time to wean with all of the side effects? Yeah. His direct quote "You can go off of the meds., but I don't know if I would do that", but you can try, but they are good meds & protect you. What am I supposed to get from that.

There is an article about drug companies and drs in the senior mag. three sales reps are ditching the dirt on the makers of vioxx. I think this happens alot where pharmaceutials pay drs to prescribe their dr. It was an interesting reading.

I know about the kick-backs. It really makes me wonder if I am on Atenolol & Lotrel if there is a reason other than my white-coat.... My 1st doc. I asked to try Diovan, he put me on Lotrel & said that it was better..... It makes you wonder.

Axe..I had a dr. who would not take me off Altace as she felt it was a great drug, but it gave me lousy side effects. After almost 2 years on it, I started getting heart palps very badly so she put me on 25 mgs. of Atenolol. Once my palps stopped, I took myself off of the Altace. When I told her, she upped the Atenolol to 50 mgs. and I felt crappy, so I knocked it down to the 25 again, that is when they added the Avapro as she felt the 25 was too low of a dose, plus I had a low postassium reading, and the Avapro would help to hold the potassium level more steady.

If U aren't convinced U need all these drugs, go off of the one U hate most and see what happens. If it is the Atenolol, slowly wean yourself off, and if your BP goes up, then U will know U need them, but if it stays low, U have proven U don't need it. Don't drive yourself crazy wondering, just try it and see how it goes. I really wish U luck, it isn't easy being with a dr. who won't work with you. Take care.... :wave:

JJ,

When you say that you felt crappy on the Atenolol at 50 MGS, imagine 100. What side-effects did you have? When you weaned off of it, was it diffucult with withdrawals & etc. What was your weaning schedule?

My husband takes 100 mgs. of Atenolol along with 3 other BP drugs. I felt very tired on 50 mgs. and I seemed to be getting depressed, so I just cut the 50's in half and took it like that till I saw the dr. At first I felt a lil nervous, but after a week I was fine. Dr. told me if I wanted to get off of them completely, to take the 25 mgs. every other day for a week, and then stop, but I decided to just keep taking the 25 for now. Seems these are hard drugs to get off, as when I didn't take it for a couple of nites, I did feel jumpy the next day and had some heart palps., that is why I stayed on them.

Try cutting back to 50 for awhile and see how it goes. Good luck!! :)

Great! I knew that they would cause some withdrawal effects. My doc. yesterday said that if I wanted to get off of the meds. to try it & monitor. Is he aware that Atenolol isn't a B/P med. that you play around with.... you need a weaning schedule. My appt. yesterday was an excercise in futility. The Atenolol causes the lethargy, but it could be the Lotrel as well. A couple of days a week I feel a little dizzy. It's impossible to tell, which med. causes the lethargy, the dizziness, the flushing (my doc. said that I'm healthy, so the B/P meds. increase blood flow to the face+ & that it wasn't a side-effect of Lotrel... look up Lotrel & calcium channel blocker side effects doc.), as well as depression+. It is terrible to feel more depressed & to lose hope after appointments. I have reached that point. I don't want to see another GP, unless it is a specialist in White-Coat & Anxiety. If all of my blood tests were perfect (I have a copy) in May, then why test kidney function again in a few months. He said that was the point of the blood test???? My creatinine was 1.0, normal is 0.5-1.4, My BUN was 13, normal is 7-25. My ratio was 13, normal is 6-25. If anything it is right in the middle or better. Liver function ... AST 16 (Normal 2-50) ALT 20 (Normal 2-60)... Makes no sense to test more than once every 2 years, especially for a 34 year old, especially when all of the #'s were great a few months ago. LDL Cholesterol 105, under 130 is good. HDL (the good cholesterol)- 72 (anything over 40 is good). My ratio was 2.7, anything under 5 is good.