Toprol symptoms and conditions

Hello everyone. I am a 40 year old female and have been on Toprol XL 50 mg. for about 6 years now. In the beginning I was taking Toprol, then because my prescription plan wanted to switch I am on Metoprolol. I was prescribed this after a stress test because my heart rate did not go down as quickly as the cardiologist wanted it. If only I knew what I did now, I would never have started it. HELLO!! I weighed 200 lbs. at the time and was a couch potato. What did he expect? Of course my heart rate wasn't going to go down being so out of shape. I am so angry that I was prescribed this drug for such a stupid reason. I am also on meds to lower my blood sugar and high blood pressure. I know that all of my problems are due to my weight and so I've made a decision to seriously change my diet so I can get off of all of this crap. I currently weigh 217 lbs. But as you all know, being on Toprol, it's so hard to lose weight. I want off of this crap as soon as possible. Can any one of you guys who has gotten themselves off of this medication please send me some information as to how you got off of Toprol XL? My doctor is a real moron who works solely for pharmaceutical companies so I refuse to go to him. I will be changing doctors soon.

I was reading your post and had to reply to it!! I have been on toprol xl for about 10 years or a lil longer! Started out at 100mg a day now take 200 mg a day. Am a 37 year old female,feeling like a 90 year old female! For the past 3 years or so experiencing numbness started in my toes, now my left foot to right below my knee is completely numb,right foot and leg getting that way!My hands stay real tingly also! When they are not numb they hurt me so bad. I just couldn't believe your post when I read it! Been to neuro telling me I have severe nerve damage in arms legs and feet? I am like from what? Had all kinds of tests and MRI, nothing.... Thank you for your post,printing it out and taking it to my doc! Maybe we have finally got a diagnosis!!! Sounds like it is the meds to me,Not to mention I am also on 3 other bp meds! Just scared me saying I might have M.S. More like toprol xl huh? How is your numbness now? Was wondering if u experience pain w/ the numbness? Thanx T.

My doctor has upped me from 50 mg to 75 mg Toprol and i swear I am getting fatter by the day. Up until i was 55 i weighed 125 lbs now 5 years later i am 138 and cannot for the life of me shift it even 1 pound. Not only do i eat 6 to 9 fruits and vegetables a day, fish 4 times a week and chicken, no sugar in anything and do the 10,000 steps a day or treadmill. I probably eat and drink less and exercise more than i ever did and have never been so fat. Just out of interest I plugged in Toprol and found this site. I am going to go back to my doctor and ask her to change my medication.

I have been on toprol for sometime now, and what I have found is, I have no sex drive at all which is causing problems in my marriage. I am always tired, can't remember anything short term that is and my shoulders are always hurting as if I have been lifting weights. I am also noticing bruises if any kind of pressure is applied to my skin which is weird. I also get swollen ankles and lots of hair loss. My vision is giving me lots of problems. I now wear glasses that are so thick you would think I borrowed them from the bottom of a Pepsi bottle. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have expressed most of my symptoms to my doctor, but my cries have gone unheard. I am afraid to stop taking the medication in fear of having a heat attack.. I have taken my daughter through a specialized school until she was able to manage herself but today I cannot remember how to do math or just simply write and essay which I think is weird. I am also having a hard time with spelling and reading long passages due to my lack of energy and concentration. Does anyone have advice that is helpful?

