Metoprolol medicine side effects: What's your experience?

When first diagnosed with AF and heart failure I was put on Metoprolol. It did not make me fell better but actually worse. My EF was at 30 and my heart continued to pound at a fast rate. I was also weak and shakey.
So I looked for side effects on the internet and ran across an article by a physician who felt that Carvedilol worked better for heart failure. Luckily. my cardiologist did not balk when I asked him to change to Carvedilol.
Within 24 hours I was feeling almost normal. My EF eventually increased to 48. A new cardiologist replaced the Carvedilol with Entresto to increase my EF more. That was disastorous--my EF dipped to 33 and I had several episodes of extremely low BP. So I again requested Carvedilol and after 1 year my EF was up to 55. Not all medicines affect a person the same way. Nothing wrong with going to the internet for information as long as you have a professional and reliable source. And nothing wrong with requesting to be taken off a medicine that is not helping or is harming.

I was diagnosed with AFib August of 24 and put on Metoporal and Eliquis. Was given 100 mg a day of Metoporal and convinced the cardiologist to cut that in half after @ 6 months with no issues other than my legs ached all the time and I was also recovering from a hip replacement and fractured femur that required cables and screws to fix - caused by my AFib causing a syncope. Taken off the Eliquis after another 6 months. August of this year, fainted again. All the doctors in the ER and my cardiologist felt the Metoporal caused my BP and HR to drop too low and caused the syncope episode. Removed from the Metoporal but given Flecainide and Eliquis again. Waiting to have an ablation on the 25th and hoping I can come off all the meds as I'm not tolerating these meds either.

@mikead People process medications differently and no two are exactly the same when it comes to their heart issues or why metoprolol was prescribed. Weight loss and gain after being given a prescription is also something to consider. To understand better any risks and or interactions with other medications consult a registered pharmacist. That will help you frame questions for your cardio doctor. The drs age, education and experience also differs so believe folks when they say that metroprolol makes them feel bad. Make sure your primary checks your meds and you have regular blood work done, including liver enzyemes. In the the end it is the patient that must advocate for themselves and their own body. One person's experience does not mean your experience but consider it enlightenment on a subject even the specialists cannot always have an answer to.

Been on it for years and heart rate is good.
Funny story is that I started on propranolol but had very minor and actually pleasant hallucinations of the visual kind.
When I awoken I'd see pretty colorful shapes in the corner of the room even a rose or flower 🌹 now and then.
I didn't mind but doctor switched me to the propranolol.

Glen

@jtchip I had a similar reaction to metoprolol. 50 mg once a day. My legs below the knee were like lead weights. My BP and heart rate would get low but never had any fainting spells. I was very lethargic. I had an ablation (PFA) and after about 2 months convinced the EP team to take me of metoprolol. It was almost an instant change. No more pain and I felt 100% better. A lot more energy. I am on Eliquis 5 mg twice a day and will probably be on Eliquis forever because of my age. To my knowledge I have had only 1 episode of Afib and a cardioversion and then the PFA have kept me out of Afib. I was in Afib for about 3 months, and it has been over 8 months since I have been back in sinus rhythm. For me the ablation was a nothing. Check in in the morning and out in the later afternoon. No real pain or other discomfort.

@suerte Thanks for your update. I'm tolerating the Flecainide a little better since they reduced the dosage. I'm anxious for the ablation to be done. I'm lucky that there was a cancellation because my original date was January 20, 2026. This was from September to January. Hopefully my ablation goes smoothly. A question for you, do they place weights on the insertion sites to help stop bleeding and do they shave you? I'm thinking yes for both questions based on what I've read. Thanks.

@jtchip I don't know about weights on the insertion sites, but they did shave me. Now they could have put weights on while I was under sedation but nothing while I was awake. My ablation was done at University of Colorado Health Center in Aurora, CO and the room where they did the ablation was like mission control. I have never seen so many monitors and other electronic equipment in an operating room. Even people in a room behind a glass wall. They did do a CT scan with some contrast dye the day before to get a picture of what organs are around the heart. This is done so the physician doing the ablation can work around those organs even though they are outside the heart.

@suerte Thanks for the info. I haven't been told I need a CT scan before, but I was in the hospital not too long ago and one was done then, so maybe don't need one now.

@suerte I had the conversation too but it only worked for a few months
Now on Eliquis and Metropolol with near zero symptoms

I was put on metoprolol 25mg 1/2 a day to correct heart skipping beats and after about 8 days my heart started skipping beats about every 3rd beat and my blood pressure was very low. My resting heart rate at night was 37. Am wondering if this medicine caused another irregular heart beat? Have discontinued and waiting to see doctor.