Cardizem symptoms and conditions

I am a 56 year old female & have been on toprol for 7 or 8 years. I was a small business owner & under a lot of stress. I had couple of times where my heart would race & pound & I felt really strange. I went to the ER where they of course checked my blood pressure. It was a little high, but I was stressed out! After the second time this happened they put me on 50mg of toprol. I have since weaned myself down to 25 mg. I think I was having a panic attack, which I had never had before. I regret the day I ever started taking this poison. I have had such shortness of breath that I can hardly walk to my mailbox & back. I feel like I can never get enough air in my lungs. I feel a tightness in my chest all the time, sometimes my heart feels like it is beating abnormally. I am always aware of my heart beat which I never was before this med. I have gained about 20 to 30 lbs, which is very hard to lose when you feel like you are dying if you exercise. I have pain in my left shoulder, which I don't know if it is from the med or not. I do not sleep well at night & am so tired all the time it is hard to get through the day. I just overall feel like crap! It seems doctors are no help they just want to try you on other meds, I have tried that too. They are all poison I felt even worse on some of the others. I don't want to go through the rest of my life like this. Has anyone successfully gotten off this stuff? I would love to hear from you. Thanks, K. L.

Im a 32 year old male that was put on simvastatin 40 mg and cardizem 240 mg. I am now having severe headaches, so bad i cant go too work anymore, dizziness, fatigue, legs feel shaky all the time, cant stand up for long periods of times. Doctors claim its not the medications but its funny i never had these problems until i started taking these medications, after reading what people have too say about the simvastatin on here i am done with that, i cant live my life like this anymore. I have also heard my other medication can cause these problems so im going too talk too my cardiologist about a different one too control my heart. Im glad i have found other people having problems like me, i don't feel so crazy now.

Taking it for several years. Most recent blood test showed very high potassium levels, causing doctor to have great concern. Looking on the internet I found that Cardizem LA can cause high potassium levels.

I started taking Toprol XL after being diagnosed with SVT back in May of 2003. I was only in my late 20's & was very trusting, at the time. I was recently sent to a cardiologist because I was having horrible chest pain & the Toprol XL 50 MG wasn't working at keeping the heart rate down. The GP put me on a double dose as well as Cardizem to help with the chest pain & rapid heart rate. I was already on Lanoxin 0.5MG, the highest dose allowed. The cardiologist took me off of the Cardizem right away because he said that is was too stressful for the heart to be on that much heart medicine. I went though several tests & was told by the cardiologist that I didn't have SVT & that this was actually Postural Tachycardia (POTS) & Neurocardiogenic Syncope. I was taken off of Lanoxin, but kept on Toprol XL 100 MG. He put me on lots of salt & water to increase my blood volume which would help my blood pressure when standing. That was in June of 2007. All went pretty good, I thought, until January 18, 2008 when I was working. My heart rate went up to 136 just standing or walking across a room. I called the doctor & talked to a nurse who suggested that I take another 1/2 of a Toprol. I did that & felt better for awhile, but it was short lived. I had been having chest pain, rapid heart rate, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, nausea, vomiting, short term memory problems, rapid weight gain, hair loss, cold extremities, & other things I can't think of right now for what seemed like forever. My gynecologist & my cardiologist first thought that I had thyroid problems, but all tests have come back negative. They then thought that maybe it was from the birth control pills that I had been on for the ovarian cysts. I was changed from one medicine to another & at first I thought that was what was wrong. I am now certain that all of the problems that I have been having were & are a result of the Toprol XL. I was even told that all the problems were "psychiatric in nature". I know that that isn't it at all! I have never had anxiety problems & the GP now thinks that's all that is wrong with me & wants me to go on Zoloft. I tried it, but became so ill that after one pill, I quit. I now plan on weaning myself off of the Toprol XL without the GP's knowledge or consent. The cardiologist was planning on weaning me off at some time in the future, but I am starting without him knowing it at the time. I'll just tell him when I see him next month. Thanks everyone for alerting me to the facts about this medicine. If I had known then what I do now, I'd have never consented to starting it in the first place. My only question is, are some of the "side effects" going to be a permanent thing for me or will they eventually go away? Any advice would be welcome! Thanks again!

Sleep issues are a real factor with me on this drug. I stopped taking it when I switched from Lisinopril/HCTZ 20/12.5 mgs and slept like a baby. Have now been directed by doctor to take this drug in combination with Cardizem LA. First night on the higher dosage and I have not slept a wink.

Hello to you all. I have been on Toprol XL for 8-10 months. I have "palpitations" which is why I was placed on this med. Also a diagnosis of Mitral Valve Prolapse. My doctor told me that the MVP can trigger the palpitations and that Toprol is the drug of choice. It helped for a few days. I felt like a new person at first. Then the palpitations gradually started to come back. I have gained 10 lbs. I am 50 years old and assumed that my wt gain was menopause. Now I think that is NOT the answer. I am an RN and I intend to wean myself off of the Toprol after reading the messages here! Why do I need to keep taking a medicine that is causing me to get fat and is NOT controlling my symptoms? Good luck to you all.

