Connect
Stopping Carvedilol (Coreg): When will the effects wear off?
Hi everyone,
I am glad to be a part of this community. Please foregive the long post. I was wondering if anyone has had a hard time while being on and going off Carvedilol (Coreg).
I am an active 45 year old mom of a young child. I have always tried to eat healthily and keep in shape (I do yoga, pilates and, run about 5k 2x per week). My BP has always been pretty good, but since my 40´s it has gone up a bit (heredity factors play a role). My BP and heart rate also "spike" when I get stressed or anxious, but for the most part are pretty level during normal times. I do have anxious moments, but I would not say anxiety has been a major life problem. At my last check (Feb 2016), and after wearing a 24 hour BP monitor, my cardiologist suggested I start Carvedilol 6.25 1x per day (quite a low dose) for the spikes and to keep the heart from getting too excited. I agreed that maybe it was a good idea and started over two months ago. Other than stimulating rapid bowel movements, I did not notice any side effects at first. I would say about three to four weeks into taking the Carvedilol, I began not sleeping well. I also noticed my heart pounding, like a bass drum, slowly and steadily, at times. Then the heart pounding began to wake me up at night (it turns out my HR was down in the high 40s at night). Some nights I even felt my chest muscles vibrate, as if a phone on silence mode was on top of my chest. I started to notice this more and more and then I would have a few normal nights, so I figured I would just talk about this at my next cardio check (booked out in June). I also noticed I was getting more and more anxious. I wasn't too sure why little things were beginning to bother me. I thought it was hormones, PMS, whatever, and started looking for someone like a therapist to talk to.
The previous week was bad. I woke up from a few nightmares and I started to panic in bed, just woken up from sleep. I had three nights of waking up to panic attacks and body shakes. The experiences made me very nervous. At this point I started looking into the side effects of Carvedilol and I was seeing not only chest pounding, but in rare cases reported effects of nightmares, visual disturbances, tremors, anxiety. I also know one does not simply stop a beta blocker, so we talked about tapering down. I tapered down for four days, and then I got in to see another cardiologist on Monday and he said just stop immediately. The effects are rare, but they have been noted. Going off this medication has been frightening. I feel weak and shaky all the time, and I get sporadic periods of pounding and muscle tremors in my legs, anxiety and fuzzy vision. I frequently get so cold I begin to shake. Yesterday I went back to the clinic for an EKG (normal) and some blood tests (including thyroid) and everything was normal. I am just assuming this is my body reacting and readapting itself after being on beta blockers. It has only been five days, but I am wondering if anyone out there has had similar experiences. How long did it take you to feel normal again? I ran a 5k just two weekends ago and yesterday I could hardly take a walk. Thanks for listening.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart & Blood Health Support Group.
Connect
Hi @plantspec. Thanks for sharing additional information on your situation. It differs from mine. My problem (in addition to hypertension) was/is atrial fibrillation. I had not been on a heart medicine until then, but it clearly seemed necessary. I started on Coreg at 6.25mg twice a day, and over a few weeks, it was raised to 50mg twice a day (where I am now without significant side-effects). Your 3.125mg dose is the smallest available. Do you think your BP problem is an after-effect of the surgery? Or is it more likely from switching your med from Propranolol to Carvedilol? At my age (83), it's not unusual for my BP to run close to 150/90, even with the large Coreg doses. As a result, I don't have the fatigue and lethargy symptoms that sometimes go with low blood pressure. Instead, I'm a little off-balance after a small stroke a year ago (doing special exercises designed to teach my brain how to work with my legs and hands again). My wife is more susceptible to fatigue after suffering onset of supraventricuar tachycardia a few months ago. She's on a different medication regimen -- designed to prevent spells of racing heartbeat. Her cardiologist is an electrophysiologist who uses a range of electronic tools to monitor and diagnose her heart conditions. Can you find a heart specialist who'd give you some second opinions?
Sorry to hear of your problems with those drugs. To begin increasing your distance and to improve your overall health you will need to move a bit farther each day. After my quad, July 24, 2015, I could barely stand up without fear of falling down. I used a shopping cart as a "walker" the day I left he hospital and slowly walked around the grocery store to get the items I needed immediately. Finally after a full year had passed I managed the long walk of the local Heart Walk and walked a 5K. Took me longer than everyone else, but managed it.
Have you gone to Cardiac Rehab? If not, please do so. They give you a program that will increase your endurance and monitor your progress and report it to your doctor. I too had been on those drugs, stayed on Coreg for over 3 years cuz it kept the migraines at bay and finally tapered off and no more migraines.
