Beta Blocker Intolerance

[ksibert676]

I'm asking this question for a friend who is having trouble with the sign up procedure on dinet.

Due to her asthma she cannot tolerate beta blockers AT ALL, she has tried several, and gets shortness of breath. She is not willing to continue living if she doesn't get some relief. She's on Florinef, midodrine, salt & H2O.

BB's she has tried.

Corgard

Coreg

Lopressor

Toprol XL

Bystolic

Pinodolol

Ace-buterolol

[nantynannie]

I'm asking this question for a friend who is having trouble with the sign up procedure on dinet.

Due to her asthma she cannot tolerate beta blockers AT ALL, she has tried several, and gets shortness of breath. She is not willing to continue living if she doesn't get some relief.

BB's she has tried.

Corgard

Coreg

Lopressor

Toprol XL

Bystolic

Pinodolol

Ace-buterolol

How about Atenolol?

[anna]

I realise about the asthma problems so not sure if this is relevant, but I was put on Cardicor (Bisoprolol hemifumarate) I have tried Atenolol and a few others but they made me very pooply, but so far this latest one seems ok!!! no breathlessness, no died wieght feelings, no chest pain etc. I do not have asthma by the way, but i do tick many of the things on the do not take if list!!! but it seems to have got to the point that if I do not take the B.B's my heart MVP will become a too bigger problem to fix by meds alone!!!

So may be it really is a matter of trying them all to find one that works for you! (well your friend).

I hope your friend finds something soon.

Anna

[maggee]

hi Karen,

i, also, tried a multitude of BB's.......and can only tolerate INDERAL [GENERIC NAME==PROPANOLOL ].

comes in 10 mg dose---so what i do--is take 1/2 pill---which would be 5 mg at a time----about 4 times over a 24 hr. period.

inderal is a "non-selective" beta blocker...and most are "selective".

have to do resourcing as to what the diff is, as i do not know off top of my head....:0(

but, perhaps--it may work for her also--as i am the most medication intolerant person....i have ever known---and med-intolerance is usually a BIG GIMME WITH DYSAUTONOMIA.

hope this helps...in some way....and hope the inderal becomes an answer for her.

tell her to just go slow with it, as stated above---just my recommendation, as that is the only way i can tolerate it--and it serves me well.

give her my best regards--i will pray for her today.

bless you for being there/here for her also!!!!!

sincerely,

pam [maggee on dinet]

[juliegee]

Karen,

Your friend sounds very desperate. Beta blockers are contraindicated for folks with asthma/allergies and MCAD. For a while, I was prescribed a calcium channel blocker called verapamil. It offered relief from the crazy tachy and didn't aggravate the allergy thing.

Best of Luck-

Julie

[mkoven]

I have bad allergies and was initially told no bb's, because they would blunt the response to an epi-pen. I don't officially have asthma, but when a doc did try me on propranolol, i felt like i couldn't breathe-- so maybe latent asthma? i also appear to have some type of coronary vasospasm, or at least that's the working diagnosis, and apparently bb's can aggravate. i am on a small dose of a calcium channel blocker-- norvasc-- for the spasm. no effect on heart rate or bp that i can tell, but chest pain a little better, and i flush more easily. i'm supposed to up the dose, but am reluctant.

[Rachel]

Has your friend tried other treatment options?

If the tachycardia primarily occurs when she is sitting or standing, perhaps treatments like salt, fluids, compression, and/or SSRIs would help in lowering her heart rate.

Rachel

[flop]

Hi,

I was already diagnosed with asthma when I became ill with POTS. My cardiologist was very cautious about trying me on beta-blockers but when florinef alone wasn't controlling my symptoms he tried a BB. But before he had me see a respiratory physician and I had to take the first dose in hospital in case I got breathless.

I was put on Bisoprolol (Cardicor) as it is cardio-selective (has more effect on the Beta-1 receptors of the heart and blood vessels than the Beta-2 receptors of the lungs). I took a tiny dose of this for several years but I have recently had to stop it as it was causing problems with my allergies and preventing me from getting the allergy treatment I need.

The general rule is no BB with asthma. Very carefully a selective BB can be tried but if it makes asthma worse then it should be stopped immediately.

Intolerance of beta-blockers (side effects eg feeling tired) is different to an adverse-reaction to beta-blockers (eg worsening asthma). As your friend has had the same problem with several beta-blockers it is likely that he/she will have bad reactions to all beta-blockers.

It looks as though your friend should look for a different type of treatment for their POTS. As Julie said some calcium channel blockers slow the heart rate. I have been put on a med called Ivabradine but I don't think it is FDA approved yet. Often slowing the HR isn't the best treatment for POTS anyway, meds and other helps to raise BP may be much more suitable for your friend. Suggest a trip back to the doctor and if that doctor can't help try one of the recommended physician's and see if a better med can be found for your friend.

Flop

[yogini]

It may be that the dose of BBs is too high - I was on 1/2 pill of atenolol, then 1/4 then 1/8 for a while. But, since none of the BBs she tried have seemed to work, maybe it makes sense to try the many other meds out there.

[Lizzegrl]

I also have asthma and can't take beta blockers due to severe respiratory reactions. I was told by Dr. Grubb to just consider myself allergic to the entire class of beta blockers due to the severity of my reaction. I am currently trying Catapres patch and it has helped my blood pressure and brought my rate down a bit. I'm still a work in progress, but it has definitely helped me. Not a huge difference, but moving from severely hypertensive to just borde line is a big deal for my health. Asthma still not controlled, but hey.. work in progress.