I have just called my dr. for an appt. I was not researching Lisinopril I was looking for info to email someone - happened to spot the first post...I nearly fell over! I now know I am not losing my mind, because that's how I've been feeling - the cough, the weary feeling, palps, my anxiety increase, etc. etc. Low readings that I'm wondering if I'm still alive, and this head detached from my body,, feeling, sort of walking like a well in control drunk, if that makes sense to anyone, a feeling like "iI'm gonna have a stroke" feeling in my head...it feels "tights". I started this med. last year, and feel this has been a gradual on-coming train! I have anxiety, and try to keep it under control myself, since I took prosac for about a week, talk about looney - look up another charming side affect - akethesia - nasty. For one poster who said we're all overweight nuts, I am 103lbs, I do a mile every evening, and eat very healthy, thank you.

I have been on this crazy drug for about 5 months...i am difficulty with my breathing, muscle aches, terriible around ovulation, constipation, cant sleep at night, feeling like a zombie, just feels weird all the time. I thought that i was loosing my mind until 1 day i got on the net to look at side effects for toprol and wowwwwww i found that i am experiecing lots of the same things others are. i went to the e r and they thought i was nuts my dr as well.. he takes me off them and says they dont do any of those things to him. now sitting there i started feeling nutz again wondering maybe it is in my mind until i came back on the net and looked up this.... he took me off completely and put me on cardizem i hope and pray they work for me.. toprol did it for my blood pressure but was killling me to. o dont let me forget the lack of sexx.

I was already on Cardizem and Enalapril and 2 mos. ago I went on Toprol 25 mg. which I take 1/2 of everyday. Now I am experiencing hearing problems as if I'm in a tunnel during the daytime until the med. wears off some at night. Is anyone else experiencing hearing problems from Toprol? I'm also experiencing shortness of breath, sleeplessness, and severe neck pain. I know 12.50 is a very small dose, but I feel these problems are a direct result of the Toprol.

I'm on several medications for high blood pressure and heart palpatations due to mitral valve prolapse. I am on Cardizem 240mg, Enapril 20 mg, and now Toprol (1/2) of a 25 mg. a day. (in the morn.) Now I've begun to have temporary hearing loss. My ears will ring and then it's as if I'm in a tunnel for the rest of the day. At night my ears clear up and I can hear normally again. Is anyone else out there having hearing problems?

I am male, 73. 3 months ago my doctor switched me from Cardizem to Toprol, which he said would be more beneficial. Since then I have experienced an ongoing, low-level, sense of nausea or dizziness. It is unpleasant, but not disabling. He said that it should disappear after more time. Has it disappeared for anyone else?

Hi,

I wanted to give you an update on my mom.

I posted on July 17th, 2004 as I was so angry with my mom's Dr. and the drug Lisinopril.

He finally took her off the Lisinopril, and kept her on Hydrochlorothiazide. However after he did some more blood work (at my insistence, as I suspected that she was dehydrated) he ordered an electrolyte blood test. He told her he doubted that she was dehydrated due to the combination of the drugs, as she had been on the Hydrochlorothiazide for years without problems. However, he told us he was ordering the blood tests STAT. If the test revealed any of her electrolytes were low, then he would immediately take her off the hydro....... pill too.

Well, he called us that evening and told Mom to IMMEDIATELY stop taking the hydro........pill too! Mom WAS dehydrated as a result of the combination of the two drugs. The Lisinopril was the main cause of her problems and when he added it to her other BP pill, it caused her body to become totally off balance.

I just want to tell you that since she is now off BOTH pills (she still takes Cardizem for BP and Angina), she is finally back to her normal self. We just returned from a 2 week European Cruise which was wonderful but VERY busy and active, as we visited a new country practically every day. Mom was able to do every tour (with lots of walking) and was able return to the ship, get "dolled up" and was one of the first ones at our dinner table. :)

I know that every one is different and that Lisinopril may be just the right drug for some of you. However, if you are a tiny person (my mom is 4'9" and weighs only 90 lbs), then be very careful of the dosage.

Also be aware of any new symptoms once you take ANY new drug, and write the symptoms down. If they last more than one week then call your Dr. and ask him/her to change your meds.

My mom's cough has completely stopped, her eyes no longer water, her exhaustion is gone :) and she no longer feels like a "Mack Truck" hit her, making her body ache all over.

I thank God that I live right around the corner from Mom. She was convinced that it was just allergies as her Dr. had suggested, and thought it was "silly" that I insisted we go back to the Dr. for more blood tests. If I had not lived close by and had not seen her every day, I would not have known how serious her condition had become.

Even though we went to her Dr. several times with complaints of the cough, the watery eyes, the aches etc., the Dr. insisted it was allergies, and referred her to an ophthalmologist for some eye drops (which did absolutely nothing for her watery eyes).

So, a happy ending here - but only because she stopped taking the drug, which caused an enhancement of the hydro......water pill, causing the dehydration.

So just be aware of your body.

I have been taking Cardizem or a generic form (240 mg) of same for 11 years for slightly high blood pressure, this with minimal side effects. Recently, for some reason my blood pressure was up somewhat. My doctor wants to add 10 mg of Lisinopril. After extensive research and reading this website, I have valid reservations. I do not think it in my best interest to take the additional Lisinopril, especially if sexual related problems and loss of taste are a part of the side effects. I watch my salt intake and diet. Any feedback or suggestions is much appreciated.