Spikes symptoms and conditions

I have been taking 20mg Lisinopril for six days for 140/100 BP reduction. Muscle cramps, muscle pain, dizziness, ringing in the ears (which I already had, but this medication has made it MUCH worse),some heart palpitations...generally scary and, on balance, I am going to find some other solution. Frankly, this is like taking a slow acting poison.

Hi All, Hope everyone is holding up well. I've been on warfarin for year and a half now and like most of you i find it has changed my life a lot. I'm only 22 and i hate taken warfarin. I have gained weight and feel depressed. The thing that scares me the most is that i was sick at the weekend and i found there was blood in my sick!!! Has this ever happened to anyone before as it scared me a little.

A year ago I was misdiagnosed with Sinus Tachy. I did have HBP though and did not know it. We just moved across country, looking for a house to buy, living in a hotel until we closed on the house, and then moved in and started renovating it. Lots of stress...on top of that i was not eating right. i went to a new doctor in our new town. I had an echo, stress test, and holter. the only test she used to diagnose me with tachy was 1 time of having a heart rate of 148 for a second or two. after being put on toprol i started having crazy symptoms. i changed doctors and the new doctor sent me to a cardio. i had a catheter done. the cardio didn't find anything that he said was alarming and wished his heart was like mine. the results were sent to my primary doc. my new doctor sort of listened to me and when i took the results of the initially holter that showed the tachy, i asked him if i indeed had sinus tachy. he looked at the results and said NO. i asked him if i can get off toprol xl...and he was hesitant. after telling him my symptoms he relented. he told me to go to 75 mg and then check with my cardiologist in a month and see if he wanted me to go down further. my bp and hr prior to lowering the dose averaged 100/110- 55/72 with hr averaging 65-70. July 5 was my first day of tapering my 100 mg tablet to 75 mg tablet. the first couple of days were pretty rough. my heart rate would spike to 110 with activity (taking a shower and walking very slowly around the house) and during an "episode" while sitting down would be 75-90. the BP spikes would go up to 140/90 during the "episodes" but would come back down with lots of deep breathing. i had chest discomfort, weird headaches and just an overall feeling of like i might die of a heart attack. around the 5 and 6 days...i was able to slowly move around without the above mentioned symptoms being less severe and by the day 7 and onward my heart rate had re-stabilized back down to around 105/118 over 65/80 with h.rate hovering around 70-80. after 2 weeks on 75 mg...i decided to lower it even further, down to 50 mg. the first 2 days of 50mg, there didn't seem to be any serious things happening but on the 3rd day it hit me. my pulse upon getting out of bed was 100-105 bpm. when i walked around slowly around my house, it stayed elevated..high 90's. it sort of settled in between high 80's and low 90's. my BP was now hovering around 118/125 over 79-89...sometimes spiking as high as 132/90 a couple of times. after the day progressed, the heart rate settled back down to around 80 ish and was in the upper 60's and 70's when i was reading in bed last night. my blood pressure last night was 116/78 with pulse at 66. i thought ...not too bad. Well this morning at 4am i woke up feeling hot and scared. i checked my BP and it was 109/74. a few minutes later i checked it again and it shot up to 126/83 pulse ranging anywhere in the 110-135 range. it finally settled around upper 80's. this spike occurred with me still lying in bed...not moving a muscle. i had my husband to get my toprol 50 mg tablet and a banana and once i took this my blood pressure lowered a little with occasional spikes along with erratic pulse as well. my blood pressure today has been ok....anywhere from 123/75 down to 108/69. my pulse on the other hand if hovering around upper 80's at rest (rest meaning sitting down on computer or driving) and it shoots up to mid to upper 90's while moving around..like going to the bathroom or walking from room to room. while i was making lunch it was in the low 100's. I guess all this to say that this is a roller coaster ride. i want off this med. once i have realized how potent it is, makes me more determined to get off....it is scary though. last night i swear i thought i was having a heart attack. my chest started constricting and my right leg became heavy...like it was losing blood flow...weird.. i know. i know that its rebound effects will occur, but when they are happening, i begin to think ...ok...do i need to stay on this med???? what i found interesting is that when i dropped the first 25 mg the rebound symptoms would occur around 11 am and last until 4 or 5pm. I attributed this to when i take my med...i take it right after breakfast around 8am. when i was on the full 100 mg these were the times i would feel the MOST fatigued....like a walking dead person going thru the motions of life..pretending to be ok. And im a homeschool mom so you can imagine how hard it was to pretend. i wasn't that surprised to find that my rebound effects occurred during this time. This last drop in dosage was different. The first 2 days i did not have the mid day rebound effects...they seemed to be elevated continuously throughout the day with the less rebound effects being right before bed. What was even more alarming was the middle of the night scare that woke me up..... i just wanted to share my current experience with withdrawing/tapering from Toprol Xl 100 mg down to 75 and then now currently at 50. i see my cardiologist in a few weeks and don't think i will taper down anymore until then. he is going to redo all the heart tests...and if i have a green light then i will continue to taper down until im off. For the record, my side effects while on the 100mg XL tab were......frequent...and i mean frequent urination, hair loss, (i have long very thick curly hair that i wear in a ponytail and i had to figure out how to hide the side bald patches..im only 38) seeing spots and floatys daily that i thought i kept seeing spiders move across my floor or walls, upper back/should pain that was very debilitating, vision focus problems, ankle joint pain...(i would wake up with a limp cuz the pain in my ankle joint was bad then the next day it would be gone only to return a few days later), hands and feet tingly all the time. i have also had thyroid tests... Weight gain or stubborn pounds that would not budge...even with daily exercise and a diet that consisted of fish 3-5 times a week cooked without oil or fats and eating only sauteed veggies and fruit. i have not had a piece of bread or processed carb in months relying on an occasional small baked potato with no condiments. i have calculated my nutrition so precise that i making sure i consumed 4500 mg in potassium, 2-300 mg magnesium, less than 600 mg sodium daily, 1200-1300 calories with 50-80 grams of protein and less than 30 grams of fat. all this and my weight would not budge. after dropping my dosage down to 75mg from 100, i lost 4 pounds in a week without changing a thing..I was even sitting a lot due to the crazy spikes in BP and HR. During that second week of 75 mg...i lost 1 pound. now that i have dropped down to 50mg i have lost 2 pounds and its only been 4 days. I would like to know anyone else's experience with withdrawing from toprol xl.

