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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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Having dealt with several cardiologists over the last 11 years, I've found that most of them don't know the side effects of the drug they are prescribing nor do they know the interactions of these drugs with other drugs.
Example, Amiodarone and warfarin cause bleeding, these were given to me after a hip surgery and yes it causes excessive bleeding. Or sending me home from the emergency room with a very high dose of metoprolol without trying it in the hospital first, I ended up back in the ER with congestive heart failure. I could go on and on and needless to say I no longer trust cardiologists.
Carvedilol is my last experience with a cardiologist not knowing the full list of possible side effects. Fortunately for me I've found a couple of reliable sources for proper drug information; The Mayo Clinic has a pretty reliable site for drug information. There is also drugs.com and they just state the facts. Also if you have a good pharmacist they can give you the straight scoop on most drugs.
Carvedilol although under the right circumstances is no doubt an ok beta blocker for some people, but for me is not the best drug of choice. Side effects; Slow heart beat, fast heart beat, chest pains, shortness of breath, massive water retention at times, (even with a loop diuretic, [Torsemide]), skin rash, bruised looking arms for no reason, anxiety, depression, sores don't heal very well. I could go on and on. I took myself off it as my cardiologist did not believe it was the cause of my issues, I don't recommend this without consulting your doctor as my condition is AFIB and yours may be totally different. But the removal of carvedilol (3 weeks) has relieved most of my symptoms and I haven't felt this good in years. Of course I say this and my wife will find my lifeless cadaver in the garage from congestive heart failure. LOL
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2 ReactionsSorry I did everything but answer your question. For me at least withdrawal was similar to yours and it took about 2 weeks before I started feeling somewhat better. I even made out a will. Unfortunately for my wife I didn't croak and I told her I'm going to outlive her, I think the the neighbors could hear the groan.
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1 ReactionI’m sorry for everything you are going through and I hope they figure it out soon. I have a similar problem but in reverse. I have been on carvedilol and flecainide for many years for atrial fibrillation and I have never had a problem with it.
Recently, I started having bad headaches so I went to go get checked, and they found 4 aneurysms in my brain. They did what was supposed to be a routine angiogram to get a better look at them and I had a stroke during the procedure. I am very blessed, however, that it was not worse than it was, and that it happened while I was in the hospital. They have me on blood thinners and other medication’s now and they took me off the carvedilol, which made me a little bit uneasy. Since then I’ve had terrible leg, cramps, and spasms especially my left knee. They’re horrible. And then today it feels like a mild case of a-fib. If it gets worse, I will take a carvedilol and perhaps go to the ER. But I’m praying that won’t be necessary.
I know this is an old thread, but I just went through similar with Carvedilol after transitioning to it after a heart attack. I was first put on Metroprolol and then Lisinopril for high blood pressure after my incident, and then was switched to Carvedilol about a year later. Within 3-6 months of taking Carvedilol, I started experiencing insomnia, nightmares, panic attacks, and mood swings. I also had similar "hard" heartbeats like OP, along with excess weight gain and throbbing tinnitus that was unexplained. All of that combined turned out to be potentially contributing to my nervous system feeling like it was on high alert/survival mode; causing other issues. I was fortunate to learn about the adverse effects Carvedilol can have on some people due to the crossing of the blood-brain barrier. Some of it also boils down to regulating your nervous system through proper nutrition, weight loss, and adequate sleep. After losing 45lbs, I eventually was able to get off the medication completely with my cardiologist's recommendation, and have been feeling like my old self before the heart attack. Within two weeks of stopping, I was no longer anxious and the other symptoms stopped in kind. I'm now two months off and feeling better than ever. It has been a horrible, horrible, experience and in my case, the trade-off has not been worth the side effects and whatever decreased heart rate and blood pressure regulation was gained. Since exercising more, my system also feels more stable. Despite the increased intensity of workouts, my heart rate and blood pressure haven't spiked like it was doing while on the medication. It's been improving steadily. Of course, if you suffer from heart failure or other conditions, this may not apply to you - so make sure to get the right team in place to answer any questions.
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1 Reaction@denverpro Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It is always great to see new members, and to hear their stories. I am sure what you have related here will help others as they navigate their own health journey.
I also was on carvedilol for awhile. I can't recall why it was switched out, as it was many years ago. The reason for any blood pressure medication was to ease the stress on my kidneys as I am a chronic kidney disease patient. Now on dialysis, my medical team recently stopped both BP medications [verapamil and lisinopril].
Ginger
I just want to note that almost everything that you mentioned in your feed I went through the same thing. I cannot believe they have this drug on the market without further testing it's capacity. I am a 55-year-old man. I also have hypertension which runs in the family lucky me right? Well just to reiterate I saw my cardiologist today and he took me off carvedilol today but I already read of last week on how to wing off of it you should never just try to stop all at once as there will be greater effects. I am now going on day five and I feel perfectly fine every now and then I get a little bit of heavy breathing where I'm trying to catch my breath The doctor says a couple more days and I will be fine. I had a lot of horrible nightmares and I noticed several days ago I had uncontrollable anxiety while out at dinner and I felt like I was so agitated by everyone talking around me that I just wanted to get up and scream. Now I am good I feel like this drug is finally making its way out of my system. The effects of the drug can linger up to 2 weeks the doctor said but not intensely so I am counting everyday until this drug wears itself out. On a good note it turns out that none of my heart arteries are blocked which was the reason why he put me on this medication 2 months ago. I really feel bad for the next person who has to take this and feels like they are actually doing something to progress their health when they realize this drug turns you into Jekyll or maybe hide they will definitely discontinue like we did hahaha Good luck and much success on your recovery from this drug also read all the reviews on Reddit you will be up almost all night reading all the horror stories that other people have experienced from this drug!