Does anyone here ever had any tingling issues? I had total thyroidectomy in Feb. 2009. Felt good the first month or two and have gone down from there! Some days are good, some are bad. Never know from day to day how Im going to feel! I started out for about a month and a 1/2 on 125 levothyroxin.....then my doc lowered it to 100.......as of July 14th, Im now taking .88. The tingling Im getting is all over my body, different places, here and there. Ive had some heart rate issues for a couple of months now too and finally had my regular doc send to me see a heart doctor.
Thought maybe the tingling could be from low calcium.....it was normal, CBC was normal, ECHO was normal.....waiting on the holter test results right now. The heart doc gave me a prescription for Toprol. I told him I wasn't going to take it cuz sometimes my heart feels like its barely beating and Im afraid it will make it worse. Im glad I didn't get it! Ive read of too many side effects.
Palpitations, kinda fast heart beat with pounding.....sometimes it feels likes its barely beating! Most of this occurs when first laying down......every now and then while sitting, etc. I do not exercise.....and should but just don't find the time. I switched jobs around the time I found out I had several nodes on each side of my thyroid. I was getting tired a lot and just thought i worked too much. I went from a physical job to a sit down, 12 hour, graveyard shift. Since the surgery, Ive felt it more. Im tired of feeling like crap all the time......I was already going thru some perimenopause stuff before all of this! Before I ever found out about my thyroid, I did have real light pounding of heart when laying down and tingling every blue moon, but very mild as well.
Now with no thyroid.......and medicines with all the side effects......IM GOING NUTS!!! Right now the moodiness and tingling are whats bothering me the most. Some days Im really tired, others Im ok. My body gets hot off and on, no fever. The past 3 days my calves, feet, and ankles have started to swell........never before! Plus I get some throbs and pains in my legs and arms and under my arms here and there. I probably need a new doc and I change of medicine......but Im afraid.
For one, Ive decided to go back to a physical job........and hopefully it wont screw with my heart rate even more. Ive read up on tingling........Im guessing maybe its from all the damn stress since my calcium was normal. Does anyone here have any suggestions?????

Well, let's see now.................
I am a 48 year old female who has always been healthy.
4 months ago I went to the clinic for stomach pain that was gnawing at me. That's when my nightmare started. I was told to go straight to the local hospitals ER room because my Blood Pressure was 238/127
I was kept for 2 days in the cardiac unit. Tests were run and they all came out perfectly fine. I was then put on 50 mg toporol along with 20 mg Lisinopril. I was sent home and couldn't hardly function. Nauseous and dizzy, I was hanging onto walls just to go to the bathroom. Doctor switched me to Diovan instead of the lisinopril but insurance would not cover it. So once again I was switched to Avapro taken along with toporol.
By the second day on Avapro I was itching extremely and my skin was on fire. I called the Doctor once again and he said to Quit the Avapro and just take the Toporol alone. Well, within 4 days I ended back up in the emergency room with an elevated bp of 204/107. Once again, I was kept overnight and put on Labetelol (an alpha and Beta Blocker).
I did quite well on this med for a month and then the bp levels started to rise once again. I called the doctor this evening and was told to take 20 mg of the Lisinopril I had in the medicine cabinet along with the Labetelol.
It's been two hours and I'm starting to itch from the Lisinopril now....sigh.
Thank God I go to the clinic in the morning!!
I am really getting anxiety problems from dealing with these meds!!
Hopefully I can get everything straightened out. I am willing to hang in there until I can find something that works. It is obvious to me that I need HBP medication. I just wish They could find the right ones for me without having to go through all this . To all of you that have high BP, Hang in there. If one med doesn't work, keep trying!!
God Bless All Of You!!!!

I take 25mg of Toprol XL for mitral valve prolapse. The only thing is I feel tired like I could fall asleep all the time. Is this common with this medicine on such a small dose. My doctor said this small dose shouldn't bother me. Anyone else take this dose and feel tired?

This drug should be taken off the market. My Dr. warned me of a cough when he gave it to me but did not tell me that you would literally drown in secretions from the drainage in your throat. I have been on it 2 weeks and my quality of life has diminished considerably. During the day its as if a little man with a squirt bottle of acid is spraying my throat. At night the same thing but lying down produces uncontrollable drainage. I have to keep a spit cup by my bed and hardly get any sleep. Have tried allergy medications to no avail. I threw it in the garbage today. I would rather monitor my BP 30 times a day than live thru this.

