Metoprolol Withdrawl

I'm a 30-year-old male who has been taking the beta blocker metoprolol for approximately 3-4 years. I recently wanted to stop taking metoprolol and discussed it with my cardiologist. I have been seeing this cardiologist for just as long, and I've had normal EKGs, echocardiograms, and I was on a week-long Holter monitor twice with no findings. I had already attempted to taper off the metoprolol and cut my 25mg pill in half for maybe more than a week. The cardiologist told me that 25mg or 12.5mg of metoprolol is such a minute dose that it shouldn't cause me any issues if I just stop cold turkey. The cardiologist didn't even run an EKG on me since May of last year.

It has been approximately a week since I've stopped taking metoprolol completely. I woke up last night with a heart rate of about 100 beats per minute and slight palpitations. I checked my blood pressure, and everything was normal (123/84). I was unable to get back to sleep due to "sleep starts" or "hypnic jerks." I started taking metoprolol many years ago after I got COVID, before the vaccines were even available, and I was experiencing palpitations and tachycardia. Tonight, I'm still experiencing insomnia and can't sleep.

I feel that my cardiologist is incompetent for not running an EKG on me or even having me taper off the medication that I have been taking for many years. I don't really trust their decision-making. I feel that I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms, so tonight I took another half of a 25mg pill of metoprolol. I feel very full of energy, as if I have a dump of adrenaline. I researched that abruptly stopping metoprolol, even at a low dose of 25 to 12.5mg, can still cause withdrawal symptoms, which the cardiologist said I’d be fine going cold turkey. It says that it can cause rebound tachycardia, hypertension, and adrenaline dumps that make your body hypersensitive, and can also cause hypnic jerks and insomnia.

Can I get any type of feedback or recommendations? Thank you.

@anonymous1274 I'm getting the same thing. I've had low heart rate for some time, been on metoprolol for a long time. Now my VA doctor said get off so I did, now the heart rate is running in the 80s, still dizzy like I was with the low heart rate, but now can't sleep, getting headaches. I feel the cardiologist who first denied there were any real problems, in fact dizziness wasn't a heart problem. I feel he's guessing and I'm the guinea pig in this story. Not sure why I'm writing other than I feel trapped in a guessing game by doctors

I believe you need to taper no matter how little you take. It is amazing how much tapering helped me I was again on 12.5 mg 1/2 of a 25 mg pill so I cut them in quarters and slowly tapered and it helped me. And I felt much better you don't even realize how hooked you are on those pills even at low dosage. I can only give you my opinion of what I did I was also told not to worry but I said it can't hurt to taper and it made getting off of it so much easier for me. Bummer I just reverted after the flu so I thank you for bringing this up so I will taper again when I get fixed enough to get off of it again. Thanks for shading very helpful for me!

I'm a 30-year-old male who has been taking the beta blocker metoprolol for approximately 3-4 years. I recently wanted to stop taking metoprolol and discussed it with my cardiologist. I have been seeing this cardiologist for just as long, and I've had normal EKGs, echocardiograms, and I was on a week-long Holter monitor twice with no findings. I had already attempted to taper off the metoprolol and cut my 25mg pill in half for maybe more than a week. The cardiologist told me that 25mg or 12.5mg of metoprolol is such a minute dose that it shouldn't cause me any issues if I just stop cold turkey. The cardiologist didn't even run an EKG on me since May of last year.

It has been approximately a week since I've stopped taking metoprolol completely. I woke up last night with a heart rate of about 100 beats per minute and slight palpitations. I checked my blood pressure, and everything was normal (123/84). I was unable to get back to sleep due to "sleep starts" or "hypnic jerks." I started taking metoprolol many years ago after I got COVID, before the vaccines were even available, and I was experiencing palpitations and tachycardia. Tonight, I'm still experiencing insomnia and can't sleep.

