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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.
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Hello, i had it last Monday. We now will see how successful it was down the road. Im taking it easy this week and have follow up tests scheduled in a few days.
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1 ReactionHi @randypape,
Thanks for the update; we wish you all success. Do let us know if you have any questions or suggestions, too.
well, right now since I've been back on the Carvedilol 12.5 mg 2x/day I'm starting to sleep lousy again and my chest feels heavy and it seems harder to get a deep breath. I'm contacting my doctor to see if I can wean off these pills. I was put on them to stabilize my heart rate because of my exercise induced V tach.
I hate being on any meds because of the side effects and I'm supposed to get off of these when we know my ablation worked.
Randy,
I urge you to be patient. Consulting your doctor is important. First try the lower dosage method. Then in a little while wean off.
I have not ever had that high a dose, but it was still hard for me to wean off in the manner the doc said. This time I am reducing it one dose per week and seem to be ok. I can climb stairs now without breathing too heavily and my heart rate does not spike up to 128 from 62 when climbing stairs, so I would urge you to reduce the coreg slowly.
It has now been 3 weeks since I started the slow process, but am confident it will be over within 11 more weeks.
Hello and thanks for the reply. They cut it in half for 3 days and then nothing for 2 days before the procedure. Then 3 days after they put me back on the full dosage and I've had 5 migraines in the last 2 weeks from the pills. Now the breathing issues have started. I'll try to be patient because I still have my ICD in as insurance.
While I have been on the Coreg my migraines seemed to cease. I have only had 3 in the last 2 years and a few months.
An herbal treatment for them is called Butterbur. I take it as it opens the vascular system. Please check with your doc before starting on Butterbur to make him aware of your desire for a more natural method for helping yourself.
I ony had migraines if i ate something with msg in it, not normal for me,so i dont need meds for them.
Mine originated from foods like bananas and kiwis. There can be a connection with fluorescent lighting in some people. I stay away from any foods with glutens and MSG has a base in wheat which is a huge source of glutens due to digestive problems with glutens. I NEVER took meds for migraines, I just have the visual auras and these days I do not get the pounding headaches.
My pharmacist recommended I switch to another beta blocker, but the migraine specialist told me the only other one would be Metoprolol. That one was ruled out due to the very low heart rate I have. At times it drops to 36, but only during sleep and that might be why I sleep badly.
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1 ReactionSo its been 4 days since my carvedilol was cut in half to 6.2.mg. 2x/day.i see my heart rate slightly higher at rest and gets higher when we walk. A couple times I've broken out in the sweats and slight aches in my stomach and back. I'm thinking this is from lowering the dosage. It looks like it won't be fun getting totally off these.
Thanks for the update. The increase in heart rate when exercising is seemingly normal or at least that is what I have noticed.
Have you tried climbing stairs? We have them close by and there are some at work. You will likely notice your heart rate increases with stair climbing. I am more able to get up the 31 steps to my shop since I have begun reducing my dose. I still am slightly winded when I get to the top, but not like I was previously. I had to stop on the midpoint landing and take a few deep breaths a few weeks ago.
The aches in your stomach and back might be simply muscles working, not sure as I don't get that sensation, but then I am not in really great shape. I can walk fairly fast over short distances, but notice my heart rate climbs after about 100 feet.
Let me know your progress as you seem to be doing very well. AND, yes getting off some meds can be really hard.