Toprol-XL and anxiety

I had my thyroid out due to cancer on 1/22/08. then because of having to take a high amt of levoxyl (synthetic thyroid hormone) I was put on metoprolol for the palpitations. I recently had more surgery to take out cancerous lymph nodes in neck and my dose of metoprolol was increased from 25 to 50 mgs. I was only on 50 mgs for about 4 weeks when I developed depression, insomnia, swollen belly, acid reflux, swollen legs and anxiety. My mind started to go off on me and I had convinced myself that the cancer was in my brain and that's why I felt like I was dying. I was told by my doc that this med does not usually cause depression. I went over the facts and realized I felt pretty good until I started taking this drug. Even on the 25 mgs my legs which are really skinny, started to look like lumpy cottage cheese but I figured it was due to the thyroid removal. I didn't take it at all today because I just want to be rid of it. I know I need to wean off but how long do I have to?

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!!

Well.....ain't this drug wonderful!! Glad I came here first. I am currently on Diovan 80mg. basically doing very well on it, but I started to loose some hair, and do have some sinus issues, so talked w/Doctor he gave me a prescript. for Toprol XL yesterday, got it filled (my proper prescription for 3mos. supply mail in is written for the Brand Name) the prescrip. I filled yesterday locally (he gave me 2mos to fill locally before sending in my mail in prescrip.) My God! When I read the patient info, scared the living crap out of me! See if I TAKE that medication - NOT! I will stick with the devil I know, Diovan and hope that the hair loss thing will resolve itself. I suffer from anxiety, so can push my BP up at will, and it's been up since I started stressing on the hair loss - I have made up my mind to just try and chill about it, but Diovan appears to be one of the least "evil" of the BP meds I'v taken so far. Lisinopril was a nightmare, Diltiazem wasn't too bad, but thought my teeth were going to fall out! I swear, the anxiety about these meds. does nothing to help ones BP but I definitely am not taking this poison, probably would make me stress worrying, I'd give myself a stroke. I am making a copy of the patient info. and sending it to my Dr. (whom I love by the way) and ask him "what the hell were you thinking Doctor?" Good luck everyone

I noticed that everyone has written here the side effects of the Toprol XL but no one has said that they have had success on getting off the drug. I'm 39 years old and I have had some side effects from it too. I'm on Toprol XL 50 mg once a day and everyday my neck gets hot like it's on fire,my face gets flush, my feet sweat and my hands get ice cold. I keep my faith in the Lord that he will help me find a way to get off this poisoning medicine. My blood pressure was 164/110 and I ended up in the hospital back in August of 2008 and after running all the test they chalked it up to anxiety. My belief is that it's the medicine. I'm going to try to find a Doctor who is a Homeopathic and see what he says and I will let you know what I find out.

Chest Pain (external), shallow breath, shortness of breath, anxiety, mild depression, lethargy.

I have just started taking Toprol XL 50 MG because of a scary Atrial Fibrillation episode last week.

When I was 30 my Doctor opter to put me on Norvasc to "control" my BP. My BP was 130/73. A couple of years later my new doctor changed me to Lotrel 5/10. My BP stayed in the same range despite me exercising less and gaining weight, and drinking more. Basically, I did all the wrong things. Despite that I never had any side effects from either Norvasc or Lotrel. Only other thing to note is I do have sleep apnea, untreated as of yet.

Well, last week as I stated, I had an episode and went to the ER. They pushed Lopressor and eventually Toprol to get my A-Fib back to level. I was completely freaked out of course. I went to my doctor the next day and he prescribed Toprol XL 50 MG at bedtime, and to stop the Lotrel.

I have been taking this drug now for 4 days. Here is my experience...

I take the pill with dinner at around 9 pm. I then go to bed soon after. While I lie in bed, I feel like I need to consciously breath or I will stop breathing. If I get up this feeling goes away. My breaths are very shallow. I have sleep apnea, so I can visualize myself falling asleep and not breathing. I do have some anxiety surrounding this, but I would not say it is out of ordinary. Right now it is 3:33 am and I cannot sleep due to this issue. Every time I start to fall asleep I jolt back awake because I feel like I am not breathing.

In the past three mornings, I wake up and feel anxious and downright depressed. I feel tired and wrung out. This appears to last until approximately 1 pm and then things start looking up. Then at 9 pm the whole cycle starts again.

