Back Pedaling on Beta Blockers (Atenolol, Metoprolol, Propranolol) for Hypertension

Peoples Pharmacy.com ^ | December 23, 2013 | Joe Graedon

[HarleyLady27]

August 31, 2017 at 3:45 pm

I am a migraine sufferer. Approximately 18 mos ago I was put on beta blocker Metoprolol (25 mg twice a day) as a preventative to reduce headache frequency and severity. I had no problems with the medication, other than slight lethargy and a few pounds gained. About 6 weeks ago, however, my pharmacy advised they had switched to a different manufacturer, and things went quickly downhill.

My bp, which is usually steady and in the good range of 120/67 started going all over the place from lows to highs, with accompanying rapid heart beats of as much as 90 – 118, other than my normal of 62 – 68. I felt lousy, going from being extremely cold, especially in my lower legs and feet, to breaking out in a sweat at the smallest task such as getting dressed.

I had rapid weight gain (10 lbs in two weeks), several anxiety attacks (which I had never suffered), swelling in my ankles, blurred vision, dizziness, a dull headache which lasted for days and fatigue so bad I could hardly get out of bed. My brain felt as if it were in a total fog, and I couldn’t remember something I had done five minutes earlier. At first, I thought the issues were caused by seasonal allergies and a sinus infection, but after the infection cleared, the symptoms grew worse to the point I could hardly get out of bed. Not taking the drug one evening resulted in my feeling much better upon waking, but as I started moving around, my bp hit 146/86 with pulse of 92, and knowing that beta blockers should not be stopped abruptly, I took the dose, which caused things to get even worse and I quickly ended up in my doctors office with a bp of 170/100 and a pulse of 118. After blood work, urinalysis, EKG, my physician and I both believed the culprit to be the new manufacturer.

[sparklite2]

I read somewhere that beyond a certain age, everybody should be on statins.

[Promethea]

That’s why so many people over a certain age walk with a cane, can’t kneel and have some stage of dementia. It’s been proven that the brain needs a certain amount of cholesterol to function properly, and statins cause leg pain. I’ve been on 3 different statins, had legs pains so intense each time that I had to use a cane to walk properly, couldn’t kneel. (I’m only 60.) Each time I came off the statin, within two weeks I had complete flexibility in my legs and could kneel again, and my brain fog cleared up.

[sparklite2]

Statins had me nearly paralyzed on my left side. I stopped taking them on my own and the problem went away. I eventually found a statin that has no side effacts for me. As for cholesterol I suppose you could say, well, everybody dies of something. But I don’t think I’d stop taking statins because of brain problems. A heart attack will get you a lot faster.