My question is if you have been on this drug and your Dr. took you off, what did he use in its place? Would Beta Blockers be better? Who has experienced this and is now free of it? What is the alternative drug? I called my Dr.'s office today and they have Benicar waiting for me in the AM...anyone know about that one? I am desperate!

I started off taking Tenormin 50 mg 1 x a day and Lanoxin 25 mg 1 x a day about 21 years ago. I continued to have constant palps and skipped beats even though I was on these meds. I wound up developing vertigo after about 5 years that got so bad I had it daily. I ended up with severe sinus problems and was given a cortisone packet of pills (the kind that decrease each day you take them) to take. The vertigo left for 6 months, coming back again with a vengeance. I begged the docs to put me back on cortisone pills again, once more helping to stop the vertigo. However, at the same time I also stopped the Lanoxin. ??? I totally believe that Lanoxin was part of the problem causing the vertigo. I now only have it from time to time, maybe only a few times a year. I still blame the Toprol that I now take for the left-over vertigo. I was taken off of the Tenormin after about 10 years of taking it and put on the Toprol at that time and have been on the Toprol xl for the last 11 years. The docs said that I needed to be on Toprol XL, as it was an extended release and would help me much more around the clock. I did not notice much difference throughout the switch, but looking back I do believe that a lot of the things that I have been dealing with through the years are side-effects of the medicines. I have had irritable bowel syndrome, told I have fybromyalgia, then told I did not have fybromyalgia, hip and back pain, skin problems on one of my hands that started with the Toprol, headaches, tiredness, horrible weight-gain (without overeating!! Honestly.), I have averaged 5 lbs. a year and the docs never even listen to me when I voice my concerns, I have been diagnosed with anxiety, joints ache, ankels, feet, face and hands swell, stomach bloats something terrible, acid reflux, hiatial hernia, and I had a tumor removed that could have been a problem off my rectum (who knows what caused it), I have had CTs and MRIs of my head, twice, for the vertigo and what I was told was probably psuedo-tumor cerbri (because of months of severe headaches), told by my eye doctor that he wonders if I have beginning MS, everything came back fine and things seem to resolve and go into something else. I have been passed from my general physician, to a cardiologist, to a ENT, and a neurologist. No one can ever find anything physically wrong, but they did conclude that I definitely had benign positional vertigo. LOL, that means they could not tell me why I had it. I put a stop to testing when they wanted to do the spinal taps.

Now I am experiencing tightness around my lower rib-cage and feel as though I am sucking for breath, I have a terrible time falling asleep at night, I wake up gasping and swearing that I am dying. My rib-cage is numb around my right side, not so much the left side when I lay down to go to sleep at night. After a few bouts of this I finally fall asleep and sleep all night most times. My blood pressure is now on the rise 150/99 at the highest. I have been working out lately with a few positive effects, more energy, more endurance, less aches and pains, muscles are starting to tone up, however, no weight loss. I thought my bp was starting to lower, but found out it was actually up. I went to my family doc and she listened to me really good, realized at last that I was not shedding the weight despite the efforts I was making. She cut my toprol to 25 mg 1 x a day and put me on lisinopril, I did not tolerate the lisinopril so she switched me to dyazide, lowest dose 1 x a day. I have great positives ...no more swelling, weight loss, lower bp, HOWEVER, I am now having jitters, anxiety (somewhat), no appetite at all, a few muscle spasms in my arms and legs, nothing painful or severe, dizziness, slight headache that comes and goes especially through my eyes. I am also experiencing coughing, and raspiness...but I am also coming out of a bout of bronchitis, which got really bad with the lisinopril. I believe it is partly due to the meds.