My mother and father take this medication. My father takes 2 * 100MG and he does not complain of side effects. My mother takes 2 * 50 MG and she has similar side effects as what I have described.

I was given toprol after a bad bloody nose. I have always had to deal with some depression but this drug made me want to die. Sadness, isolation, hopeless, uncontrollable anxiety, fear of being alone, non stop tears, stomach ache, the list goes on and on. Yet no one warned me of any of it. It was so scary I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.

I was on it for 6 months and the Dr. decided to change my medications. Toprol wasn't keeping my blood pressure down. I had bad chest pains and severe sweating so after 2 weeks he put me back on the Toprol. Bad mistake every time I took the Toprol My heart felt like it was skipping a beat and I would black out. Now I can't take it either. I'm on lisinopril now. Which is fine, it's keeping my blood pressure down. But still felt like my heart is skipping beats, ended up in the E.R.
they did pick up the skipped beats on an ecg and decided it was prob because the toprol is still in my system. My heart feels like it is racing all the time, and I'm having anxiety and shaking. I wish this stuff would get out of my system. good luck to everyone.
sabrina

I am 36 and take 100 mg of generic Toprol a day. I was put on it due to many ( I mean 30 to 40) palps a day. I had been on Atenolol for about 5 years and the doctors told me it had simply quit working. I had an echo and a 24 hour holtor monitor and both came back negative, yet I felt like I was dying daily. My palps have diminished with the medicine, with a change in diet and running 5 or 6 days a week for about 3 miles. Caffeine and alcholol have almost been excluded. I do have cold hands and feet and have had much trouble losing weight. Stomach cramps and an upper right side cramps have been an issue. After reading your posts I think we need to get off this stuff

I have been on generic Toprol since 2005 to control my high blood pressure. I have many of the symptoms you all experience, tiredness, occasional dizziness, some weight gain. However, the most debilitating side effect I am suffering is neck flushing and anxiety attacks, my chest and neck turn bright red practically whenever people talk to me and I've never had this problem prior to taking this drug, I am shy but not that shy. Now I feel like I have to wear turtlenecks all the time or people will ask me what is wrong with you, are you allergic, etc... I can't even have a regular conversation with my co-workers without my neck turning red and breathing hard. It's ridiculous and I want to know if anyone else has this problem or if I'm just mental.

Thanks.

Hi all! I have recently started to have a very strange feeling and thought I would post here to see if anyone else can elaborate on it.

I switched from private healthcare to the VA system in March 2008 and the MD at the VA immediately switched me from Toprol XL 100mg per day to Norvasc ( Amlodipine Besylate) 5mg, a generic version and from Zetia 10mg to Zocor. This is mainly due to the fact that the VA does not have the Toprol XL or the Zetia in their pharmacy.

I am a very active person, work out 3 times per week, play tournament level racquetball and generally stay very active. I was feeling fine on this medication for almost 3 years with the only side effect being a little light-headed feeling with hard physical activity. Approximately 2-3 weeks after changing meds I started to get this lumpy feeling in my chest and then it started to progress into an air hunger feeling which felt like my breath was being taken away for a split second. I called the MD at the VA and requested to go back on metoprolol tartrate, which is what the VA has in place of the metoprolol succinate (Toprol XL). The air gasp feeling has only gotten worse and with any excertion I become tired now and start to get the gaspy feeling. Very scary. When it started to get real bad one evening I called 911 and went to the emergency room. Tests came back "ridiculously normal" the ER MD stated. Went back to the VA and the same MD, who doesn't listen, says I am under stress and prescribed me Paxil. I am completely lost as to what to do. I am going in to have another EKG and a holter monitor put on as well as a stress test.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I am desperate to get this resolved as fast as I can. Feel terrible lately and the MD doesn't seem to be listening to me.

Help!

