I am new here, had a heart attack about 2 months ago and am on lots of fun new meds,
anyhow, I just read in a comment posted by mgraylorn something that needs to be explained to me:
"Be careful with the Toprol though, it is a beta blocker and you need to gradually reduce dosage of that one and NOT quit it cold turkey."
just what is a beta blocker and why would I not quit cold turkey?
I am new here, had a heart attack about 2 months ago and am on lots of fun new meds,
anyhow, I just read in a comment posted by mgraylorn something that needs to be explained to me:
"Be careful with the Toprol though, it is a beta blocker and you need to gradually reduce dosage of that one and NOT quit it cold turkey."
just what is a beta blocker and why would I not quit cold turkey?
anyone with the patience to explain, I thank you.
Travis
Hi Jhvh1,
All beta blockers (TOPROL included) work on reducing (slowing) the heart rate. Over time the relaxing effect on the system becomes permanent. Beta blockers work on something known as Beta receptors which trigger adrenalin.
The system becomes use to this calming effect, which in turn lowers blood pressure. If you stop taking your med. suddenly, after a few days you will notice an increased heart rate and a blood pressure spike. If you have a compromised heart (heart disease etc..) this could be dangerous. The heart rate will return to normal after a week or so. When I stopped taking TOPROL I tapered the dose (ex. I split my 25 mg tablet in half, and took 12 1/2 mg daily for about 1 week, then every other day etc.) This helps avoid the sudden system shock of cold turkey.
Note: Tapering should be discussed with your doctor, regarding the dosage, substitute meds. etc.
Beta blockers are a class of hypertension meds, some examples are atenolol, metoprolol (Toprol), propranolol and there are others. They are also used for angina, migraine headaches, anxiety or for people who have had heart attacks.
Because of the way they work, if you just quit taking them you can have serious rebound effects - cause your blood pressure to go way up, produce anxiety, rapid heartbeat, and other bad things. You have to gradually wean your body off of them. Now if you only take an occasional dose, say for anxiety, or are on a very low dose, especially for just a short time, then you probably don't need to wean. If you are on higher doses and for longer periods of time you have to cut back on the dose slowly to give your body a chance to adjust to the lack of the drug. It's like getting addicted to sleeping pills or antianxiety medication.
Last edited by mgraylorn; 07-20-2005 at 08:42 AM.
Reason: spelling
I just quit torprol since I got tired of not being able to exercise, tho it did help me sleep better and calmed my inner motor.
I cut by 25 percent, and the doctor wanted me to quit it by halves, going from 100 mg to 50 mg in one day and holding that for a week and then not taking it anymore, good thing I didn't listen to him because even just a 25 mg drop gave me the jitters, it incresed my energy temporarily, but the jitters remained,
today I have been without torprol for 2 days, I was real jittery yesterday, not as bad today tho I am still nervous,