Your heart probably needs some supplements to strengthen it. CoQ10, Vitamin B complex, Carnitine, DRibose (yeah it's a sugar, but it is what a damaged heart needs), Hawthorne extract are all recommended for hearts. Look them up, don't just take my word for it.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionHi i would like to offer what i was always told about water weight. Ive been on diuretics for many years prior to my heart transplant and my drs always said that if my weight jumped 3 lbs or more in a day i was to take an extra dose. Do to my weak heart i was prone to weigh gain from water retention and was on Bumex generic for many years. So in your case o would say a call to the Dr is in order. Coreg i was on that too but never heard it would cause weight gain that sudden. But the 3 lb rule i still live by today i know for me now its usually because i ate out and got way to much sodium. So usually now for me a couple of days after the weight gain it goes back down. I no longer need durietics and diet change helps me.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsThank you for your reply and sharing information. I have heard about the 3 pound rule, and this is why it alarmed me so. I have been extremely diet conscious for many years prior to the accident, and this whole event has me extremely cautious. My sodium levels are really quite good. That said, most of that 3 pound weight was off this morning, so likely it was water retention. I've been told I have a tremendous amount of fluid build up in my lower back (visible on MRI I guess) which must be associated with the disc herniations. I just worry about my heart now that I have had this event. Although a relapse is possible, my doctor said there are no signs or symptoms of any heart disease and my heart catheterization showed my arteries were clean. My follow up 2 months after the accident showed my EF at a solid 60 and my left ventricle is working again. Maybe I just need to keep an eye on all my vitals and contact doctor with any other sudden changes. Thank you again for your post.
It sounds like you'll doing fine and yes i take my vitials every morning just to watch trends.
I'm a 55 year old post menopause women who was involved in a violent car crash in November 2018. I am fit, 5'9" and roughly 138 pounds. The car was flipped and we were trapped, other than suffering herniated discs, I suffered an apparent heart attack. I was hospitalized for several days for evaluation and further testing which revealed Troponin level over 3.0, ballooning of LV, but blood work and heart catheterization were all normal (no findings). It was determined I suffered a Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (ballooning and shutting down of the LV). When I was released the doctor put me on Corvedilol (coreg) to keep the heart rested and give it time to recover without a relapse cardio event. I had did not have any terrible side effects from the drug, other than a bit more tired than usual and shortness of breath which I had since the cardiomyopathy. Fast forward 5 months later, I am in pre-op for other surgery related to the crash, and my resting heart rate is now alarmingly low at 37 to 40 BPM. My cardiologist decided it was time to stop the Coreg (cold turkey...not gradually). Today is the 2nd day off the medication, and I woke to an alarming 3 pound weight spike.....thinking perhaps water weight??? (I weigh daily, healthy eating habits, low sodium, no alcohol). Is this normal after stopping this drug? Because this is my heart, I am concerned with water weight gain. My husband says I am overly concerned, but I thought I would not hurt to share the story and get other thoughts. Blood pressure is great at 119/74 this morning, but heart rate still at 41 BPM. I should note that my resting heart rate prior to the accident was always around 50 - 55, but I never had any previous heart issues. However, prior to the accident I was a bit of a workout junkie and my recover rate was always very quick. Any cause for concern?
I'm 37 and have been on carvedilol for 15 months and it has been an awful experience. I'm one of the people who's had most of the side effects. Low blood pressure to the point of passing out, weight gain, high blood sugar levels (I'm not diabetic), weight gain, nausea, muscle aches to the point of being very uncoordinated and stumbling/falling frequently, horrible nightmares or insomnia. My doctor won't listen when I try to discuss these things and tells me it's because of my weight gain. All of those issues are because I've gained weight. Along with all of those things I also have trouble eating because once I eat any type of food it comes out one way or another. I have hypothyroidism and when I was put on the medication it was because I had gone to the hospital because my thyroid had completely stopped working and I had pheumonia. My lung collapsed and I filled with fluid. It took them 3-4 days to actually treat me for what was wrong and not what they thought was an overdose. I ended up in a coma. Before the put me on this medication I lost 93 pounds and since I've been on it I've gained 86 of it back. The thyroid medication that I'm on causes weight loss, but because of this medication I'm gaining. My doctors only solution is gastric bypass. She refuses to pay attention to anything I have to say and just repeats that over and over. I want to go off the carvedilol because I'm tired of feeling sick and weak all of the time and I don't want to go on diabetes medication because of this medication.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@shersh
I know nothing about Coreg but I have one question for you.
Your going to this doctor, WHY?
Health and happiness,
Jake
This Dr is not listening to you. Find a new Dr. There are many other meds which won’t cause side effects. I was on very low dose time release Coreg and it still caused bad side effects. Try a good endocrinologist to help with the thyroid and maybe they can help guide you in the other areas and help you find another cardiologist.
If you are having this many problems I would think gastric surgery would be very risky for you. Just my gut feeling