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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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@shesgotmojo Hi and Welcome to connect I too was on Corag for many years and I guess it's one of those situations where some have issues and some not. But the wonders of medicines is there are options and as @bbonchek mentioned it's important to come off of it per your doctors recommendation. I hope you have success finding a Medication that will help with your situation. If you feel comfortable may I ask what condition you are taking it for? Prior to my Heart Transplant I had arrhythmia problems due to Ventricular Tachycardia or VT for short. The Corog didn't give me.any issues but I did go thru a few Anti arrhythmia drugs to find one I wasn't allergic to. Please let us know how you make out. Have a great day
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I understand your situation. I was on Carvedilol for 6 months and had the same thing happen. It is tricky to go off it. I worked closely with my cardiologist and it took me 6 weeks to wean off it. We also adjusted my other heart meds to compensate. It took another month for the symptoms to go away. I now feel great. But, you must be careful and make sure your health is not compromised by not taking it.
Good luck.
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1 ReactionI just found this conversation. I've been on Carvedilol for a month and I've gained 6 lbs, have sleep issues, water retention, joint pain and am so tired I literally have to sleep all weekend to function at work. I went in for my cardiologist appointment today but didn't get to see her since they were backed up over 2 hours. I'm hoping to get off this drug.
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1 ReactionI’ve been off carvedilol 3 months ago, and I’m currently experiencing anxiety. Anyone went thru this?
I am 58 and have the exact same symptoms taking Carvedilol, I was diagnosed with abdominal aneurysm back in October ... have been taking 2 other BP meds which had me at 130/80 consistently ... heart checked out very well ... just sent my Cardio Dr a note telling him I'm tired of the funky feeling in chest and nightly discomfort. I am semi active and nervous to do anything except sit on the couch ... thanks for sharing !
Back in 2018 I was put on Carvedilol by a Mayo Clinic doctor because I had PVC's 25 % of the time. It gave me several unpleasant side effects so my doctor at home put me on Bystolic which I just decreased because of side effects as well. When I slowly decreased both above medicines it took several days, a couple weeks, to get rid of the horrible side effects.
As to the PVC's I believe they were caused by taking Miralax for several years, it is listed as a rare side effect under Miralax. It took me six months to get rid of the PVC's!
I have been on increasing dosages of Carvedilol. After about 3 months on the low dosages, I had an AFIB episode. As the dosage increases, so do the incidences of AFIB. Anyone else have this? Also I am having some weird mood swings, such as having a great day and then experiencing profound sadness with ugly tears etc.... After finding this I am really concerned about this drug.
I experienced anxiety and exhaustion and I am slowly recovering.
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1 ReactionHello @connect1 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Stopping a medication abruptly can be very harsh on your system. I am sorry that your body had to go through that
When you ask about the side effects wearing off, are you only having anxiety attacks or are there other symptoms you are having as well?
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2 ReactionsI'm a new member, and I was on 3.1 carvedilol mornings/evening for 12 days for hypertension and noticed my anxiety went thru the roof, my doctor didn't wean me off, she switch me to lisinopril and I had experienced severe effects. When does the effects wear off