Metoprolol Side Effects?

[Rachel87]

This may get lengthy.. :/

My husband was just recently put on Metoprolol. I guess it's been nearly 2 months now, or right at it..
He hates it. I take it myself, and have for several years, for bp and it does have it's side effects but I don't hate it. I know people react differently to medications and I don't have HCM so there's that to consider as well.
I know that a lot of HCM patients take it. But it seems like he's just really having a rough go on it.
I've looked up the side effects on several occasions but there are two that I never see listed that he's been experiencing.
Only when I look it up specifically on a search engine do I come up with a little something..

Has anyone here ever experienced extreme moodiness while on Metoprolol (tartrate)? He gets in these moods where he just feels really uptight and really angry. It's really strange and it's just very recently started in the last couple of weeks. Extremely out of character for him.

The other side effect is really scary to me..
He's been having a lot more heart flutters and skipped beats. Way more than he used to have before being put on it.
One night a couple weeks ago, he took an allergy pill. It was an allergy medicine that he's used before on different occasions and he was always fine. But that night and the next morning and even days after he took it, he was feeling really poorly. He was tired. He was having a lot of flutters and one evening he experienced a little chest pain.

We found a couple of articles about the anger issue.
Then when I looked up the flutters/skips, I also found another man who thought he was experiencing the same thing.

Is this possible? Is the medicine causing this? It has to be, right? It's the only thing that makes sense to us right now.
It's gotten to him so much that he has days where he doesn't even want to take it at all. He just wants to take his Verapamil and be done with it. Our next appointment is in a couple weeks so we plan to discuss it with the doctor then, but I'm concerned even then that the doctor might not listen.
Last we spoke, he talked about taking my husband off of the Verapamil and just having him on Metoprolol. My husband is definitely not going to want to go for that. I'm really hesitant to go for that, myself.. because of the skips and flutters and because some days he doesn't want to take the medicine. If he chooses not to take it or to skip a dose then not even the Verapamil will be there..
So. This next appointment is to, I'm assuming, go over his most recent echo and discuss medications.

Anyway. I feel like I've gone on for a really long time.
If you read all of this, I'm so very grateful. Any thoughts? Have you, or anyone that you know, ever experienced either of those things while taking Metoprolol?

[gfox42]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

Hi Rachel,
Beta blockers can affect mood. Yes, you should talk with the doctor about this. I don't think there's much of a record of these drugs causing the "skips" and "missed beats" that you mention. You should certainly talk with the doctor about this, but in the meantime it may help to know that these are often harmless - even though I know from experience that they can be scary.

Gordon

[sydellezinn]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

The worst side effect I have had from metropolol (Toprol xl) is fatigue. Sometimes it's so bad I don't want to get out of bed.

I would call your husband's doctor about the skipped heart beats. That doesn't sound right to me. I've always used it when I had racing heart rate.

Best of luck.
Sydelle

[Beejay]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

I am on a monitor for 30 days again and take metropolis 1 a day 50 mg. The monitor picks up at least 10 early or missed beats a day. The Dr says it's nothing to worry about and a lot of people don't even notice them. Maybe we are just overly sensitive to them? I also get dizzy and fatigued all the time. Hoping to adjust better. As far as mood goes, I'm a red headed woman so I always have mood swings! Haven't noticed a difference.



Beejay

[Cynaburst]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

It may be that your husband just needs to try another beta blocker, or even a different formulation of metoprolol. I took the short acting tartrate, but found I did better with the long acting succinate. However, there are many other beta blockers and one of them might work better for him without the side effects. Unfortunately, it is only through trial and error you find the best one.

[mbcube]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

Many have had issues with either formula. Just like HCM affects us all differently, so do the meds! For some, its even generic brands! So - Talk with the doctor and have him coordinate with your pharmacist. Its sometimes a long and expensive process, but it pays in the end.

[Shayne]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

I've been taking Metoprolol (Toprol XL) since 1998. I've bounced all around from 50mg up to 200mg a day. I'm currently at 100mg. I don't ever remember having any issues with mood swings, or anger issues. I was taking Verapamil 10 - 12 years ago with my Metoprolol, but my blood pressure was dropping too low. I'd get really dizzy if I stood up quickly. I actually passed out a couple times, but I never had any rhythm issues. They dropped the Verapamil. I'm not sure why they had me on it, if they could simply drop it.

[Rachel87]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

He decided to stop taking the Metoprolol and he said he felt better.
The doctor put him on Carvedilol in its place. He just started it last night. We'll see. I pray that this one works for him.

He doesn't like his doctor. He's only been to him twice now but he really doesn't like him and I'm somewhere in between and undecided.

