outofadream Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Hi all, looking for experiences of those of you on beta blockers. For those of you who found your bp went UP when you started a new beta blocker, did it come back down in time? If so, how long did it take to settle?I’ve been trying my luck with Metoprolol, and was a little surprised and uneasy about the first day side effects. I knew was likely to cause extreme tiredness, but bp was the highest I’ve seen since a tilt table several years back on a REALLY bad POTS day. General POTS symptoms weren’t too great either (hands and feet like ice, slightly blurry vision, vertigo, nasty head pressure, brain fog). I’ve also been running recurrent, low grade temps for some time now, and it rather puzzlingly seemed to make those worse as well.I’ve been on a different beta blocker before, and it did NOT seem to have these initial side effects, so trying to get a sense of whether to try to stick this one out and see if I adjust, or if that’s not likely to happen and just isn’t the right beta blocker. Any insight and experiences are greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 That was not my personal experience with a beta blocker. Can you talk to your dr or pharmacist about your concern? There are many beta blockers and I have noticed over the years that different patients fare better with different ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishaqamina Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 i took beta blockers for 2 weeks before i had to come off them. I developed chest pain,shortness of breath and strong ashma type symptoms such as wheezing with them. This got worse over the course of the 2 weeks.They didn't really do much to alleviate my POTS symptoms either. They definately didn't work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ks42 Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Yes. I had the exact same reaction. Metoprolol elevated my blood pressure within the first few days of taking it. My first cardiologist told me to try and stick it out, but the end result was that my BP, after a couple weeks on it, was about 150/105 all the time, and it would spike to about 160/115 frequently throughout the day. The adrenaline surges got a lot worse too. I ended up having to be treated for high BP in the ER, where they took me off it and gave me meds to lower my BP. I'd tried other beta blockers, including Nadolol, which didn't raise my BP, so for me, I seemed to have some reaction specific to the Metoprolol itself.When I finally got to a POTS specialist, she wasn't surprised that I'd had that reaction to the metoprolol. It's an uncommon reaction, but is apparently not unheard of. There are several reasons a reaction like that can occur, including (but not limited to) unopposed alpha receptor stimulation, mast cell, and genetic predisposition to paradoxical reactions with specific types of beta blockers.It would probably be a good idea to bring up the elevated BP to your doc and see what he or she says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Inderal has been gold for me....but extremely extremely heat sensitive...online says that beta makes that worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I just wanted to mention that beta blockers are contraindicated in those with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. If any of you have that dx or think it's a possibility, you might want to discuss this with your doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ks42 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 I definitely agree - I would encourage anyone with beta blocker issues to look into mast cell.In my case, we've pretty much ruled out mast cell - at first, the docs thought that was the reason the Metoprolol raised my BP, but it didn't make sense that I didn't react the same way to other beta blockers if I had mast cell. I've also been tested multiple times, even during what we thought might be mast cell "flares", but was always negative. And we went ahead and tried various mast cell medication cocktails - they all made me worse (or at the very least, didn't help). I also really don't have many of the typical signs or symptoms of mast cell (besides the intolerance to Metoprolol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outofadream Posted August 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Thank you guys so much, your input really helped. I took your advice and brought up the issues with my doctor, and decided to go back to the beta blocker was on before (Nadolol) for the moment. Just trying to get things more stabilized at this point, and seem to be doing better on it so far than was with the Metoprolol. It was just a relief to know I wasn't the only one having trouble with Metoprolol and to get some explanation as to why. Hope those of you who had bad experiences with Metoprolol or bb in general have been having better luck with other treatments :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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