Medication - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

Teacupforme · 01-05-2007, 01:48 AM

I have been considering changing my BP med, I am currently taking Metapropol(sp?), it is a Beta blocker. Mostly due to excessive fatigue. The Beta blocker has controlled the BP quite well though with few spikes. But the fatigue is out of hand,and I can't take it much more.

Will changing to another Beta blocker cause the same symptoms? Is there something else similar? I also take an Arb with the Beta blocker but the Arb is not much help.

Thank you-

violet312s · 01-05-2007, 08:54 PM

No need to bump, sometimes can take up to a day for someone to answer

I was on atenolol for 3 months (another beta blocker). Worked great but my legs felt like lead. Then went on metaprolol (Toprol XL). Dose too low to work. Upped dose, side effects were horrible and still didn't work. Now I'm on an ARB, which is working for me, but still on a very low dose of metaprolol (12.5mg).

My guess is that all betas cause the same fatigue side-effects. I've been on two of them with the same effects, but your experience could vary.

Oh, and don't even think about suddenly stopping your Metaprolol. Massive rebound heart palpitations. You will need to taper down very gradually over many, many weeks. You probably can switch from one beta-blocker to another without tapering. Oh, just don't go on atenolol.

Talk with your doctor about needing to change your medication regimen. No need for you to go through life so tired all the time.

The concern I have with you is that you say that an ARB doesn't adequately control your BP. Have you tried a diurectic in conjunction with your ARB? What ARB are you on and what dose? If it's not working, talk with your doctor on why you are taking it in the first place.

Teacupforme · 01-05-2007, 09:28 PM

The Arb was added because I was not getting total HBP control with just the Beta blocker. I take 50 mg beta blocker twice daily, and an extra 50 mg mid- day, only as needed. The Arb is 4 mg in the morning only.

Together the two work well. I know that most Arb's are clean meds with little side-effects. The problem is this beta blocker feels like daily torture. I need to replace it,with something???? I don't know if all Beta are the same or do they vary??

Lenin · 01-06-2007, 07:17 AM

Teacup,

Most beta-blockers will cause the same fatigue.
Have you tried a diuretic-arb combination? There's no fatigue and it works well if one is salt sensitive.

A diuretic is always a good place to start.

Teacupforme · 01-06-2007, 04:31 PM

No have not tried any other combos. But on my own I have added celery seed? We discussed it in an earlier post. I take 3000 mg tablets. I take 4 of these a day. I will ask my doc about the diuretic/arb combo.

I think he likes the Beta blockers because they also vasodilate which helps with pulse.