Hi, I am new to this board, but it has been a big help. I have been on Toprol XL 50 for about a year. Recently have had some swallowing problems causing some anxiety (or so the Dr's think). This had lead to some dizziness and lightheadedness and occasionally a feeling of trembling for no reason I can think of. My question is has anyone had side effects from Toprol start after being on for a long time. I am going to ask them to taper me off of it and try something else. All other tests have come back normal or negative so far. Not sure if I really have stress and anxiety or could the symptoms be from Toprol? I have lost 12 pounds due to not being able to eat food like I used to. I have stopped the weight loss. Any ideas would be great on Toprol Side effect starting after a long time.

I have begun slowly tapering off the Toprol to see if it is the problem with my symptoms. Won't know for a few weeks, but since no one else has had this problem or responded to my post, I will let you know if it helped or not.

Sillyme-
Side effects with meds are usually apparent very early. However, I would suppose that it is possible for your body to develop an intolerance to ANY drug even after a year.

I used to be able to take the antibiotic CEFZIL without any problems at all. About 5 years ago it was prescribed for a sinus infection. I puked my guts out for two days. Thought it was food poisoning of some kind. Once my stomach settled down again (I gave myself 10 days), I started the CEFZIL again and WHAM....I was on the floor of the bathroom all over again.
Needless to say, I am not going to "experiment" with this drug again! Found other antibiotics that work fine. Obviously my body reacts badly now to Cefzil even after being able to take it previously.

Just like some people develop allergies to foods or substances they have been exposed to for their entire lives without problems...and then boom, they are allergic.

Let us know what happens once the Toprol is out of your system. I do hope you start to feel better!

zuzu xxx

Thanks ZuZu for your reply. I posted this question on another heart board and someone said that some of my symptoms sounded like they could be from pressure dropping too low. I know that on my home BP machine sometimes it does show low, like 98/60 or so when resting which is low for me, but I am not sure how accurate this is. Before I hit forty mine was always 120/70. Then about 41 it went to 140/90 just like my mom's at about that age.

I have cut back my Toprol to 25mg from 50mg just since Saturday ( today is wednesday) in my tapering off process the Dr gave me for the nest 2 weeks. I am still tired and dizzy and shaky, but no where near as much as before. I just ate a little chicken and rice, may not sound like much but to someone who has been living on ensure and yogurt for the last month its a milestone.

Still not sure if its the Toprol causing the dizziness and lightheadedness for sure, (for all I know it could be psychological effect). My BP is still ok for the moment, even kind of low at times. Still wondering if the Toprol made me depressed without me knowing it and that is why I also had the lack of appetite.

I am so glad I found this board, it has really helped so much

Sillyme- Regarding Toprol, when I tried it (it was the first BP med I was ever prescribed) I got very depressed, as well as fatigued. I've had a low grade depression on and off all my life, but this was beyond my "regular" depression. So it's possible the Toprol depressed you and was partly reponsible for lack of appetite. It's interesting about depression. Some people eat when depressed, others (like you and me) stop eating.

Have your swallowing issues been addressed? Were you living on Ensure and yogurt because of it? What did the doc say about it?
A steady diet of the above could also have been contributing to your symptoms. We need you to eat! (I don't care HOW many vitamins and minerals Ensure has..LOL)

zuzu xxx



[This message has been edited by zuzu8 (edited 10-08-2003).]

Thanks for the eating encouragement Zuzu. This whole thing started on vacation in August with lump in throat feeling when eating. At first it was just not eating as much and then escalating to panic attacks, which I never had before. Then the lightheadedness and dizziness started, even though I stopped loosing weight at that time. I have slowly been having some solid food like tuna salad and egg salad and cereal, but each bite with lots of water. I think I was afraid to eat.

Have since found out that some of my friends/aquaintances have anxiety and get a lump in throat from it. Seems it wasn't acid reflux as thought. I have never had depression, at least not that I ever was aware of. Worries, problems, situational anxiety yet, but all handled well.

My mom had massive stroke 5 years ago at age of 66 out of the blue. Paralyzed on right side and I had to put her in nursing home 4 years ago as I had 3 young kids and could not take care of her 24/7 anymore. She lived with us at time and was my right hand. I was anxious and probably somewhat depressed during this, but had no real symptoms other than crying alot for a while. Father died years ago of heart problems when I was pregnant with my first child. Again I handled it well. So I never had depression for what I deem no reason at all. I tried zoloft for a week, could not take it, was shaking horribly and made me feel worse.

I am hoping it is the Toprol and I will see what happens.

Sil

I have been on 20omg Toprol XL for two years now and am going to try and taper off as it has not helped my BP at all but has helped with anxiety.
I am now on Norvasc and a diuretic. THAT combo has helped tremendously.
My question...any suggestions on how fast or slow to get off Toprol? I have 200mg,100 and 50Mgs...can mix and match. How shouyld I taper off ?

Definitely check with your Dr. I am to take half a pill for a week, one half pill every other day for a week and stop, but I was only on 50mg. You have to make sure you do it the right way, so make sure to ask your Dr. Make sure your Dr. is competent on stopping it. My GP told me to take a pill every other day for a week and stop. I did not feel comfortable with that after what I read on the internet and went to a cardiologist. I was fine with his method which is what I had heard about and seemed better than just every other day for a week.

Sillyme- Do you know the term "cricopharygeal spasm?" This sounds very much what you may have been dealing with regarding the swallowing problem.