Hello... I started taking Levothyroxine last July for slight hypothyroidism. I felt great for the first 6-7 months, but then in January the problems started for me. I was getting severe anxiety which the doctor said was stress and he also thought I was depressed. I knew I wasn't, but he put me on Ativan and Prozac. The week I took prozac was the worst week of my life. I thought the effects I had were from the prozac, but now I know now it was my thyroid spiking, which the doctor never checked my levels during this period. My heart rate doubled, I had insomnia, was gagging, sick, felt like my body was on speed and wanted to die. I was prescribed a beta blocker for my anxiety previously which I had never taken, but decided to take when my heart was racing, which helped me feel a bit better for the week, but I knew something was wrong. I had this happen again recently for about a week (and I was on nothing but levothyroxine). I know what anxiety is and I have never had anxiety or depression my whole life until these episodes that happen when taking this medication. By the time I went to the doctor to get labs done, I had been feeling a bit better and he said my levels were fine. I am now wondering if it's side effects from the meds or if it is spikes in my levels making me hyperthyroid instead. All I know is that I cannot live like this!! I have a 3 yr old and I need to be happy and healthy like I used to be before this medication... no more heart racing, racing thoughts, anxiety, and insomnia. Please help!!

Vivid dreams, anxiety, spikes in blood pressure, stomach pain, shoulder and back pain. Discontinued Toprol XL a week ago and still experiencing some side effects. How long does this process last.

