How did you wean off Metoprolol?

Three years of heart disease and have improved alot. 80%. But, I think it can make you depressed. You might need to see a therapist or a group. My cardiology dept does not have a support group, but some do. I'm also into animal therapy, pet the neighbors cats and dogs whenever I see them. Also visit neighborhood horse ranch and commune with horses. Move beyond the physical realm and feed the heart the nourishment of love.

Excellent point on cranberries / warfarin. I drink cranberry juice if INR is way too low.. too many greens. It doesn’t affect INR much I discovered. But best to check any cranberry based product.

Thanks, and for those of us who use Warfarin as a blood thinner, we might have to check out if using Utiva is like using cranberries. Cranberries intensify the blood thinning of Warfarin, so you have to check it out and perhaps use less Warfarin with the Utiva in order to get the right INR. It's easy to make this adjustment if you are careful to do the same doses of both every day.

It is derived from cranberries BUT it is not d-mannose.The owner of Utiva told me that in their clinical trials done in the US, d-mannose combined with Utiva actually diminished the effect of Utiva. I was also told that if I felt a UTI coming on, to just double up on the Utiva...which I did for 2 days at one point.The day before the onset of UTI symptoms, I had eaten a lot of carbs at a party and as always that is a UTI trigger. I still continue to shower morning and night to be sure I am 'clean' and I take the vaginal estrogen which is absorbed almost totally locally I am told and the Utiva. The most important thing to understand is that Utiva is to be used preventatively; in other words right after antibiotics when one has NO infection in the bladder. That is key.

Cystitis is gross. Fortunately I haven't had outbreaks since I stopped being sexually active. Can you tell us what UTIVA is? Sulfa always used to work for me, but it's not allowed with Dofetilide (Tikosin) which many of us use.

Hi Don't get me started (lol) I had 32 UTIs pretty much back to back...except when I started vaginal estrogen (which is a standard therapy). I had a 4 month break but my doctor urged me to get a cystoscopy and I got an infection from it and from then on in it was UTI after UTI...which meant 32 rounds of antibiotics. I think we all know how they destroy the good bacteria in the gut. And since the gut is where 80% of the immune system resides, I was very concerned about my ability to fight infection; little and big..like cancer for example. Long story short, my urogynecologist, Dr Walter in Montreal, suggested I try a new and promising, well researched, over the counter supplement called UTIVA. I fully expected it NOT to work because I had tried everything up to that point including d-mannose, cranberry supplements, vaginal and oral probiotics, drinking lots of water, the vaginal estrogen etc..Dr Walter explained that Utiva is not a cure. It must be taken daily preventatively. So, I ordered the Utiva on line from Utiva Health and started taking it AFTER I just finished antibiotics (for infection #32 in 3 years). I waited for the next UTI...it never came! And here I am about 2 1/2 months later, UTI free! I wish I could share this with others like me who basically live on antibiotics, never feel 100%, with the threat of a kidney infection hanging over their heads. This thread should probably be moved to the kidney/UTI section...where I have written about my experience with Utica.

How did you cure yourself of bladder infections? Please share!

Wheezing on. Metoprolol for afib

Life time of PVCs. On and off. One doctor offered anti arrhythmic drug, I declined because my situation technically wasn't dangerous. He switched me from Atenolol to Acebulolol, the PVC occurrence plummeted. All was well.

Incidentally, it was too much quality chocolate at Easter that started my worse episode of PVCs that lasted months, that was the cause of the PVCs above.

Years went by. The usual stuff, periodic tests, everything's OK. Last November, the afib started. They were going to do a Adenosine Stress Test, that would have been followed by a Heart Cath. My wife worked for a cardiologist that was not infrequently angry at these extra tests, he believed there is a group of doctors that get a cut of the insurance by doing needless tests. I told them no stress test, get rate controlled, anticoagulation in place, and I'll see my own doctors.

My cardiologist is very well known, he saw no reason for the stress test, neither did my family doctor, and, in a way, I had one. They withheld the Metoprolol, most of it, on the day of the stress test I refused. Having been told that I'd have an Echo Cardiogram the following morning after admission, here it is, three days later and still no test. So they sent me for one, prior to discharge, or so I thought. During my echo cardiogram, my heart rate was 160, I didn't even know that, but they refused to discharge. They finally gave me the full Metoprolol, I was discharged the following day, and they bumped it up more. My cardiologist bumped it up more still.

The Echo Cardiogram was normal, the same as one I had last year, except afib was now present. The same doctor, also very well known, interpreted both. But think, it was done with my heart at 160, I'd think I'd have chest pain if there was restriction, and there should have been additional changes in the EKG.

I'd rather have a normal rhythm, but converting, and maintaining it isn't without risk too. The literature on Sotalol says Highly Symptomatic patients should only use it, I'm not, at that point. Younger patient's are similarly given Sotalol, it's a quality of life thing.

I just read an article the other day, urging doctors not to over medicate Afib patients, the article cited 110 as a target heart rate, interesting yours said the same. I was used to mine in the 50s, I'm in the upper 60s at rest now. (Summer will probably be higher).

You are on Coumadin and a beta blocker? When unmedicated, do you only have occasional skipped beats and an increased heart rate (into the 80s)? If so, you would fall into the unmedicated category with my cardiologist. Years ago, once on the beta blockers, I didn't need a blood thinner because my Afib was well controlled. Currently, my heart rate at total rest (watching TV) can be 110....after eating a sugary food. Otherwise it's a normal 80 beats per minute. My cardiologist told me not to be concerned about the 110 beats. He says that I should only be concerned if my heart rate is up above 160.