Propranolol And Asthma?

[Tzipora]

Hi everyone,

I just got diagnosed with POTS and today my neurologist prescribed Propranolol. I'm supposed to start with 10MGs once a day for a week and then go up to 20MGs.

I'm always nervous about new medications and all so I was just researching side effects and drug interactions. I keep reading that beta blockers can be a problem for asthmatics. And that there are MAJOR drug interactions between Propranolol and Xopenex (my rescue inhler, also the same med I have for my breathing treatment machine) and the same goes for regular albeuterol.

My asthma is pretty mild but I would say on average I have about one major asthma attack each year that involves an ER visit and all. (I actually got diagnosed originally with sinus tachycardia a few years ago when I went to the ER with an asthma attack! And at the time they actually refused to give me a breathing treatment for fear of making my heart rate worse... and my asthma meds got changed all around to lower the risks of them making my tachycardia worse). I don't even use my rescue inhaler much and very rarely ever use my nebulizer. But there's a strong history of severe asthma in my family. Both my mother and grandmother have very, very bad asthma. So I'm generally okay and I take Asmanex every night which helps me a ton (and apparently does not have any known interaction with propranolol) but I'm rather scared that either the Propranolol is going to cause an asthma problem or I will just have a problem down the line and be screwed over in terms of asthma treatment because of the beta blocker.

It's too late to call my neurologist today and I'm not even planning to try the Propranolol until Wednesday since I have tickets to a concert tomorrow night and don't want to take any chances. So I've got a couple of days to figure this out.

But asthma is pretty common so I can't be the only person here with it, right? So any other asthmatics out there who have tried beta blockers? Any problems? I don't know why my neurologist didn't catch this. The only warning he gave me was that it might lower my blood pressure (and I tend to run fairly low as it is). So I was worried about that but I'm way more worried about asthma issues now! But then again it's only a low dose and I rarely even need my rescue inhaler so I really do not know but I'm obviously (and rightfully) concerned...

[blueskies]

hi Tzipora,

When I was in my mid 30s a doc decided to treat me for 'anxiety and panic disorder' (misdiagnosis, it turned out to be pots) with a betablocker and I think it was propananol but can't be 100% sure. I spent a month taking it and when I went back to see him I told him that for the past month I"d often felt like I had a brick sitting on my chest. He told me to stop taking it straight away. In my mid 40s I was diagnosed with asthma -- knock on wood, not a big problem for me but family members have it worse. When my doc told me I my bp was 'high' on a regular basis she suggested putting me on a beta blocker but I reminded her I was asthmatic (I had heard betablockers and asthma did not go well together) and it was obvious she needed reminding. She said that betablockers were then out of the question for me. (BTW, when I bought a bp machine and measured my bp at home I discovered my bp was only high when I was distressed about my health or something else and when I was at doctors having bp taken -- the rest of the time it's mostly average or a bit low). So: from what I've been told beta blockers and asthma do not go together.

Did you remind your neurologist that you were asthmatic? Sometimes they 'forget' stuff. And it's our responsibility to remind them. If I was in your position I'd be ringing my neurologist today to check this out more thoroughly. If you can't speak to your neurologist leave a detailed messasge about your concerns of propananol and your asthma and your reliever (you never know when you will need the reliever). If they don't get back to you go see your general practioner (I think you call them pcp in U.S -- not sure) or ring him/her and tell her about your concerns.

If I was you I'd be looking into this straight away.

blue

[Alyssa]

I have very severe asthma. Last year I was in the ER on average several times per weeks because rescue inhalers were not working to open my airways. I take Dulera daily, and use a ventolin inhaler for rescue.

Last month, I was put on atenolol (cardioselective beta blocker). It caused a lot of breathing problems for me. I was finally at a good place with only having a few attacks per week, but this put me at several per day again. My dr took me off of it, and it took a week for me to go back to "normal".

I think that if your asthma is easily controlled, it may be worth a try. However, if it is really bad, I wouldn't chance it.

[Tzipora]

Thank you, both of you. I did call my neurologist the morning after I posted this. Turns out they did in fact "overlook" my asthma which is surprising since my asthma meds were listed right there and you'd think they'd check what other meds I was on before prescribing anything and that one would've been very obvious! But they agreed it was a bad idea and no beta blockers for me!

They decided to put me on Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker. I'm nervous about taking this one and trying my first dose tonight but even the pharmacist assured me it shouldn't cause any asthma problems!