Wow- I'm really surprised to read how many people have had horrible experiences with NuvaRing. I've been using it for over two years (since I was 21) and I love it. I had problems with nausea when I was on the pill, which is why my doctor recommended NuvaRing (the hormones are released evenly over time so you don't get the spikes in hormone levels every day like with the pill). I haven't had any weight gain (though I didn't lose the ~5 lbs that I gained when I went on the pill, either). The only side effect I've noticed is a slight increase in normal discharge.

FOLLOW-UP~11/-25/08 finished 12/3/08
I lasted 2 days on Lisinopril 10 mg.~after feeling pressure in my chest (which I had never experienced, EVER), feeling very emotional...wanting to cry all the time & just generally feeling ill. I was never comfortable knowing, the med was made from snake venom. I was borderline HP for several years 140ish/80ish or lower but recently went 152/98 @ the doctor's office @ home it is usually normal with a couple of spikes. My doc. switched me to Atenol 25 mg., I seem to be tolerated the drug thus far. I do feel tired & feel some fuzziness in my head, slow heart rate, & more difficult to exert & I'm more emotional. I'm not sure about this yet....
Keep writing all your experiences, it's important~

II'm a 54 year old male and I've been taking Lisinopril for about 24 months for moderately high BP (135/85). Initially, I was fatigued late morning, but that seemed to go away in a month or two. Having a previous back condition, I didn't blame the tightness in my glutes and legs on the pill or the extreme morning soreness, but now I wonder. Also, in six months I gained about 50 pounds with no change in lifestyle (205 to 255). I read in a few of the Drug Co. sites that this is a rare effect, but not in any postings here. Anyone else have this problem?
I also seem to have developed an explosive type of temper that I don't recall before, blowing up at minor things, then it quickly passes. Anybody?
Where the drug initially lowered my BP to 120/75, with the weight gain I need the drug to keep it in the neighborhood of the original problem (140/85). If I miss a dose it spikes to 170/115 or higher, so I'm basically forced to take it or another BPM where originally I had a very minor problem. I thought this was a common pill that was described as relatively benign, but I' starting to realize that's not the case at all.

As a fairly healthy 34 year old male, I went to my doctor for help getting over poison ivy mid-July 2008. I received the Kenalog 40 injection without being advised on any potential side effects. Within 36 hours I started having severe anxiety attacks with spikes in my blood pressure and vision problems (spotty, increased sensitivity to light). These attacks continued for 4-8 weeks during which time I underwent an MRI (head), stress test, and blood work to make sure nothing else was causing my symptoms.....conclusion: everything normal. My doctor prescribed me Xanax to help with the out of control anxiety. Started feeling more normal 60-90 days later. I started trying to run on my treadmill to get back in shape at the 90 day mark, and once again....symptoms returned. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm getting closer to being back to "normal", but I have no idea how long it will be before the Kenalog has completely metabolized out of my system, and I can get on with life. This has been a horrible experience and I would caution anyone from receiving this drug!

I have been taking 20mg of Lisinopril and 5mg of Amlodipine for more than 5 years.The only physical complaint that I can directly attribute to these drugs would probably be the dry cough in the back of my throat. Other symptoms such as general fatigue and insomnia could possibly be attributed but I don't know for sure. Recently I visited my doctor and asked him what would be the perfect number for both systolic and diastolic pressure for someone of my age . This question proved unbelievably difficult for him. After much prevarication we somehow agreed between us that systolic between 140/145 and diastolic between 80/85 would be good numbers.I then told him that I had stopped taking the Amlodipine for over a month. Also during this period I had taken blood pressure readings twice a day and apart from a couple of spikes I was satisfied that my numbers were acceptable. He then said that unless my BP monitor was calibrated once or twice a year then I could not rely on my readings as they could easily be 5 - 10% out. Is this correct do BP monitors have to be calibrated to be accurate? Since I thought my BP readings were acceptable my intention was to lower my intake of Lisinopril and eventually stop using it altogether. My hope was that exercise, diet, supplements etc. could replace the snake venom circulating in my body but I am no longer convinced that this is a realistic aim.