I called my doc today to tell her about the twitching and buzzing feeling and to ask about the dyazide. My feelings are that I am experiencing a lot of different things, first the bronchitis, and all the meds I was taking for that...albuterol, musinex, tylenol w/codeine, and biaxin, then the decrease of my toprol xl, the bad effects of lisinopril (coughing and raspiness), and now starting the new drug dyazide (generic form). I really want this to all settle down and work out for the best, but it is getting to me now (after 2 weeks). Last Saturday I would up in the ER with shooting pains through my chest that left me very pale and lightheaded when it happened as well as very tight throug my chest and sucking for air. The ER did chest xray, chest CT w/contrast, bloodtests, urine test, bp's sitting, standing and lying down (it is highest while sitting), everything came back good. No heart attacks, no blood clots, no bronchitis anymore, nothing. Blood work was good, urine was good. I am beginning to think that perhaps my body is reacting to cutting the Toprol xl in half. Sort of a withdrawal. There is really nothing else it can be and I really don't think that the dyazide is that bad of a drug and probably not causing all of my problems now, maybe just a part. Which are the tingling, dizziness, anxiety, twitching, and coughing. I have only had 3 of the dyazide medication. But have read that withdrawal symptoms of Toprol can cause these problems for a while. I am also thinking that the shooting chest pains last week were also withdrawal of the Toprol as it had been 1 week at that point that it had been cut in half.

Any opinions, if anyone can make heads or tails of anything that I have wrote. Sorry for the length and if it is confusing.

i started taking toprol about 2 years ago. my doctor started to notice a trace of blood and a small amount of protein in my urine. after a few more urine test over the span of 2 years, the traces of blood would come and go, but the protein levels were rising. eventually i was sent to a kidney specialist. he immediately took me off the toprol. he believes that the toprol may have damaged a filter that goes to both kidneys.he also said that if proteins are getting through the filter there other stuff is getting through too. , which can cause problems in the future.i have an appointment to see him again in 2 months. hopefully not being on this drug anymore, there will be a chance that this filter will heal. if not we are talking biopsies, and kidney drugs. my entire life the only medical problem was my blood pressure, now because of doctors and drugs i may be the sickest i've ever been. somebody said thts why doctors call it a practice, there only practicing

I've been weaning off Toprol for about a week and it's been terrible. I'm shaky, feel hungry all the time, can't concentrate and want to jump out of my skin. Is this normal? How long will it last??

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.

I have had a cough for 4 mos.nothing shows in a breathing test,cat scan & blood work.I have no mucas coming up .Occasionally ,small
amounts of water like substances which is thick comes up.I take avapro 300mg & Toprol xl , could either one of these meds be the cause of my problem? I really do need an answer I am exhausted.
I have coughed so much that my head hurts as well as my throat when have the coughing episodes.

I have been on Toprol since Dec. 2005, I take 400mg a day, 2 pills 100mg each in the morning and at night, due to heart problems. I have palpitations constantly, extremely cold all the time even when my house is 80 degrees, fatigue, cant sleep. When I tell my doctors all they due is prescribe more medication that doesn't help or solve the problem just add more side effects to it.

