Gojoe

I am a 45 year old male with a leaky valve and heart murmur since being a teenager, a slightly enlarged left ventricle, high blood pressure, and a fast, irregular heartbeat. My doctor prescribed 200mg of atenolol daily (100 in the morning and 100 at night), and this keeps my bp reasonable (190/70) and my pulse in the low 60's, I am use Viagra to counteract the side-effects of the atenolol. I have not had a heart attack and do not have chest pain.

I do occassionally miss a day taking the atenolol and can really feel my heart race all day. My bp goes up to 220/75 or so, too. When I miss the atenolol and still use Viagra, my heart pounds and races long afterward (still going 125bp after an hour). The beats are so hard that my partner can feel them on the bed beside me. I also start having pvc's that go beat-beat-skip-beat-beat-skip.

Has anyone experienced something like this when missing a beta-blocker dose? My doctor says my chances of a heart attack go way up when this is happening. Has anyone had a heart attack from not taking a beta-blocker?

Thanks.

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Gojoe