TWO PIECES OF ADVICE:
DO NOT DRINK alcohol within 6 hrs and EAT right before taking Toprol. This should help with all mentioned side effects!
I have noticed that if I drink ANY alcohol within six hours of taking Toprol (before or after), my HR skyrockets to 190+BPM. I thought this might help others. Also, I MUST eat at least 2 slices of bread each time I take it. Otherwise, I will feel very dizzy, faint and have bad dreams.
If I eat, I have no side effects.
Also, there have been a couple times where I missed a dose or took it late and each time, I feel my heart starting to race and the PVC's coming back.

I have been on 25 mg of Toprol for 6months due to PVC's and rapid/ racing HR (160+)/ palps and BP spikes. My 24hr Holter (six months ago) showed 370 PVC's in one day, so I was put on Toprol. All other heart tests were normal. Anyway, it has worked wonders for me. I had another Holter done last week and there were NO PVC's and steady HR and BP. Since being on Toprol HR is 65, BP is 105/60 or so.

I am a 37 year old female that went to the ER 3 days ago for chest tightness & extremely high blood sugar. I have had high blood pressure in the past years but as of a year ago when I was diagnosed as being diabetic my blood pressure has been normal about 117/75 so I go to the ER and they give me 2 EKG's and a heart monitor for 24hrs and put me through a stress test,they also give me this little pill and say it will help me, well not feeling well and wanting to feel good again I take the pill no questions asked. I have never felt so tired in my life. I thought well chest pains will do that to you so I dismissed it. I know they were making sure I do not have a heart attack but, my blood pressure seems to be going lower and lower and I am more tired by the minute, they released me from the hospital and gave me a million RX's including toprol and lisinopril both of whch lower blod pressure ??? do they want me to pass out? so yesterday I took the toprol only and felt like I was sinking , my thinking seemed foggy and my legs felt rubbery. I am sooooo glad I found this site because I will not take this drug ever again I already suffer weight issues being diabetic I don't need anything else. I would prefer to be interested in sex and be able too function this drug seems like it is more negative than it is worth. I think I will stick with the lisinopril, and why would they give me two blood pressure meds when my blood pressure is already normal??? If anyone has a comment please let me know I am very scared about this whole thing

My heart rate spikes when my blood pressure gets markedly lower. I also get really dizzy when that happens. I know that so many of you are struggling with these side effects and I also know (based on experience) how nerve wracking it can be. Maybe...just maybe we aren't experiencing side effects from the drug exactly, but instead the effect of the drug working. Maybe once our bodies get used to the lowered pressure, our heart rates will normalize. Maybe when we adjust to the lowered pressure a little better, we won't get so dizzy....

Don't mean to sound preachy...I guess I'm just trying to suggest an alternative view...again, one that is based on experience../.

When my bp, which had always been VERY low, rather suddenly skyrocketed at age 48 (possibly as a long-term effect of the preeclampsia I had 23 years ago when pregnant with my daughter), I was put on 10 mg of Lisinopril. I had diarrhea by that evening. The next day, the diarrhea thankfully disappeared, but other flu-like symptoms set in--mostly nausea and muscle weakness/fatigue. The nausea often made it hard to eat, and the muscle weakness was so bad that sometimes I'd have to stop what I was doing---even typing on the computer--and go lie down. Fortunately, these symptoms abated after one week, and I've been fine for the last two weeks. But now, as my bp is still too high, my Lisinopril is being increased to 20 mg, so I fear getting sick again.