I'm 48, wm, very healthy>
Thirty five days ago, I went to a doctor
for anxiety. I told him I felt as though I had
an over-active adrenal gland, and too much
adrenaline was surging through my body
causing me to be really nervous, especially
in public places.
I said I took Inderal 20 years ago for two days, and it made me feel weird.
He said the new generation Beta Blockers
are far better, and that most golfers take them so they won't shake during an important putt.
He said he'd put me on the lowest dosage (25mg/day) and said the side effects were minimal. (HA!)
After one week, all went pretty well, except I noticed my previously strong sex drive had diminished. I used to masturbate 3 times per day, and then it was maybe once per week.
I thought the trade off to be calm vs. constant erections due to the adrenaline levels would be fine.
Then the nightmares...
I was in Africa and being shot by Ninja warriors with their AK 47's and feeling the bullets tear into my liver, and abdomen- or falling off cliffs to my impending death, only to wake up at 1am and not being able to go back to sleep for hours.
Then, at the two week mark, I noticed also
I couldn't recall things as quickly as I used to.
At the three week mark, it was becoming clear that the Toprol was making me slow, tired, flacid, fuzzy in my thinking, and giving me constant nightly dreams that were
terrifying.
Finally, I drove to LA from SF, and a song came on the radio. I knew who it was, but just couldn't grasp in my mind who it really was! (Stevie Wonder)
I started to feel really bizarre, kinda like LSD, or mushrooms, and was worried I was going to go insane!
I knew it was the Toprol, but didn't know if I stopped taking it if I would recover.
I just wanted to be like I was before I started this taking this truly awful compound!
Three days ago I stopped (cold turkey) and
flushed my body out with water, and a lot of soup.
Only this morning- after three days without
taking those terrible pills do I feel normal again. I'm not 100% yet, but I know I will be soon.
The lesson here, is I should have read more about this drug before taking it.
I have never taken pharmaceutical drugs before- not even aspirin. This is one more reason to stay clear from quack doctors
who think taking heart drugs/BP drugs are an easy cure for anxiety.
I really feel sorry for all those people out there taking dangerous medications like Toprol.
This drug should have never been approved by the FDA, and the only reason anyone should take this drug, is to understand how it feels to lose your mind, have your sex drive removed, and have dreams every night where all you do is end up dead!
TOPROL should be schedule I, and be banned- or only used by our military on known terrorists...

I was changed from Toprol 50 XL to metoprolol succ 50 mg XR, did not associate problems with the change. Leg pains have started, & got worse, feet are cramping, fatigue so bad I now use handrail to climb steps . Have a shortened sleep period, often awake w/sweats. The fatigue is the worse thing, last year I could go, and enjoy, paintball w/my age-15 son, now I doubt I could last an hour at this. Vision blurs late in day.
Am headed to cardiologist today, will re-post results soon.

This sucks!

I have been taking 12.5 mg Metoprolol for my palpitation and occasional racing heart. Few days ago I got a rapid heart rate again and I increased the dose to 25 my as original prescribed. Now I have chills, cold hand and feet, insomnia, shortness of breath, chest pain, etc. I have cut back to 12.5 mg. The problem is that even with 25 mg my heart races once in a while but I can't tolerate increasing this drug. I want to wean off of it. What is the best way to stop this drug?

I was prescribed Toprol for an irregular heart rhythm (eventually diagnosed as premature ventricular contractions) that developed suddenly when I was 54, despite an active lifestyle, low-normal weight (110), low stress levels, and low blood pressure (100/60). I felt as though my heart was skipping beats, and the "catch-up" beat was so strong my entire chest seemed to vibrate. The Toprol stopped 98 percent of the PACs virtually immediately. But within days I noticed occasional numbness in my legs, and my hands and feet turn icy cold for no obvious reason. I'm also quite tired till late afternoon (I take the Toprol around 10 p.m.), and I just feel "blah." No suicidal, but generally unmotivated. I am often sleepy--at least until around 1 or 2 p.m, when the Toprol starts to wear off. I'm not ready to stop taking it yet--though these reports are sobering--because the PACs made a normal life impossible. But I'm going to be cautious, and if other side effects appear, look for other options.

I have been on Toprol 25mg XL for over three years now and I personally think it's a great drug. My doctor prescribed it to reduce my heart work load after I had a quadruple heart bypass at 47yrs old - not over weight. Initially, I felt tired, lacked motivation to do anything, dizziness when I abruptly stand up - still do, weird dreams, lack of sex drive including less rigid erection and less intense ejaculation, depression and also gained over fifteen pounds. Anyway, things have improved since, I started working out every day and quickly lost the excess weight. All the side effects have gone except for the occasional dizziness and the sex part. I can feel my heart go out of wack if I don't take the med. Stay away from the generic that you have to take twice a day - not as effective.

