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Pacemaker for SSS and metoprolol succinate side effects
Does anyone have any experience with this? I got a pacemaker in 2017 for sick sinus syndrome problems. Shortly after that, I was prescribed metoprolol because of ongoing issues, apparently from something the pacemaker occasionally did between the two chambers. Years later, I am wondering about side effects involving dizzy/weak spells, an "electric" sensation in my head, and sometimes a drop in blood pressure, but occasionally an increase. Maybe it's not the metoprolol, or maybe it is. Should I wean off it? Any thoughts?
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It most certainly could be the metoprolol, or it's the heart not quite in rhythm....something needs to be ferreted out here. As I was nearing a first ablation for AF, I found myself getting a weird hair-raising and sharp tingling at the back of my lower skull and into the neck. I felt I was headed for fainting, and I was doing 100 kph down the highway when this happened.....several times, without warning. My dose of metoprolol had been upped twice in the past six months due to increasing AF, and my first ablation was looming. Six days after that ablation, I was in the ICU with a chaotic heart. I was getting pauses of up to 6-8 seconds before my heart would resume beating. The attending ordered immediat cessation of metoprolol, and had me go on amiodarone instead.
It is well known that some people do poorly on metoprolol. It reduces cardiac output by design, so it's often prescribed for 'incipient' hypertension. For those with healthy hearts, but who also have AF (seems contradictory, but AF is an arrhythmia, it isn't necessarily indicative of ischemia or blocked coronary arteries...), when your dose of metoprolol is raised, you may find it suppressed too much, and you'll have bradycardia an hypotension.
If you haven't yet done so, please run your symptoms past your GP or a cardiologist.
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1 ReactionThanks for your insights. I am now living in Thailand and am getting my pacemaker checked every six months. Even though these events are happening with some regularity, the pacemaker monitoring isn't showing any unusual activity, but maybe that's because it's just performing its function in maintaining a minimum heart rate. I'll speak to the cardiologist about the potential side effects of metoprolol. Take care. I hope you stay well.