My BP had been slightly elevated for over a year and my doctor felt it was time for medication. He started me on 25mgs and continued to increase it till I reached 100mgs. I started having anxiety attacks, lightheadedness, dizziness and finally ended up so sick that I was in bed for three days. It was the toprol. I was only on toprol for 3months but found out that trying to come off the drug was the hardest thing I have done. I never had BP spikes before but at the end of the first 24 hrs. without Toprol my BP was hitting 200/104. I went to ER. Matter of fact, the spikes continued and I was in and out of ER until I was finally admitted for tests. The spikes were also accompanied by flushing, rapid pulse(122 beats per minute), lightheadedness and diarrhea.Many times I thought I was having a heart attack. I have seen two cardiologists, an internist and now an endocrinologist for these "BP spikes". All tests come back normal. No matter what the new medication is, nor how low my BP might stay for up to three days....the episodes still happen. My BP can go from a normal range too 200 systolic in a matter of less than 1/2 hr..........Has anyone else had spikes in their BP when coming off toprol. It has been 11 months since stopping this awful drug and I still I no answers....but I have a pile of medical bills.

I started Metoprolol 6 months ago while in the ER. I was weak with a virus and every time I got up and did anything, my heart would race and would feel weaker. I have white coat syndrome so while I was in the ER my BP went up to 227/110. They gave me 25 mg of Toprol and a prescription for 12.5 mg a day. I have gained 17 lbs in 6 months, have zero energy, tired all the time, insomnia, and am depressed for the first time in my life,ad I know it has to be from the Metoprolol. I tried to quit it and 3 days later my heart was racing so bad and my blood pressure was real high. I want to try to quit it but am afraid to. Any suggestions on how to quit it?

I am a 41 year old male that has BP averaging 140/90 and spikes that were extremely hi 190/125 (which landed me in th ER). Lisinopril 10MG was prescribed last Friday. My BP came down immediately yesterday 111/75 today 109/69. That is the only good thing. I have a headache, dizziness, feel disoriented, had urges to urinate and nothing would happen. Yesterday while trying to walk, wash my trailer, or even chew a piece of gum whatever muscle I was using became soar immediately. They felt as if I had run a marathon or something. Today after one flight of stairs to get to my office I was short of breath and my leg muscles hurt. I had to go lay down at lunch because this stuff makes me so tired. It is like I have been poisoned. As I'm typing my fingers hurt and the metal taste in my mouth has me thinking I want to trash this stuff. The doctor says they haven't herd of these side effects and and they said to cut the pill in half.

I was on Prednisone for just over two weeks for a bad skin rash (allergic reaction). I went to the ER they gave me an injection on Prednisone. The next day my Doctor puts me on 40mg a day for 10 days then down to 20mg, and then 10mg. The side effects were (and are) crazy. Blood sugar and Blood pressure are through the roof. My heart pounds,races, skips beats. Hands shaking, nervous, and panic attacks. Yeah, sure, the rash is gone, but I feel like a train wreck. I took my last dose 2 days ago, and have been told it can take 2 to 4 weeks for this to get completely out of my system and end the side effects. Can anybody else verify this?? Good god, what a mess!!

Every time I take Vazotuss HC, my temperature spikes and I get very nauseated

I'm fortunate (so far!) that my experience with Lisinopril has been mostly uncomplicated, judging by what I'm reading about what others have gone through. I've been taking only 2.5 mg per day (a scrip given to me by my generalist; my cardiologist subsequently said she would have started me on 30mg!) for about a week. BP is mostly good with occasional unexplained spikes up to 135-ish over 80. No cough, nothing else to note, except the DREAMS! I've always been one of those people who tend to remember dreams, and they've often been vivid, but these are *intense.* Not necessarily bad (though there have been a couple that caused me to wake up suddenly from fear or revulsion), but vivid, intense, active, and memorable. I'm evaluating whether, over time, this will affect my energy level; i.e., what does this mean for quality of sleep?

Update - 7th day with zero Toprol. Feel just awful... Breathing has not improved, tight band feeling around chest keeps coming and going like before. B/P spikes, headaches, etc. The Diovan (80mg) was making me cough and making chest tightness worse - so she tried me on Dyazide - made me dizzy and sick to my stomach. This has been just one of the WORST experiences of my life. I was SURE all my problems were related to my (4) years on Toprol - but on day 7 with NO TOPROL and not feeling better I am depressed, discouraged, and just want to curl up and cry and cry and cry. I have ended up in the ER three times since the weaning began - once for breathing, once for pulse (over 215) and once for severe abdominal pain. My family thinks that I am 'mental' and that it is all in my head???? I cannot take much more of this.....

