Atenolol and water retention

[Abbygirl2 Barely Heart Find all posts View Profile Close Abbygirl2]

I have had only minor swelling now and then, but my mom has had some severe swelling lately(in her calves and feet). Her GP told her that Atenolol (she takes it for high BP) can cause swelling and that she could take a low dose diuretic(sp?).
She was checked for HCM(a few yrs back), no sign of it.

Anyhow, I was just wondering if any of you who take Atenolol have this problem. I take Atenolol as does my dad but neither of us have the swelling issue. Her GP is going to have her checked for CHF but didn't think that was the cause.

Many thanks
Pam

[Burton Borrok Dearly Departed Find all posts View Profile Close Burton Borrok]

Re: Atenolol and water retention

Dear Abbygirl Pam,
I am on atenolol too, and have been for years. I guess it was about a year ago, right after my fourth heart cath that I began to have a water retention problem in earnest. Before that it was a sometimes thing It first involved my legs swelling, then my ankles, and then my feet. At its worst, my legs were so swollen my skin hurt, my ankles got to look like grapefruit, and my feet swelled to the point where I could only wear my sandals without socks, and when I took them off, the straps were engraved in my feet.

I had some other problems to go along with it, and the flooding then included my abdomen and finally my heart and lungs (HCM). To fight that, I was on up to three diuretics, but then my kidneys shut down. Now I’m walking the line between going to the hospital with CHF - or kidney failure. The morning weigh in is now a must, and dictates how much water I’m allowed and what adjustments to my meds can be tolerated. Today for example, I went from 20 to 40 mg of Lasix – and I’m hoping my kidneys can handle it. They are only functioning at 18 to 20%, and the last blood test showed the creatinin at 4.4 – five is the dialysis line. I get a blood test tomorrow and another a week after, then I see the cardio again followed by the nephrologist.

I don’t know how much if anything is relatable to you or your mom, but I would advise staying aware of this problem. It’s fairly common among us, and our hearts work hard enough without the added fluid burden. I had taken Lasix for years, fairly recently adding Aldactone, and the two times I added Metolazone I wound up in the hospital – the first time after seven days, and the second time after one pill.

If by any chance any of you out there want any details, please IM me and I will be happy to pass it along to you – I’ve probably posted it on the boards enough times for everybody’s tolerance level to have been reached.
Burt