50 yr old female ( gasps @ 5-0 still)

I've been on ToprolXL for some time now. I started with Tenormin and felt FINE! The doctor then decided it was not the 'right medicine' for me and changed me to a 'new and better medication' names TOPROL XL, He started me on 50mg a day. I had experienced rapid heart beat of at least 150 bpm up to 200! My heart had to be stopped in the ER to get it back to being a normal rhythm. At the time I was 39 yrs old :( SCARY! I had every test imagined. Heart tests, lung and leg scans. You name it, I had it done to me ( thankfully, to make sure it was nothing serious). Although I do consider a heart beating that high to be serious! I already have a anxiety disorder, I noticed that my panic attacks are worse now more than ever! I am very very lethargic. Just thinking about doing ANYTHING makes me tired. I even getting tired when I talk too much! My mouth is always excessively dry. I put on weight and even paid for a diet that consisted of 2 'shakes' and one meal per day. Followed it to the "T"! and nothing ?! I've recently read that ToprolXL can lead to all kinds of diseases. One of them being Lou Gehrig's (ASL) :( I am SO very upset that medication is prescribed supposedly to make a person feel better AND I don't think I've physically felt this depleted and depressed in years! I want medical answers and I need support and words of encouragement from everyone that has been on this drug , most especially those weaned off ot it and are on a better drug. Most of the people I notice taking TOPROL XL are taking it fro HBP or symptoms other then the one's I have. I am SO confused now :(

I am 57 years old, and never had HBP, I went to the cardiologist and told me I have 140/80 and prescribed Toprol XL 25mg. I bought the generic ones. Today is my second week and I did not know that my headaches (never had headaches before), electric chocks ringing ears , breathing problems, were a side effect of this pill until reading all these experiences of so many people. I am going to cut half the dosis and lower it, so I get out of this medicine. The doctor made an EKG and gave me Toprol because my left atrial was big due to untreated HBP. Is there any natural product, better than this killing medicine, please advice.

I thought I had already posted, but it isn't showing up. I am a 61 yr. old female who suddenly developed high bp in Dec. (sometimes 195/90) and had never had high bp. They tried a couple of different meds before lopressor (toprol?) and Norvasc worked. My bp is normal for me now, but after about 2 weeks I started getting numbness, tingling, a cold clamminess in one spot on my left leg. The numbness started gradually, and would change from a hand to a foot, but would go away. Eventually, it started being basically all over every day. I took a Xanax one day just because it was driving me crazy,and the numbness went away, so my doctor felt it had to be anxiety or the Zanaax wouldn't help. I had read that this could be a side effect of this med, so I talked to my doctor about it and he said to go off of it and see. He said it should be out of my system in about 3 days. Three days did not make a difference, so I thought it was anxiety. I started taking 1/2 Xanax in the morning and 1/2 at noon, and by noon the numbness and tingling would be starting again.

Now, I think it is the meds. I am trying to find an herbal alternative, but there are so many listed that I don't know which would really work and I can't find a doctor in this area that specializes in herbs. The Xanax is starting not to work as well as it did. Today, I took 1/2 of the bp medicine and felt better than in a long time, but it could be in my imagination.

I'm 35 year old woman and am on Toprol XL 50mg (generic version) once a day at night for palpitations. I am also on LisinoprilHCTZ 20/25mg for hypertension which was controlled with that and now Toprol. After two weeks was lightheaded to the point where I couldn't function at times, heart rate would be in the 90-110 range which is high for me and ringing in my ears usually during these times. At the bad times my left shoulder and hand would go numb. Finally the doctor is cutting me to 25mg but I'm wondering if that would really do anything and I have to get off of it all together. My heart is healthy but do have palpitations, any suggestions?

Hello All!!!

I have posted here a few times about my Toprol XL experiences - yuck the worse being shortness of breath and sever breathing problems, anxiety, depression, and heart palps...

My Dr. has tried several other drugs to control by HBP (Diovan, etc.) - all with too many side effects. So for now I am on a low dose of Toprol XL while we continue our search. I cannot STAND IT - the longer I am back on it the worse my breathing becomes - and it is not really helping the HBP.

My question is - has anyone tried a natural supplement with good effect - like Hyperexol, etc.??? I would really prefer to try something natural rather than ANOTHER prescription with side effects.

Thank you!!!

