Anyone here had any side effects with atenolol. I had blackout spells(seizures?), eyes crossing, and hand numbness at night while on atenolol. I stopped taking it because I reduced my blood pressure by exercising. I had to restart the atenolol a few months ago because of inactivity. In May I had 2 losses of consciousness, one while having 104 fever(mono?). Each blackout/seizure occured after standing up either while feverish or after a hard workout in the heat of summer.

Hi Umpfan- If the blackouts/seizure episodes coincided with your being on Atenelol and at no other time, then the Atenelol might be the problem.

Perhaps by lowering your BP and heart rate TOO much (one of the primary side effects,) the drug, combined with heat and a hard workout did you in.

Side effects and adverse reactions are numerous with this drug:


Bradycardia (abnormally slow heart rate) THIS ALONE MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOUR BLACKOUTS.

Cold Extremities


Postural Hypotension


Leg Pain

Dizziness


Vertigo


Light-headedness

Tiredness


Fatigue


Lethargy


Drowsiness


Depression

Visual disturbances (!)

Dreaming


Diarrhea

Nausea

Wheeziness


Dyspnea (shortness of breath)

Acute Myocardial Infarction

*Heart Failure
*Heart Block
*Supraventricular Tachycardia
*Atrial Fibrillation
*Atrial Flutter
*Ventricular Tachycardia


Allergic: Fever, combined with aching and sore throat, laryngospasm, and respiratory distress.

Want more?

Talk to your doctor, there are equally effective drugs available and especially the ARBs (angiotensin 2 receptor blockers,) like Benicar, Diovan which a lot of people eventually "discover" after they've suffered through all the side effects of the older drugs like atenelol..

Good luck,

zuzu xxxxx

umpfan,

What you decribe is called "postural hypotension" and is common to nearly all blood pressure meds when BP drops low and standing momentarily deprives the brain!

All in all, I think the beta-blockers are a bad way to control blood pressure a person suffers from angina.

What I find funny about all of this is that when you look at the side affects of Atenolol -- Many of these things are what we are taking the drug for to begin with. So, how would a person taking this drug know if they were having a heart episode or whether it was a side affect from the drug to prevent heart episodes? What a confusing world it becomes for all of us. You mention that it is not a drug suggested for people with angina.....why?

I'm a bit confused by Zip's post as well..... unless there's a typo...because beta blockers are a drug of choice in many instances of angina.

Discontinuing the BBs cold turkey can be dangerous, that I know, and can exacerbate pre-existing angina.... But otherwise in many cases, they are not contraindicated.

Zip...can you explain what you meant?

On Atenolol my pulse would get down to 55 and BP 110/50! When I started riding my bicycle 20+ miles a day 3-4 days a week the "tingling" in my hands worsened and my bp went extremely low so I stopped taking the atenolol... no more blackouts/seizures...until doc told me to start it again this winter/spring!!! But I may still have temporal seizures...I get an auro and can not read/speak what I want for about 30 sec-1min...my eyes have crossed on 2 occasions in past 2 years.

Thank you all!!! I called my doc today and discovered I had restarted the atenonol on April 4...the blackout/seizure that started this 2nd round of trouble was...April 26!!! The neurologist thought I should have been responsive after a blackout but I have found a website, http://www.londoncardiac.ca/pages/vvs.htm
saying "After an episode, patients often feel somewhat dizzy and report feeling tired for as much as 24 hours"!!!

Sorry for that typo.....I meant to type "atenolol is a bad way to control high blood pressure UNLESS a person also suffers from angina...."

Of course beta blockers were originally DEVELOPED to ease the strain on the heart that causes angina... and they are very good at doing that!


Again so sorry to let that error lie but I've got an excuse....I was having SURGERY and was out of commission for a couple days! (Middle ear)

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 06-14-2003).]

I'm on atenolol 50 mg daily and chlorthalidone 12.5 mg daily and have had no side effects other than an initial decrease in exercise capacity, which has returned to normal. and...no ED either. hooray!