Well I have been some kind of attacks for a few weeks now. I have missed 2 weeks of work. My blood pressure spikes and heart rate evne though Im on 100mg atenelol. 50 morning 50 night. My doctor says its anxiety and wants me to take 20mg of prozac. He also gave me after much worry on my part 5 mg of diazapam (valium) to act against some of the possible effects of prozac. I have not taken it yet. Im scared. I dont want to become incapacited. I cant miss much more work. He is also waiting for results of my blood work on thyroid and lipids. I have had a couple good days and now on my way to taking my daughter to work I suddenly felt very weak everywhere. I dropped her off and could not wait to get home and didnt think I would make it. when I got in, my spikes went up once again and they have lately, doctor says it because of anxiety, 175/90 86 pulse. Have been taking 100 mg atenelol, 50 in am and 50 in pm. for a long long time.I dont know what to do. Im 60 years old and feel like a baby and a fool. Should I take the prozac and take a chance? Any comments would be so great. Thanks so much for reading this anyone,
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
I have bp spikes too and they tend to be related to kidney stones. Even if the stones are asympotamatic. Last time I had a spike doc wanted to up my meds and I asked for an x-ray and wa la there they were!
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Modularman
Well I have been some kind of attacks for a few weeks now. I have missed 2 weeks of work. My blood pressure spikes and heart rate evne though Im on 100mg atenelol. 50 morning 50 night. My doctor says its anxiety and wants me to take 20mg of prozac. He also gave me after much worry on my part 5 mg of diazapam (valium) to act against some of the possible effects of prozac. I have not taken it yet. Im scared. I dont want to become incapacited. I cant miss much more work. He is also waiting for results of my blood work on thyroid and lipids. I have had a couple good days and now on my way to taking my daughter to work I suddenly felt very weak everywhere. I dropped her off and could not wait to get home and didnt think I would make it. when I got in, my spikes went up once again and they have lately, doctor says it because of anxiety, 175/90 86 pulse. Have been taking 100 mg atenelol, 50 in am and 50 in pm. for a long long time.I dont know what to do. Im 60 years old and feel like a baby and a fool. Should I take the prozac and take a chance? Any comments would be so great. Thanks so much for reading this anyone,
Id rather be 60 and have this happen rather than at age 20! I have the exact same problem, look around, alot of poeple do. With my research I am attributing MY attacks to anxiety. I get all shakey, and have a feeling of dread, when honestly im fine. I have realized that these attacks are what spikes my B/P, How long have u taken atenolol? My dad is taking that same dose, I told him to go to his MD after checking his b/p, which was staying pretty consistant at 150/110, which is a high diastolic for his agage (49). Did u have blood pressure problems before these events?
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Giving PROZAC for hypertension is malpractice...if anything it will raise your BP.
It is used to treat DEPRESSION, not anxiety...they are quite different. In fact:
Quote:
Side effects of Prozac:
Abnormal dreams, abnormal ejaculation, abnormal vision, anxiety, diarrhea, diminished sex drive, dizziness, dry mouth, flu-like symptoms, flushing, gas, headache, impotence, insomnia, itching, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness, rash, sex-drive changes, sinusitis, sleepiness, sore throat, sweating, tremors, upset stomach, vomiting, weakness, yawning
Take the valium and see if it makes you feel better. If your BP remains high, switch to another antihypertensive med. It doesn't sound like beta-blockade is the way for you to go. Perhaps a diuretic would give you better control.
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Oh ABSOLUTELY, Modularman.
An overactive thyroid will play havoc with your BP.
Are they treating you with something like radioactive iodine or one of the anti-thyroid hormone medications?
Do you have Graves Disease?
I guess you are in the very first stages of testing for your thyroid?
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Yes Ive been on atenelol for about 10 years or so. Pretty much under control for a long time until "wham" my systolic started acting up getting higher and then spiking and then of course everything went nuts for a while until he had me taking it in the am and the pm. that seems to help somewhat but not entirely. I take 50 in the am and 50 in the pm. He said I could take more if I needed until I get my scan done in a couple of weeks. Then I have to see him after that and find out whats up. I still feel like crap even with the atenelol. My face feels funny sometimes, and a few body trembles although that seems to be better now. I get some headaches and my head feels full of pressure or some kind of feeling I cant explain. Maybe prickly. Well thats it. Thanks again for your comments and they are always welcome.