Here is a link to a post by Lastoria who posted on the Open To All Topics board not long ago.: What do you think?
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum126/HTML/004103.html

zuzu xxx

Hi Zuzu

I just looked the information. I have some of the symptoms, but I got mine when I ate, and I could swallow saliva and liquids fine. So I don't know what to think. It has been much better lately and I stopped the prevacid. I am still not so hungry but am eating a little better in the last few days. When I am off the Toprol totally for a while I will know for sure. Can't wait to get rid of this jittery shaky feeling.

Thanks so much for your support
Sil

Yipeee........
Ok, its been barely a week since I am on 1/2 dose ( 25mg) of Toprol, tapering off after a year on it. I just had good size breakfast, something I have not done in almost a month!! Still don't know 100% if all my problems are the Toprol side effects as I am still jittery and a little dizzy, but what a difference!! I may even be able to go out to eat somewhere soon!! My kids will be so thrilled.

Well its now been 10 days since I am totally off. Have more appetite, but not enough to gain weight back, no swallowing problems, but still have anxiety and jitters.

Woke up jittery big time today. I called the manufacturer, they said something about 3-7 half life, or about 35 hours. Not sure if they meant a week before its out. I go back to cardiologist on Friday.
Had another glucose fast test, got a 89, which is very normal. Thyroid is fine, not sure what else this could be.
Sil

Hi Sil,

How are you doing now? Are the anxiety attacks and palpitations still around? Hope you're getting better! :)

Hi,

I feel a little better, but have felt that before for a day or two and then slid back. MY HR is still a bit high at times. I have been off for a little over 2 weeks now.

I still get shaky, not sure if that is really anxiety or something else. I am trying to eat more, still not normal appetite.

I am starting to try to exercise a little. Went to cardio friday, said to exercise, told me only thing to do was wait a little longer to see if all this is the toprol or not.

This whole thing has made me more paranoid.

How are you doing? Any more symptoms. I could not get on the board over weekend, until I figured out what was going on.

Take care and let me know what is up with you

Silvia

Hi Sil,

Sorry to hear that you haven't fully recovered.

Actually, like you, I've been off the beta blocker for slightly over 2 weeks now and my heart rate is still high at around 80-90 resting, rising to around 110 with the slightest physical exertion. Although I do exercise regularly (up to 0.5 hours on the treadmill 5 days a week), it appears that the exercise has still not succeeded in getting the chemicals out of my system :(

I've changed the calcium channel blocker from Plendil to Norvasc (2.5mg once daily), and Norvasc appears to be a little better in the sense that I don't feel uncomfortable when I take it (although I think Norvasc also seem to result in some palpitations, as a documented side effect). My BP lately has been hovering in the region of 112-124 for systolic and 79-86 for diastolic as measured by an electronic BP machine, before taking the medications. Not that bad, but not ideal for a person my age either :(

Let's hope that the exercise gets rid of our discomfort soon! It appears that our respective cardiologists seem to recommend exercise as a way to reduce the discomfort we're having!

Anyway, I've been doing some research on the Net, and it appears that tachycardia, caused by no apparent underlying reason(s), is nothing to worry about...

Hi Wr6969

How are you doing? Any changes for the better yet?

Well I am still hanging in there. I am in contact with 2 women who were on Toprol xl for a short amount of time, less than one month both. They both did not feel normal, one did not stop her anxiety, until off for one full month. I hope I can say the same.

I am going to go to a new GP next week, to cover my bases in case its not the Toprol. I really think it is, but don't want to be stupid. I want to know what other tests besides diabetes and thyroid I should have. I don't know if I need an echocardiogram, had an EKG weeks ago when I was still on Toprol and it came out normal.

The last 2 nights I have had a little bit of night sweats. Ccould be anything, but I don't need more symptoms right now.

Still trying to gain appetite and some weight back.

My HR before I go to bed resting is at 78, but during the day if I am anxioius, I can be sitting on couch and it could be in the 90's. Driving me nuts.

Can't wait to be able to sleep past 2-4 am. By 6-7 at night I am exhausted.

I want my life back and hope to get it soon

Take care
Silvia

Hi, Sillyme

I wonder if you have looked into a Vitamin B12 deficiency. The reason I bring it up is that a deficiency in B12 can cause severe anxiety and loss of appetite, memory loss, dizziness, and other symptoms. You need stomach acid to absorb B12. You can easily get a deficiency without stomach acid. Prevacid effectively blocks stomach acid. If I may ask, how long were you on it? Is there anything wrong with your intestines, that you know of?

My daughter had a B12 deficiency, and lost her appetite entirely. She also lost half her body weight, not necessarily intentionally. She expereinced severe dizziness. She was so anxious she could not pick up the phone to make calls and could not go to work for fear of falling in the street and being hit by a car. After B12 supplementation (she gets shots every week now), she was able to start a new job answering the telephone! She is not nearly so anxious anymore, and has put on five pounds.

If you don't want to go to a doctor for shots, there is another type of B12 that is easily absorbed under the tongue. It's called methylcobalamin, and it is already broken down into the chemical that your brain uses in processing neurotransmitters, so it readily helps with anxiety. It also prevents buildup of homocysteine, a toxic byproduct of neurotransmission that can lead to heart attack and stroke.

I hope you look into B12, because the benefits are many and the drawbacks are just about nil!

Hugs,

Pam

HI spirlhelix

Thanks for your information. Hope you daughter is well soon. I was only on prevacid for about 2 weeks. I have a little acid reflux, not a ton. I will ask the Dr. next week about b12. I am going to a new Dr as I am not happy with my old one and how they handled this whole ordeal.

How did you find out it was a b12 deficiency? Is there a test? I have been taking a multivitamin every day since this ordeal started.

Let me know how you found out about b12 and thanks so much for your imput.

Silvia