I took Toprol for almost 2 years then in Aug generic came out Metoprolol and I switched over. I was taking 25mg. After a few weeks, I noticed numbness in my index finger and middle finger. Then it happened in other hand. Doc said I had tendinitis in one hand and slept wrong on the other...I was also depressed and having panic attacks. From the onset of taking Toprol my sleep was disturbed,but thought it was age related. Once I went on Metoprolol insomnia set in. Then my feet went cold and numb and my arms were so heavy and tingly and my joints hurt. My right shin hurt to touch as well. Vision was cloudy and had trouble adjusting to light changes. Finally it dawned on my that the changes occurred about the time I started the generic. I went back to doc and he pretty much told me I was crazy, prescribed Xanax and a session with a psychiatrist! He switched me back to Toprol and I felt no better then he switched me to
Atenolol with same result. By this time, my chest was on fire and I had extreme difficultly breathing. Called doc and he told me to stop cold turkey. I did and thought I was going to die one day. Throat closed up blood pressure soared. He stopped me on Nov 11 or 12th. I have been on nothing. Blood pressure is not leveled. When I first sit down it is like 140/93. If I wait a few minutes it goes down to 120/80 or a little lower. I was expecting to feel a lot better by this point in the game. I still have numbness in my pinky and ring finger and in my toes. If I take Advil it lessens to where it is not so bothersome. Anyone know how long this stuff takes to get out of your system? I am shopping for a new doc since mine know things I am a hypo. I am a 39 yr old female with no other health issues. Was originally put on for stress related palps.

45 y/o female, nurse, prescribed Toprol XL 50mg daily. Could not take drug at bedtime as suggested by MD. Was not able to sleep. After a few months experienced visual problems, joint and muscle pain, anxiety, gi upset, weight gain as well as sleeplessness and heavy sensation of chest along with shortness of breath. Complained to MD to no avail. Called cardiologist, he suggested brand use as opposed to generic. Apparently, generic drug does not provide continuous steady release. Also, he lowered dose to 25mg daily. Will report subsequent effects but hope to be weaned off the drug entirely. I appreciate all the information that has been posted on this site, especially the beta blocker info. Hope this helps somebody else!

Day six of weaning off the Toprol. Had been taking 50mg when I was told to change medications. I took 25 mg for 4 days and since have been taking 12.5 mg daily. Chest tightness is excruciating at times, shortness of breath off and on (more ON than off) - headache, and tons of anxiety, barely sleeping because chest tightness makes breathing difficult. And all this with taking 80 mg of Diovan to help keep the rebound effects down. This is such a HORRIBLE experience. I hate it. Wonder when I will start to feel better.......

An update to my recent postings - on Saturday 11/24/07 - I began the step down of Toprol and the transition to Diovan 80 mg -- it is DIFFICULT. My B/P at times has skyrocketed, I have gotten headaches, and intense chest pain. The finally straw was when my pulse went over 200 and woke me up @ 5:30am - my husband rushed me to the E.R. and the Dr. confirmed that it was side effects from coming off the Toprol -- he said that I should have been given a long term acting anti-anxiety medicine to help me "not feel the side effects" as much. They tested my heart, etc. and all tests came back great - so he prescribed me some Valium to help get me over the worse of the re-bound symptoms and said that I should start to feel some relief in a few days - but to keep on it because getting off this medication (Toprol) - is the best thing for getting my asthma back under control.

60 yr old/young female: I started generic toprol (metoprolol 50mg xr) yesterday (11/22/07). Took about 3:00 PM. The next morning around 6:00 AM, I had a hot flash that equated to one you would have if you had taken niacin. Body was burning and I was sweating. Looked in the mirror to see if I was flushed, because of the severity of the hot flash I thought my body would be totally red. It wasn't. I called my pharmacist to report this event. He researched and found no evidence of such. He did say that it did not rule out the possibility that it was caused by the Toprol. Asked me to keep him posted as his customers were the ones that helped him be able to report side effects to other. Well I found this site and low and behold I have read of the hot flashes and all of the other problems. I will not be taking this medication. I am not a pro medication person anyway and related that to my dr, but at some point you feel you have to have trust in someone. I don't trust medications. I know at some point in my life I will probably have to take something, but not Toprol. Sounds as though it will cause more problems than it will cure. Thanks so much for your input. It will prevent me from having to wean myself off this mess. Oh yeah, I was also feeling the depressed, anxiety mentioned. Not at a high level , but just knew I wasn't myself. That was after just one dose. I can't imagine how it would have progress. I feel very blessed.

I have been on toprol for two weeks. I was on atenolol before that for about10 months. Does anyone get head pressure from this stuff. I have constant head pressure. I also get depression and very dry mouth makes it hard to swallow.
I want to go off. I am only on 25 mg once a day. Doctors act like they don't want people off meds. I only went on cause I started with anxiety a year ago and makes my blood pressure wacky but not to high. Like 140/85 I use to always have low blood pressure. I got to get off cause it's causing me anxiety with the side affects.