Hi Toprol-XL Victims. I was put on this med because the doctor felt that I only needed to be on one blood pressure med and not two. I was told to take 100mg a day, but after telling the doctor that I almost passed out 5 times just after 3 days of use, he quickly cut it in half to 50 mg. There are days when my BP spikes. It's only spiked about two-three times over the past 6 months of use.

As with all of you here, I have good days and bad days. Mainly the fuzzy, cloudy feeling in the head, the shortness of breath when going up flights of stairs. My BP was 160-180 over 90. Now it stays about 98/62 - 130/78, and when it does spike it goes up to about 160 or so. Some days I get up and I feel just great...I just wish I had a larger % of good days vs. bad days.

I look at the alternative though.....I almost had a stroke one year ago, and that was not pleasant. I still suffer with slight palipations/seizures (have had two attacks so far). The doctor says it is stress related, but like I told him, I never had problems before. I watch what I eat now. I've lost a good 45 lb.s with another 65 lbs. to go. I'm hoping once I lose all of the weight the BP will drop by itself. I cannot stress enough the importance of removing salt from your diet...oh my goodness. I'll give you an example. One night I had ground meat over white rice (that was prepared on top the stove - no salt of course, but the meat brought its own bad elements to the table). I stood up to walk a straight line and wound up walking a slant. My BP shot up just from eating that.

So far this drug was the only thing to kind of keep me in check w/ my BP.

I have been on lisinopril since January 07. I had a drug eluting stent put in my heart Feb 05, and after a bad experience with Beta Blockers had to go off of them, and try to find natural ways to help my heart/pulse rate. The lisinopril has helped with the pulse spikes, and lowered my bp, but the past three months I have been experiencing really bad cramps on the left side of my body and in chest. Very frightening and uncomfortable, wake you up in the middle of the night. both legs, and kidney area. Cannot carry my purse or anything heavy on left side. Also had bad cough in the morning. It got so bad this weekend thought I was going to have a heart attack. I awoke this morning realizing that maybe, just maybe it is the BP medication. Would not be the first time I have had problems with the poisen doctors hand out. I want to find a natural supplement that will lower my bp, without the lisinopril it was about 150/90, not great, but not too crazy. I think I won't refill the lisinopril and see how it goes....any ideas out there?

I started taking Prilosec OTC a month ago to treat GERD...just over a month ago. Very shortly after starting the medication, I noticed I was getting dull headaches and tension in my head that lasted throughout the day...not a migraine, but enough to be annoying. I also noticed as time went on that I have become very nervous/anxious, my heart rate jumps up easily, and now I am having blood pressure spikes that I never had before. I have seen that Omeprazole (similar drug) has caused similar problems in others, and even my doctor told me that the same class of drugs can cause similar problems. My GP is very suspicious, because all of this began after I took the drug. Even though I had slightly elevated Dr's office BP, it was never at current levels. And I cant sleep at night nearly as well, and that DEFINITELY started just after taking the meds. Anyone else experience this?? My Gastro Doctor is skeptical, but I think my GP DR thinks something is not right here and she suspects the medicine...

I am 31, been taking this stuff for about 5 years now. I am always tired, sometimes dizzy spells hit me out of nowhere. I wake up at night with my heart racing and/or pounding. If I get up out of bed suddenly, I swear my heart is going to beat out of my chest. I have had bouts with PVC or my heart skipping beats and such. The least little thing I do I feel like I've ran a marathon, out of breath, heart racing and pounding. A few months after starting, I developed horrible acid reflux, so of course had to start taking Nexium. My hands sometimes slightly swell and get red and I also get the hot flashes like my bp suddenly spikes on me, but i'll take it and it'll be normal. Im going to the doctor and get off this medicine. I also always feel weird, or like i'm just not all here. I feel like an idoit its taken me this long to figure it all out. I feel like i've lost 5 years of my life to feeling horrible.