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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 @1712aolg and welcome to Mayo Connect,
I am so sorry to hear of the difficult symptoms you have experienced with Carvedilol. I can understand your discomfort and wanting to stop the med. However, I would strongly recommend that you talk with your doctor before stopping the Carvedilol completely.
Your doctor may give you a schedule for reducing the dose and may even give you another med to take the place of the Carvedilol.
If you care to share, why were you originally prescribed this med?
Teresa
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1 ReactionLosartin was causing leg pain. Thank you for your response. I did go to the office earlier today. EKG was normal. Cardio scheduled for Tuesday. No med suggested.
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1 ReactionHas anyone started Losartin after stopping Carvedilol? Is this a good choice med for hypertension?
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1 Reaction@1712aolg
I was on the both of them together for about 3 years until I weaned off the carvedilol. I still take Losartin 50mg dose daily. My
bp is always floating both up and down. I can tell instantly when it is heading down to 108/68 as I get horribly exausted and have to walk around or am forced to lie down. The worst is when I am in traffic and it starts its downward spiral.
But the 2 of them do not get in each other's way as far as I could tell.
Elena
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1 ReactionThank you got the info.
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1 ReactionDo you experience leg and or foot pain with the Losartan?
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1 ReactionHi @1712aolg,
I've been taking Losartan for over 10 years, to treat hypertension, and have not experienced any side effects. That being said, many people often go through a trial and error process with regard to blood pressure medications.
I'd also like to invite @faith123 @cynthialoulou @mikegh and @predictable to join in with their thoughts about Losartan. May I ask if you are considering restarting Losartan again?
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1 ReactionThank you for sharing your experience. As a matter fact I did restart the Losartan 50 mg last evening. My BP was scary high. Reading much better this morning. I restarted the 50/12.5 dose this morning. I am hoping for good readings this evening. I am going to pay close attention to when the leg and feet pain starts. I am dearly hopin it doesn’t. . That was my problem when I took the Losartan last time. In your experience is It feasible to do a 50/12.5 in the morning’s and the 50 at bedtime?
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1 ReactionHello @1712aolg. Sorry to stick my nose into this discussion. I thought you might like to know about my experience with Carvedilol and Losartan. First, these are very different medications. Losartan is an enzyme secreted by the kidneys to regulate the body's balance of fluids and electrolytes through the renin-angiotensin system, which regulates blood pressure. Carvedilol is a beta blocker which works in the heart (to slow and stabilize heart rate) and the circulatory system (lowering blood pressure); see https://www.drugs.com/carvedilol.html for more information on Carvedilol.
I'm on Carvedilol now (25mg with morning and evening meals) and have no apparent bad symptoms, but several friends have had problems from it, even at doses down to 6.25mg per day. For me, it's especially problematic if I take it within two hours of drinking alcohol. I was on Losartan several years ago, but had to drop it because of a kidney problem it was aggravating. In both cases, the comments and the professional advice I have received argue strongly against making changes in dosage or use of either medication without full involvement of your doctor in your decision or your experimentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with your doctor for a discussion about Losartan and low BP, you may benefit from finding a doctor who will give you a second opinion.
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1 Reaction@1712aolg
No leg or foot pain accompanying the Losartin.
The foot pain I have suffered with stopped while I was having some PT manual traction on my neck. It was very strange, one day when I put my foot on the floor just as I got out of bed I noticed the pain I'd had for a number of years was gone.
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