Medications to treat aortic aneurysm

The way my cardiologist explained it was using a water hose analogy. The tap is the flow of the water and the beta blocker lowers the flow in the sense that the heart doesn't pump as hard. That's why Beta blockers lower your heart rate but Bp medication does not.
BP medication is like the change in pressure when you squeeze the end of the water hose. The more constricted the hose, the higher the pressure. BP medications lessen the constriction.

I'm not medically trained but if your BP was that low without medication, I'm not surprised the beta blocker made you dizzy. Your heart rate dropped as well as lowering the flow. My husband does not have an aneurysm like I do, but he has naturally low BP and takes a beta blocker for an irregular rhythm. He has to take 1/2 dose because it will otherwise make him pass out when he stands up.

I am surprised they have him on a beta blocker if his heart rate is low. Generally, angiotensin II receptor blockers to control high blood pressure are used when someone has a low heart rate.

If you check your bp a couple of times a day and it stays low, I wouldn't think you would need to be on a bp med.

Couple of thoughts from my experience.

Too much missing info for me (i.e. how big is aneurysm, where is it, lifestyle, risk factors etc.) to give you my armchair, unqualified medical opinion although I did stay at a Holiday inn Express last night.

Medications have different effects on people. Trying to get dosages right takes a little time (I passed out a couple of times (p.s. not good) before they got it down)

You know how you feel better than anybody. Drs go by what you tell them and a standard playbook. Communication is key.

Taking your blood pressure several times a day (I did that too!) only makes you go nuts. It's different all the time. I had my BP taken once a year (for a physical) prior to dissection. I had zero idea of 3x daily bps before that.

If you are on this blog asking for advice you probably don't trust your cardiologist, or he's not explaining things the way you need. These blogs are great for "you're not alone" and "my experience". Not so much on medical advice. All well intended btw, just not applicable to your personal circumstance.

Welcome to a heretofore (whoa don't use that word much) unknown area of your brain, its called the hairs on fire region by neurologist's. Slow down and gather educated, well studied info. Good news is an aneurysm is typically slow developing and able to be monitored, not like blowing up a party balloon.

Best of luck we're all rooting for you!

Your underwater analogy is very good. I had stop Metoprolol for the same reason, made me unable to do anything, my legs could barely move and I nearly blacked out while driving on a big bridge, so scary.
So the aneurysm specialist agreed we would stop it. I am now taking Candesarten ,which protects the heart in general. That was prescribed by a different cardiologist who I started to see for different heart problems. It’s been fine since I started it two years ago.

I was on Flecainide for a-fib but after many years on it, it suddenly stopped working. My heart rate went to 100-150 & I was hospitalized for 3 days. The doctor stopped Flecainide & put me on Amiodarone 200 mg daily. I’m also on Eliquis 5 mg daily for many years. My a-fib episodes are less frequent & when they occur I take another Amiodarone which ends them in a short time. My aortic aneurism was 4.7 a few years ago when I last was able to talk my Cardiologist into testing it. I live alone & worry about an emergency where I wouldn’t be able get help in time. I don’t like being on Amiodarone (because it has such terrible side effects & isn’t compatible with some of my other prescriptions) but my doctor insists that I stay on it for the rest of my life. It’s a real dilemma.

200 mg of Ubiquinol a day. Check into it.

I love your sense of humor. I'm sure laughter is the best medicine.

My Cardiologist just put me on Toprol which my understanding is it is a blood pressure med. (But it looks like a beta blocker as well so trying to read the water hose analogy again) Historically my blood pressure has been good. However, I just received my diagnosis 1 week ago via an echo cardiogram that I was referred to get after GP heard heart murmur. 45 yr old female with BAV and 4.2 acenending aorta. plus a few leaky heart valves (most likely from BAV, I think?) So MY BP has shot up noticeably in the past week lol. Getting TEE done in 10 days to find out more about aortic disease. I thought cardio said something about the Toprol would help slow the growth of aneurism? I can't find seem to find any other info on this. Thanks for the info everyone!

In addition to high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea is a big issue for aortic aneurysms.