I feel that my cardiologist is incompetent for not running an EKG on me or even having me taper off the medication that I have been taking for many years. I don't really trust their decision-making. I feel that I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms, so tonight I took another half of a 25mg pill of metoprolol. I feel very full of energy, as if I have a dump of adrenaline. I researched that abruptly stopping metoprolol, even at a low dose of 25 to 12.5mg, can still cause withdrawal symptoms, which the cardiologist said I’d be fine going cold turkey. It says that it can cause rebound tachycardia, hypertension, and adrenaline dumps that make your body hypersensitive, and can also cause hypnic jerks and insomnia.

Can I get any type of feedback or recommendations? Thank you.

@anonymous1274
Sounds familiar to me. I actually tried getting myself off of metoprolol succinate as well. I was on 100mg. So I went from 100 to 50. Due to my heart rate being under 40. I waited about six months and tried to split it again. So 50mg to 25mg. The first six days I felt like I had my life back. Feeling good. Great heart rate again. No nightmares or body aches. Well the 7th day. My heart rate went to 167 when I stood up. Felt like the whole rhythm of my heart was off and pounding out of my chest. I went to the hospital. My pressure was high and I was having PVC issues. I was told to go back on the 50mg and they referred me to a cardiologist who is a month out from seeing. So now I’m back to the nightmares, the irregular heart rate spikes and palpitations. Body aches, headaches. I honestly feel like this medication is slowly killing me and no one cares. Been on this for 7 years and living like this the whole time. Not realizing it was this medication. I see the cardiologist in another two weeks. So I have to suffer until then and maybe someone will listen to what I’m saying. I hope you get some answers because I am at my breaking point with this mess. This medication is awful and should never be out there to ruin peoples health.

@ctholen I don't mean to come across as being argumentative, but it sounds to me, just based on your words above (and how I have interpreted them 😀 ) that you had a ....thankfully....rare episode of a tachyarrhythmia. I don't see how going off metoprolol, or even a reduction of the dose, made a difference unless it didn't have enough oomph at your new low dose to keep your rate lower than the 167 BPM you cite. At that high rate (I have gone as high as 180 !!!), it means your ventricle was also trying to keep pace, and it was careening away at that high rate. It's called RVR, or 'rapid ventricular response.' Those words 'should' appear on any formal diagnosis if you have a recent paper showing it.

Even so, I wouldn't dream of trying to tell you you're wrong; you know you best, and if I were you'd ask about an alternative like Sotalol or Diltiazem....they work for a lot of people, and one of them might be just the ticket for you.

@anonymous1274
Sounds familiar to me. I actually tried getting myself off of metoprolol succinate as well. I was on 100mg. So I went from 100 to 50. Due to my heart rate being under 40. I waited about six months and tried to split it again. So 50mg to 25mg. The first six days I felt like I had my life back. Feeling good. Great heart rate again. No nightmares or body aches. Well the 7th day. My heart rate went to 167 when I stood up. Felt like the whole rhythm of my heart was off and pounding out of my chest. I went to the hospital. My pressure was high and I was having PVC issues. I was told to go back on the 50mg and they referred me to a cardiologist who is a month out from seeing. So now I’m back to the nightmares, the irregular heart rate spikes and palpitations. Body aches, headaches. I honestly feel like this medication is slowly killing me and no one cares. Been on this for 7 years and living like this the whole time. Not realizing it was this medication. I see the cardiologist in another two weeks. So I have to suffer until then and maybe someone will listen to what I’m saying. I hope you get some answers because I am at my breaking point with this mess. This medication is awful and should never be out there to ruin peoples health.

@ctholen You might ask your cardiologist for a different beta blocker. I was told by one cardiologist that Metoprolol is lipophilic and more easily passes the blood-brain barrier to cause nightmares. I was getting nightmares from Metoprolol. He suggested Atenolol…it is hydrophilic and lower brain penetration. It is also eliminated by the kidney, not broken down by the liver like Metoprolol.

Worth a try. I am an intermediate metabolizer of CYP2D6. I just had a bad medication interaction with Ranexa, Metoprolol and Voquenza. I kept fainting, fatigued, weak and nauseated. I have an appointment with my cardiologist to see if we can switch from CYP2D6 metabolizer Metoprolol to something like Atenolol.

All the best to you. Sending digital hugs.

Vania

@vaniag wow. Thank you so much for I will bring this up to him