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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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I’m also on. Carvedilol 6.25mg for over a week now and my blood pressure the Systolic has not gone down only the Diastolic number is down how long does it takes for the blood pressure to be normal range while on Carvedilol?
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1 ReactionI have been on carvedilol for about 6 months now. My doc asked me to slowly stop. I was taking 3.25 mg twice a day for BP. Last week I reduced dosage to half usual dose. Last three days I have reduced to quarter usual dose. So far i am feeling normal. Hope to atop completely in 2 days. My heart rate went below 50 during my sleep deveral times last month. Hence i was told to get off this and start amlopidine instead for BP.
Mine never went down with carvedilol. It was always around 140 over 89 ish. Doc asked me to switch to amlopidine instead of carbedilol
How was Amlopidine works with you is your BP now to normal range any side effect?
Yes. Its been a week and seem to have bp under control
Thank you for replying and it’s good to hear that it’s work for you .
Thank you all for sharing your comments regarding Beta Blockers. I had a mild heart attack about 6 months ago and I had a stent put in and I started on metoprolol 25mg twice a day. I have had consistently high BP for a while and I thought I had found the holy grail as my BP was at last in a healthy range.
All went well for about four weeks, and then I started to feel very anxious, thought I was imagining it at first, but it got progressively worse and worse.
In fact it got so bad I had to go to the emergency room three times with pack attacks, something I’ve never suffered from before.
Along with that I start getting a sore throat constant coughing, blurry vision, most of all the constant feeling of anxiety and terrible terrible fatigue to such an extent I could get nothing done. Also I couldn’t focus on anything all I could do is lie in bed and read a book even that was difficult because this constant anxiety made me feel so uncomfortable. Finally got an appointment with my heart surgeon who told me to stop immediately. I did enough research to know this was extremely dangerous and went to my integrative doctor now has me on a taper he also switched to another beta blocker called Nebivolol which is just as bad and I’m tapering off of that. Some people seem to do fine on beta blockers but they have destroyed my life and my health.
I’m taking 3/4 of a pill at night for a week, then a half for a week, then a quarter and finally stop. He has given me a prescription for Valium to take at the same time-5mg twice a day which I take mostly at night. This is helping a lot as I’m finally able to sleep and that awful anxiety has dissipated at last.
These Beta Blockers work on your central nervous system and they are in my opinion a terrible poison. What ever my life will be without them I have no life at all on them. I will endeavor to control my BP with diet and exercise.
These meds are just poison for me. Best of luck to everyone.
I stopped the same medicine because of some of the same symptoms you describe. I also discontinued three others as I felt sick much of the time with indigestion and a panicky feeling. I have discovered doctors don’t really spend much time talking about the side effects and expect the pharmacist to do that. The pharmacist will describe a few of the major side effects but give you a paper handout that covers all of them. I have taken every blood pressure medicine there is, and they all have unsettling side effects at times.
I had a similar experience with metoprolol, and also with carvedilol, which caused a horrifying set of repeated mental images to march through my head all day.
Still, a forum anecdote is just that, and persuading one's doctor that these effects are real, new, and related to the medication, and not just a coincidence--especially when they are "in your head" to begin with--isn't always easy. In my case, I was able to abate and then reproduce the symptoms over time by tapering and then ramping up the carvedilol to a certain dose. And, I had no problem with atenolol. The whole process took a while, because there's no "just stopping" a beta-blocker. Fortunately I had a kind and patient physician, and I monitored my vitals closely the whole time. I ended up on atenolol, which does the job just fine.
I could write a book on the side effects of the anti-hypertensives I have taken: some psychological (metoprolol and carvedilol), some unbalanced my electrolytes and put me in the hospital (HCTZ and chlorthalidone), some caused intractable cough (lisinopril); other medications actually did cause shortness of breath (prasugrel, which is an anti-platelet therapy), some lowered my blood pressure so badly at their starting dose that I couldn't stand or even sit up (imdur), and I'm not even getting started on the statins. I was intolerant to every class of medication I was put on when I had my heart attack. It took years to sort out.
I could write a book, I say--but nobody would buy it, and the doctors would just say, "what a neurotic!"
Reading this in 2022 -- so many of the posts strike a nerve with me here. Someone said carvedilol turned them into a "stressed-out maniac," and I concur.
I was put on carv on 5/20 by a cardiologist who diagnosed three tachycardia episodes as IST, no other tests, nothing. Put me on the 25 mg 2x a day -- no up titration -- what a mistake. I was a flat pancake. Couldn't function, begged them to reduce the dose -- they said I'd get used to it. Went to ER a few times for low heart rate -- then the panic attacks started a few weeks later. They said it was me, added sertraline and tranquilizers. Heart rate continued to go lower. I lost 20 lbs in 8 weeks, no appetite. One good thing was that I could sleep -- but the dreams were horrible.
Then the depression kicked in and I have been having terrible thoughts -- uncharacteristic -- I'm happy, I love my life -- really dark stuff, like I will never enjoy anything again, desperation, ennui. No thoughts of suicide, but definitely fear that this won't stop and might be better to die. Suffering leg pain, anxiety.
I decided it's the carvedilol and with my GP started tapering the day before yesterday. Now feeling a lot of anxiety, like I want to shake. I hope it goes away soon. I have hope and fingers crossed that when this washes out, I'll get myself back again.
Has anyone else gotten past the side-effects of withdrawal and seen an improvement?