I am a nurse of 20 years and was placed on Toprol XL for super ventricular tachycardia (SVT) over a year ago. I was place on 25 mg dose after a stress test, ekg, echocaridogram and 24 hour halter monitor. I was not feeling any better and I was having periods of weakness, profuse sweating and being clammy. The cardiologist had me wear a 30 day event monitor and it showed frequent PVCs and runs of SVT. So he increased the dose to 50 mg. I continued to have the weakness, tachycardia, PVCs, extreme weakness, poor concentration and extreme periods of sweating with becoming clammy and some chest pain. Oh and I started having severe left leg pain that I had not had since my back surgery, so I went back to my pain specialist for treatment. I became so depressed, thoughts of life not worth living, poor endurance, not able to sleep in bed due to severe leg pain and increasing bouts of tachycardia, irregular heart rate, weakness, and sweating this is while at rest or working the symptoms remained. I forgot to mention that my blood sugar was increasing during this time to the point of in danger of being a diabetic.

I decided to stop the Toprol XL after reading some of the side effects that are less common. I was able to sleep in bed for the first time in 6 months, no leg pain. I called my cardiologist and he told me my symptoms were not consistent with Toprol XL side effects or reaction and to double the dose of Toprol XL. I refused and changed cardiologist, one who listened to me.

The result is I stayed off Toprol XL, after 5 weeks it is getting out of my system. No more sweating spells, cold clammy spells, extreme weakness, I feel part of life again and ready to go back into the world not hide from it, my blood sugar is getting back to normal. I am getting my strength and endurance back but have to rest some still, oh and I am losing the 25 pounds that I gained while on Toprol.

I still have irregular heart rate and that is okay but I am on a new medication that really seems to work. Oh, and the spinal implant that I was to have has been cancelled because the leg pain is almost gone and I sleep in a bed not a chair.

well i'm not one to NOT TRUST my doctor... but he prescribed me toprol yesterday for hypertension HBP..30 yr old male/chef.. cant believe the comments on this site... couldn't be able to deal with one of these side effects never mind all of them...!!! i appreciate everyone honesty and hope weaning off wasn't an issue for you all. anxiety has never been a problem in my life.. nor weight gain.. deep breathes it is!!!!!!! peace out

I too am having many of the side effects listed on this site including chest pains, fatigue, shortness of breath, foggy head, dizziness, to name a few. I am wondering if anyone has had heartburn or an increase in heartburn while being on this drug. They have recently switched me from Toprol to the generic form, Metaprolol. More of these symptoms seem to have come on since switching to the generic. Any thoughts?

Update on my experience. I was changed from toprol,because of side effects, to a channel blocker, however, I did not tolerate the channel blocker. I had extreme fatigue and memory loss. Spent two days in bed and actually forgot to turn off my car when I returned home one day. My doctor took me off the channel blocker and wanted me to resume the toprol. I had been off the toprol for a week and a half so I ask to stay off until I can schedule my next appointment with him. He agreed as long as my papitations don't increase. They have not increased so I am hoping I can stay off this drug. Thinking of trying lexapro just to help my anxiety through this time.

I am 29 and i have been taking Toprol XL for 3 yrs. now and i was amazed when i seen what everybody had to say about this med. I had been on other meds for Anxiety, Panic Disorder. I was on Paxil CR and also Klonopin. I had gain 70 pds in 5 yrs and thought this is from the Paxil so i decided to come off of that and the Klonopin. Well, I'm still taking the Toprol XL and i am still haveing problems and it's just like alot of the same things i have read from other people on here. I am concerned about this med. And i hope everyone can find something that works great. If any one has any good luck with a different med please post it. I'm looking for a different way to deal with the rapid heart rate without all the nasty side effects of Toprol.

I am a 34-year old women who started 50 mg of Toprol-XL 4 days ago for a rash of panic attacks I experienced earlier this week, after having high blood pressure and occasional panic attacks in the last 3 months. Since then, I've had migranes for the past 2 days, bad allergies, stomach pain, loose bowel movements, slight difficulty breathing, frequent urination, and tiredness/lethargy during the day with trouble sleeping at night. I was already feeling strange my 2nd day on it and called my internal medicine doctor, who, of course, told me to stick with it. At this point, I'm ready for safer, natural alternatives. I'm will call the doctor tomorrow to tell him that my mind is made up and ask for instructions on how to wean off of it safely.