I have been on 50 mg. of Toprol xl for 5 years I find it so hard to breathe. Like I have to make myself breathe or I'll just stop breathing. I can't sleep because my breathing gets worse even with my head elevated. I'm getting terrific migraines, ready to tear my head off. I'm short of breath, can't hardly do anything and I feel I ran ten miles.. I have heart failure and low blood pressure. He's giving me this for now and then palpitations. I think this pill is causing all my troubles including anxiety. HELP!!

I am a 21 year old female. I have been on 25mg Toprol (twice a day) for over a year now. I was having intense heart palpitations from scary panic attacks... this drug basically cured my heart irregularity. When I first started taking Toprol I experienced some muscle cramps but that lasted less than a week. Overall I have NOT experienced ANY negative side effects from this drug. It is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I was so scared before due to having at least 5 ‘episodes’ a day with my heart… now I may only have 2 – 3 per week. Such a wonderful improvement! It has really changed my life for the better.

I wrote on my side affects on sept. 7th on this site. I have been off topral xl for about 2 months, and my heart beats normal now, my legs are not swollen, no headaches, long story short, most my symptoms gone. I can think so much clearer. My blood pressure now goes from 160/90 to 117/84 which last weekend I did try Diovan hct, a new blood pressure med. and Sat. and Sun. were a nightmare. I do know how dangerous it is to have high bp. for my brother-in-law passed a year ago nov. 2nd and my aunt Bev 3 years ago. But I am happy with my decision to continue the Peptace and Celery seed extract and monitor my bp. closely. My son went to Doctor for his bp. and Doctor said that they get some kind of a kick back from meds. like topral so maybe thats why they push it along with other meds. True or not, I still can't figure out why they kept me on it when I asked them to take me off cause I felt so bad. It sure did take a toll on my whole body. Good luck to ya all and listen and feel what your body is telling you. I know whats good for one is not good for all.

Okay folks, I've been taking metoprolol for nearly two months and It sucks big time. Came to this site because of feeling dizzy and I find that's a big problem. I keep feeling dizzier, more tired and I'm a zippy old gal, not overweight, none of that, but dang I just feel like crap and tend to drink more coffee and stuff just to keep zipping. I will take a half dose tonight and call the doc in the morning. Also have gastric problems. Heck, I would rather die of heart attack or brain aneurysm (sp, I know) than live life dizzy.

Graves Disease patient going in remission.
I have experienced all the same symptoms as every one else
leg cramps, exhaustion, loss of sex drive, anxiety/panic attacks,weight gain, hair loss, horrible terrible rash on feet and palms of hands I could go on.
My concern is my doctor taking me off PTU and has not mentioned the Toprol. I understand that stopping increases your risk of a heart attack so what's next?

Back in July I was experiencing rapid heart beats and shortness of breath. I'm a 43 white female with a high stress job. I went to the doctor expecting him to prescribe a sedative. He hooked me up to an EKG which showed I had a left bundle branch block. He then ordered blood work, chest x-rays, an ultra sound, and a nuclear stress test. All test came back fine, but my stress test showed a heart attack, which apparently is common with the left bundle block. I then wore a 24 hour Holter moniter which indicated tachycardia. That's when the doctor prescribed 50 mg Metoprolol. My BP and heart rate are now almost normal and the shortness of breath has gone away. I still experience a mild heaviness in my chest, but that is only when I allow my self to be stressed. I have gained over 5 pounds in less than 2 months and my dreams are more vivid than usual. One side effect that was listed on my drug info sheet that I haven't read about on this site described a cough, which I have had for over a month. I mentioned the cough to my doctor and he said it was prob post nasal drip so he prescribed 180 mg Fexofenadine and told me to cut the Metoprolol in half so I would be taking 25 mg. The Fexofenadine has helped with sneezing that I have always experienced, but the cough is still there. The cough is not always severe, but it has interrupted my sleep twice and my job once. The last bad coughing episode lasted 90 mins during the night. Has anyone else experienced the coughing side effect of Metoprolol?