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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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It is great your BP is coming under control.
I have added some other supplements to my daily regimen. I learned that the 3 building blocks for ATP are ribose, L-Carnitine, and CoQ10. ATP is necessary for heart health and sometimes we cannot produce enough on our own and thus need to supplement those building blocks. I also take, with my cardiologist's permission I will add, some Hawthorne Solid Extract.
Please do consult with your doctor before trying these on your own. Coreg kept my heart rate suppressed, and that drove my BP up. It took months for me to wean off the stuff, but I did have my doctor's advise and permission. I began to really feel much better after getting off the Coreg.
My advise, go slowly and reduce your dose over as long a period of time as it takes. Do not get in a hurry as it can cause you problems you just don't want to deal with.
Best of luck.
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1 ReactionYesterday I went in an did a Nuclear Stress Test.
Went very well.
In 2005 I had a stent implanted which up until now I had thought was from a 90% blocked artery. Now he tell me that I actually I heart attack then. It was lucky that I was feeling weird and went to the ER where I had to get surgery right away and was hospitalized for a week. Now I hear that it was a 100% blockage and there is a little scar tissue an was lucky to have driven myself there in time.
Everything looked great and my BP was in the good 80/120 range the entire time and without any drugs.
When I got home and checked it again I was still in the zone.
I decided to skip my own treadmill yesterday an wen I checked my BP before be it was still good.
So now I see that the spike I was getting appears to be from using the treadmill.
It's odd that after over 3 hours my BP remained elevated...but after just 3 hours sleep it dropped back to normal.
At least now I know what was causing the spike.
Still going to the doctor my cardiologist referred me to for a variance in my left and right arm BP both from one side to the other and from sitting to standing position.
Still off that miserable Coreg CR an my dizziness is a lot less...also the tinnitus I've had for years has gone away. I'm pretty sure that the Coreg CR was also using that too.
These so called xperts will tell u whatever the book says. I was on coreg and after 3 months had dizziness. It progressed over the next few months. I had a catherization to check for,arrhythmia came,back,normal. Had a ct scan and tilt tabl test and all normal. Went to an Ent and all good. So now I’m weaning off coreg and it’s the second week. I’ve gone 4 days without and had chills and headaches., today was good except having some sob. So I took one and will see what happens. My,dizzy has been better but will see what happens with the sob. Also I’m I’m 5 mg of lisinopril.
Very interesting. I was put on Carvedilol instead of Metoprolol overnight. The Nephrologist claimed they are more effective. I am taking 6.25mg , twice
a day now because my pulse was too slow, instead of 12.5mg twice daily. I do not feel any different at all. Hope you get it under control. Axel
Do you chew gum? I just read an article about a Japanese study. They had the patients chew gum and walk. some only chewed gum, some only walked, and some did both. They found that chewing gum was as effective at raising heart rates as walking. My thought was this...give it a chance. I bought some gum before going to give blood. When I have donated in the past my heart rate has been under 50 and I have been rejected based on that alone. This time while chewing gum my heart rate was 62. Masticating is the answer to getting your heart rate up.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/walk-and-chew-gum-it-may-keep-you-thin-study-doc-15c71b2
My pulse has been so low that my cardiologist wants to put a pacemaker in. Worst problem, besides they don't turn them off when you die, is the in event of need for MRI to discover what can be wrong with you (unless they call the company to get a rep in to turn the devise off and then back on again) you are simply out of luck and stuck with die being injected so the tissues show up on CT.
Try walking to raise your heart rate. Carvediol seemed to suppress my heart rate as well.
1.Walk in the sunlight to the max possible extent 2 Learn and Do deep breathing and other exercises.3 Move To Total Plant Based food.4 Meditate and Pray 5 Do Yoga 6 Smile and Sleep well. I was given 12.5 mg Carvediol after heart attack.Now I take 3 .125 mg , twice a day .HR is perfect.I feel palpitations in morning but with Meditation , I become Ok , 90 % Of time.MEDITATION is the Key.
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1 ReactionSome cannot, even with your recommendations, ever bring their heart rate to a "normal" HR. Some need off that medication completely as their HR is too low to be on it.
I am in Carvedilol 3.125mg. I am taking it once a day. I want to get off of it completely. I have never had high blood pressure. I had double bypass last year. I’m wanting to go off and do a more natural beta blocker method. Such as foods, supplements, and vitamins. Can I quit my morning tablet completely?
I have only taken Carvedilol 6.25 for 20 days. I had to stop due to anxiety, pounding heart, coughing, sweating and the feeling of fear and panic. Which I have never experienced before! Will I have a problem from stopping the Med. This is my second day off. The cough is horrible but I don’t feel the panic I was experiencing. Called my PC unable to get in. They suggested walk-in Clinic. My BP is higher on the med than off. I feel I need to wait for PC. I am hoping for input from someone with similar experience.
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1 ReactionI am heart attack survivor.Was initially on same dose but in last 4 years I reduced the dose myself .I have also stopped Statins.I belive your symptoms need more of Meditation, Yoga , Exercise and Balanced Diet.Try 3.125 mg Carvediol for 2 weeks.It takes time to adjust the dose.Your other parameters are normal , hence you are doing very good.My Prayers for you.Request your chanting Om Shanti 11 Times Before going to bed and start taking to your heart.It works.Deep Breathing called Pranayam techniques need to be understood and done.We normally live in India and visit US for 4 months in year.
God Bless Kishan Vasekar