I was on toprol , however because of my side effects- fatigue, ringing in hears, foggy-thinking, general overall felt bad, - my doctor has taken me off and put me on dilta- a calcium channel blocker. Just changed 7 days ago so I am still adjusting to the dilta. I've had fatigue and general overall felt bad , some anxiety , not sure if from the change from toprol or just adjusting to the new drug. It's very depressing to keep having problems. Good luck to you all!!

I am a 38 year old female and was put on Toprol XL for anxiety/rapid heart beat/stress. I have experienced weight gain, hair loss/thinning, tiredness, walking up/down a flight of stairs takes all the energy I've got and I need to sit and catch my breath, memory loss, loss of sex drive, gas/bloating problems, lack of activity due to fatigue. After I began reading these comments I can't believe that all the symptoms I'm having is due to this medication. As I was reading everything was coming back to me and I kept saying to myself, "That's exactly how I feel!" Just like most of these people! I'm not alone! Thank God for these posts! I'm going to stop taking this medication, gradually of course. I'll have to deal w/my anxiety/stress in other ways.....Prayer!

I have only been on Toporal for about a month, 50mg/day. My B/P is now stable, but I am having intermittant chest pain that travels down my arm and into my jaw. I am a 50 yr old female in good shape. I can say that I feel some anxiety daily and that is not normal for me. I have not noticed a weight gain, yet my doctor called today to tell me my potassium levels are too high. Has anyone else experienced this from this drug?

I have been on Toprol 25 mg for almost a year for heart palpitations. I has worked for the palpitations, but the side effects have been a challenge. I have gained about 20 pounds, have the vivid nightmares, lack of energy, etc. One thing that I have noticed recently is the increased severity of allergies and difficulty breathing. Anyone else experiencing this?

I am a very healthy 71 year old lady with high blood pressure. I am taking lotensen and 100 mg. of toprol. I have all the terrible side affects. Tired, sluggish, no energy, head fullness, weight gain, but I sleep better. It hasn't helped to lower my blood pressure at all. It has helped the anxiety but the side affects drive me crazy. I will see a cardiologist in three days and hope that he will prescribe something that will lower my blood pressure. Good luck to all of you who take toprol. I understand that it relaxes the arteries and veins. It is a dangerous medication and it is dangerous to discontinue without the doctor's approval.

I have been on Toprol for 10 months now. I have never felt this awful in my life. (I have an appointment with a Cardiologist next month to get off of it.) My BP is currently 180/120 which is ridiculous. The anxiety is so awful that now I have to be medicated for that. I have also experienced incredible itching from the nerve endings in my skin and am medicated for that as well. I was wondering if anyone has experienced that side effect.

Haven't been taking this medication very long started March 1st or so with 50mg once a day. But felt didn't need it so took it kind of sporadically the first week, every other day, then I tried just half the second week 25mg. Then I had to go back to full 50mg this past week, so basically 50 to 25mg for three weeks or so now, and I feel AWFUL. Now that I have dropped back to the 25mg the side effects have lessened but the anxiety is unbearable! My arms and hands go cold and numb. When taking it at 50mg felt very sluggish, cloudy mind, doomed feeling. It just doesn't feel right. I am only 33 years old they did a stress test on me this past Friday and 2-D echocardiogram. Tomorrow they are going to do some blood tests and a get a holter monitor put on me for 48 hours. To see if I "need" to be on this med. I dont' think I do, if it truly was something I needed or helped my body, it would help it not bother more. I truly think I may have some other underlying reason for the high heart rate, my BP has always been normal except when I was hospitalized and then once they had me hydrated and my sugars back to normal (I'm hypoglycemic) my BP went normal I just had the tachycardia off and on. So that's why the doctor in the hospital said to begin the Toprol Xl b/c it's SO SAFE I GIVE IT TO PREGNANT WOMEN!! His words. I pray for those women. After just the one week straight of 50mg when I dropped to 25mg a couple days ago it felt AWFUL to do that as well, today is much better Thank God. But can you have such strong withdrawals after such short period of time? And if so, that is scary in and of itself.

Just started Troprol two weeks ago for anxiety and high blood pressure...Now my anxiety is more than ever, and trying to get the ringing in my ears to stop...Yes I was under stress when this happened (closing on house, lots of dental work being done, and work itself). Never had blood pressure problems before. I don't feel just like myself now. Just wondering if Tropol is the cause?

take 25 mg toprol xl for 3 weeks --side effects are chills,aching leg and feet,anxiety feel like in a fog and has not lowered my blood pressure--hate this drug going to stop taking this med.

