How did you wean off Metoprolol?

I have been on metoprolol tartrate for quite a few years. I have what they call "burning mouth syndrome" for at least 6 years and have read that metoprolol is one of the blood pressure medications that can cause this. I can' t convince my cardiologist, but want to taper off for a few weeks to see if this is the culprit. I have a-fib and on Eliquis for this. The metoprolol is to keep my heart rate at an acceptable rate. I would like to hear from anyone who has had this burning mouth side efftect and if the metoprolol was the cause. Thanks for any help.

I was determined to stay on the beta blockers. In addition to the scary ventricular tachycardia, I also have atrial tachycardia and supraventricular. Since being on the meds, all my followup holter monitors have been normal and I'm still on a low dose. I've read that sometimes with ablation you get rid of one type of arrythmia and develop another. Ablation scares me.
So unless my condition changed and/or the benefits outweighed the risks, I couldnt do it.

That’s good to know. I started on a Beta Blocker for Supra Ventricular Tachycardia & stopped after about a week because of fatigue. The SVT only happened when I went for run, so my solution was to stop running (I do a lot of walking now). That was 2 years ago. Recently decided to go for ablation so I can run again. Just had Echogram (sp) & 14 day Halter and next is consultant to see if I am a candidate for ablation.

When I first started taking betablockers for a non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, the medication would make me extremely sleepy and sometimes brought my pulse down below 50 and lowered my blood pressure too much. It is 2 and 1/2 years later and the metoprolol no longer has that effect. It took about four months for the side effects to go away.

Hi all,

I recently had my first a-fib scare, was alone traveling for work, and i woke up feeling like I was running a marathon, visited my PCP and he did and EKG and confirmed AFIB. Said I should go to ER as precaution, by the time I drove myself there..I had converted back to NSR, and they monitored me for an hour and sent me home with a bottle of metaprolol 25mg x2 a day.

I’ve been taking it now for about a week and a half or so solid. Now that I’m back at work, I’m finding that it’s causing me to remain fatigued and tired all the time, and I work on call 24/7. I’ve been hitting the gym at the hotel every day now and I feel fantastic while working out. Yet as soon as I sit down, the overwhelming fatigue sets in. I also feel it’s giving me a bout of insomnia as well.

I have to cut my dosing in half, and wean a few days...then half it again..

What are your recommendations? I have consulted PCP and he didn’t object.

@joma7862 You asked how my tapering off 12.5 mg of Toprol XL was going, so here's the scoop. In my prior message I mentioned I was trying two different things: 1. coming off the Toprol and 2. switching from Cozaar to another ARB. Just as I was ready to stop the Toprol altogether, my doctor switched me to Edarbi (ARB) and asked me to stop the Cozaar. She then said "go back on the 12.5 mg of Toprol" while you are getting use to the Edarbi. So, I am into Day 3 of weaning off the Toprol and I am having terrible insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks. No doubt, some of this is attributed to starting a new drug (albeit in the same class as Cozaar) alongside tapering the the Toprol. Nevertheless, I am miserable.

I agree. I'm on 350mg of Metoprolol Succinate (200 in the morning, 150 mg in the evening), my resting heart rate on good days is finally getting down to the upper 60s. Beta Blockers are generally well tolerated, effective, and comparatively safe. I'm glad to hear of your success. We're fortunate to live in a time in history where these medications are available.

Best regards.

All I know is that my NSVT was picked up on a 48hr holter monitor, (which is an ECG). I also have non-serious atrial tachycardia. Anyway, I've bern on it since late 2016 and would not want to go off.

""Beta blockers are competitive antagonists that block the receptor sites for the endogenous catecholamines epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) on adrenergic beta receptors, of the sympathetic nervous system, which mediates the fight-or-flight response."

Although they effect heart rate largely due to the above, most Beta Blockers don't change the timing of most of the components of the electrical activity as represented on the EKG. Sotalol prolongs as aspect of the EKG that can lead to other arrhythmias, most other Beta Blockers don't have that effect.

The information in my original post was paraphrased from a site on EKG interpretation. My point was that Sotalol isn't just a Beta Blocker, that under many circumstances additional precautions need to be taken with it when first putting a patient on it.

Reading it over again, I'd say the EKG Site and you are both right, just in different ways. They are talking about rhythm in the sense of the elements of the EKG, you're talking about rhythm as associated with rate. Beta Blockers do indeed alter heart rate, and many people benefit from that for various reasons.

I am taking metoprolol to control my arrythmia (non-sustained ventricular tachycardia). It is a conventional betablocker. Bisoprolol and atenolol are used as well. They do have an effect on the heart rhythm.