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Modular,
Beta-blockade is usually used temporarily for hyperthyroid until they get to root of the problem and start addressing the thyroid malfunction directly.
When they do the thyroid scan, they will be able to treat you more efficaciously.
Adjust the atenolol and valium as best you can to get you decent numbers til then, but don't panic if 150/90 is the best you can get...it's only temporary.
The PROZAC would be a big mistake.
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Modularman
Well I have been some kind of attacks for a few weeks now. I have missed 2 weeks of work. My blood pressure spikes and heart rate evne though Im on 100mg atenelol. 50 morning 50 night. My doctor says its anxiety and wants me to take 20mg of prozac. He also gave me after much worry on my part 5 mg of diazapam (valium) to act against some of the possible effects of prozac. I have not taken it yet. Im scared. I dont want to become incapacited. I cant miss much more work. He is also waiting for results of my blood work on thyroid and lipids. I have had a couple good days and now on my way to taking my daughter to work I suddenly felt very weak everywhere. I dropped her off and could not wait to get home and didnt think I would make it. when I got in, my spikes went up once again and they have lately, doctor says it because of anxiety, 175/90 86 pulse. Have been taking 100 mg atenelol, 50 in am and 50 in pm. for a long long time.I dont know what to do. Im 60 years old and feel like a baby and a fool. Should I take the prozac and take a chance? Any comments would be so great. Thanks so much for reading this anyone,
Have they checked out your potassium levels. I have been out of work since December. I was dehydrated, with very low potassium levels, which can make you feel that way, with blurry vision, tremors, muscle cramps. I'm 44 .
Don't feel foolish, your body is responding to something.
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Well i found out about the hyerthyroid and he put me on 20mg methimazole a day. Ive been on it a week now maybe 9 days and it helped my pulse get down for sure. My bp spikes are still happening. Today I went to the other room of the house and I felt weak legs so I say down and took my bp and it was 174/101. I waited a while and it was 163/85 and then lower. This happens when I get up and walk around. While sitting its usually 135 140 / 75 yo 80 a lot. Dr. says the hyerthyroid meds take longer to take effect. Does this make sense to anyone. Ive been pretty much a couch potato for a month because of this. Maybe this will contribute to the jump when I get up and move around. however, its does not do that consistently everyday. some days!
Re: High Blood Pressure Spikes, What Else Can It Be?
Modularman,
Given your situation it is undertandable that you feel the way you do...but you are not a baby nor are you a fool...you are intuitive and wise to be concerned and even wiser to express those feelings and concerns!
I do not feel comfortable addressing your spikes, but I will address the atenolol as I have some experience with it.
1. Get on the internet and do a search on "atenolol side effects". That should give you some information about the drug, dosage, use, side effects, etc. Do any of the side effects/precautions/etc apply to you? If so, question your doctor as he may not have taken the medication or the dosage into account when he first prescribed the drug to you. Also, your history may have changed and a need for a different med may be due. If I recall correctly, the max dose recommended for atenolol is 100 mg, which is what you are on now. If that is the case I would ask the doctor why he thinks you should take more atenolol than the recommeded max dose.
2. As we get older, our bodies experience normal changes--one of these changes takes place in the liver. Over time we can lose up to 50% of our normal liver function. This is important because many drugs are "processed" or "metabolized" in the liver--atenolol for instance. If our prescriptions/dosages are not altered to take our changing older body into account, we can experience problems with the drug even though it's worked fine for us for years. Many doctors are not aware of this and as a result they treat the side effects with MORE medications instead of lowering the dose of the "old" drug or changing the "old" drug (many people aren't aware that the real drug abuse problem is in the older adult population and this is just one of many reasons for it). Also, we can experience problems with drugs after years of use, even if we didn't age, so to speak--side effects or problems can occur at any time.
In summary, do some research on the atenolol and then ask your doctor lots and lots of questions--you pay for this privilege so get your money's worth! If I were you, I would ask him about the possibility of lowering the dose of the atenolol to see if that would help before taking any new medications...but do your reading and check with the doc. You don't want to experiment on yourself.
Last but not least, can I assume you are taking your atenolol regularly? Missed doses may impact those readings.