When he was explaining my husband's most recent echo, he said -without telling us specifics or what exactly the measurement was of- that in about 6 years, "the measurement" has gone from -my husband said he said- 32mm to 177mm. That's like a 5x jump. And that is a really high number. Can that be right? I thought he said it was 37mm to 130something (still really high) but my husband tells me I didn't hear him right. It's possible. He was giving us a lot of information and it was a lot to take in and, like I said, I felt like he wasn't being very specific with us. He left me a little confused which is why I'm very seriously considering a change in doctors.

Anyone been on Carvedilol before?
Can anyone help me understand the measurement he's talking about?
I read that there can be different areas of thickness or obstruction.

[Rachel87]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

I also meant to say that when he told the doctor his reasons for not wanting to take Metoprolol, the doctor acted as though he didn't believe him or something.
This doctor's "bedside manner" is the worst. And when my husband spoke of the palpitations and fluttering, the doctor just kind of waved it off and said that he just wasn't feeling them before but it was happening prior to the medication.. and that's all he said about it.
Then a few moments later, when he could see that my husband was getting frustrated and just not happy with him, he told my husband: "I know that I'm no Dr. Donner, but I'll keep you alive."
Dr. Donner was my husband's pediatric cardiologist. He's a good doctor and a warm guy and he's really good to his patients. This only further frustrated my husband. He took it to mean that his new doctor was basically saying "I know I'm cold but I can still help you."

This probably doesn't really fall under "medication side effects" but it goes with my experiences and I didn't know whether I should go to another section of the forum and make a whole new post or just say it here.. Lol. :/

[mtlieb]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

I also meant to say that when he told the doctor his reasons for not wanting to take Metoprolol, the doctor acted as though he didn't believe him or something. This doctor's "bedside manner" is the worst. And when my husband spoke of the palpitations and fluttering, the doctor just kind of waved it off and said that he just wasn't feeling them before but it was happening prior to the medication.. and that's all he said about it.

Unfortunately, having doctors wave off our symptoms is not uncommon and I've even gotten it from my HCM specialists on occasion. "No Jim, beta-blockers cannot cause weight gain"... is an oldie but goodie that always brings a warm smile to my face. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I experienced palpitations myself after starting metoprolol that I had never experienced prior to that, and several others here have as well. It is listed as a side-effect of the drug and my palpitations diminished quite a bit after switching to something else.

My initial post on the matter from ten years ago:

http://www.4hcm.org/forums/showthrea...7966#post37966

[gfox42]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

I'm not sure what "the measurement" is, but, yes, it's possible for some critical measurements to change like that. For example, the pressure gradient (the difference in pressure between the left ventricle (inside the heart) and the aorta (outside the heart)) can have numbers like that, and can increase like that.

I think this is a good indication that you should call the HCMA office and talk with Lisa.

Gordon

[mtlieb]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

When he was explaining my husband's most recent echo, he said -without telling us specifics or what exactly the measurement was of- that in about 6 years, "the measurement" has gone from -my husband said he said- 32mm to 177mm. That's like a 5x jump. And that is a really high number. Can that be right?

As Gordon said it really depends on what measurement your doctor is referring to specifically. If he's talking about your husband's gradient (mmHg) then it is entirely plausible that over a span of six years it has increased from 32 to 177. We see that sort of thing all the time around here. Your best bet is to call your doctor's office to clarify and/or request a printout of the echo results.

[Rachel87]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

Right, mtlieb! Thank you! I read that palpitations was a side effect as well.
What do you say to the dr. when he totally ignores that fact or leaves it out when telling you that basically you are wrong and you were not having them as a side effect to the medicine?
He kept telling my husband, Trey, that he should just give it a chance. I read some of your initial post about your experience and Trey was also on it for around two months when he decided he just didn't want to be on it anymore.

Thank you all for your comments and trying to help. I'm still in the learning and understanding process. We'll call them to double check the results of the tests and request a printout.

My husband also told me tonight that he thinks he's going to call tomorrow and request a different doctor for his next visit. Being stressed out by your heart doctor is no good.
I wish we had the money/insurance to go to the Emory HCM Clinic here in GA right now. I've asked Trey a few times about it. He says we have to save the money first, which is scary. Anything could happen while you're saving. But we really just don't have it right now. Instead they did the EKG and echo at a more local clinic. I don't know how it works, maybe we can just take the test results with us or have them sent to Emory since they're so recent and they won't need to do tests there..? That might help financially.
I just really hope to go there soon so he can be seen by actual specialists.

[mtlieb]

Re: Metoprolol Side Effects?

What do you say to the dr. when he totally ignores that fact or leaves it out when telling you that basically you are wrong and you were not having them as a side effect to the medicine?

I say 'goodbye'.