I have been on this med for 8 yrs and trying to get off it. It is a horrible drug. i take it because i had a kidney transplant that messed up my blood preasure. I had all the syptoms of anxiety because this med and now taken lexpro to balance out the anxiety. im glad i came across the page cause i take so many meds for my transplant and on top of the blood preasure and now anxiety meds its taken a tole on my liver. so i will definitley talk to my doctor about getting me off the lexapro and trying a different blood preasure med. I also gained alot of weight but it might because of all the meds i take. i went from 170-263lb in 8 yrs

It's strange that I'm seeing racing heart rate as a side effect... I am on toporol xl 12.5 to control my rapid heart beat and it has been effective. I do get leg cramps and fatigue though, and if I get a little stressed out I feel like passing out. I was experiencing anxiety and waking in the night before I began toporol and it has seemed to cure this for the most part.

I started taking Torpol 100 MCG the night of the day I ended in the ER for high blood pressure due to a too high a dose of my thyroid medicine. I have an underactive thyroid, and my med had been increased in the last month or 6 weeks before. It takes a few weeks for the full effect of a thyroid med increase to take place. I didn't realize what it was at first but was having bouts of nausea and dizziness.

Now I still get the racing heart. I went through all the stress tests at the cardio and they were all normal. On Toprol, I get the anxiety, some chest tightness, but sometimes my heart races. Maybe the dose needs to be adjusted.

I never had high BP before this. It was 175 in the hospital, and last night I took my thyroid med at 9. An hour later my heart was racing and I had anxiety and that almost numb feeling all over. By midnight I got up and took my BP. 189/89 Took my Toprol, even tho I wasn't due to take it til the next morning. It helped some, but woke again at 3 with the anxiety.

My cardio says my heart is fine and I'm not going to have a heart attack or anything. I'm not convinced! It's scary. I am hoping that once we get my thyroid med straight, my BP will return to normal. I'm seeing my primary doc this morning to test my TSH again - that's the hormone level of your thyroid.

A friend of mine's mom took Toprol and had all kinds of muscle and joint aches. She finally conviced her doc it was the Toprol, and when she went to another BP med, the aches went away.

At any rate, I think I want to get off of Toprol after all the nasty things I've read about it here.

Heavy chest, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety. Now trying to go off and have horrible tremors, racing heart, hightened anxiety.

I had an episode of A fib about 2 months ago and the Md prescribed toprol 50 mg. I feel tired dizzy lightheaded, anxiety, and numbness and tingling in my legs. Im aslmost certain the toprol is doing this, any suggestions

36 yr old male. E.R. doctor prescribed generic toplrol for tachycardia March 9, 2006. Had really wacky feeling first week. Then anxiety, depression. Bad stomach problems. Would have to get up in the middle of the night for a bowel movement. It also screwed up my blood sugar. If I didn't eat every couple hours I would get a bad hypoglycemic attack where I couldn't focus and shaky with a really sick feeling. Was on 50mg twice a day. Cut it to 50mg once a day and felt 90% better. Slowly weaned myself off of it. Been completely off for 30+ days. Feel better and tachycardia is no worse than when I was on the med. Have always felt the tachycardia was caused by something gastro-intestinal . anyone else experience this?

Been on 25 mgs of Toprol XL for anxiety related palpitations for around 5 years. I gained around 20lbs since and always seem to be bloated, also have had siatic nerve trouble in my left leg and hip and buttock. This small dosage effects my sex drive and erections where things don't work like they used to, I'm on other medications that could affect that dept too. The one constant side effect is lazyness and apathy from the toprol.

Thank you.

I have been taking Toporal XL 50 mg & altace 5 mg for about 3 years. Had 4 way by-pass 1-year ago and went through cardio rehab sucessfully. Been back to work for about 8 months and recently began feeling stressed out, shortness of breath, short term memory loss, tired and depressed. Recently admitted to hospital for chest pain, vertigo & nausea. All tests came back negative & allowed to go back to work. Toporal reduced to 25 Mg per day and altace increased to 10 mg per day. Given new prescription for anax (?) for anxiety. Hope this will help me get back on track.

I went to the doctor a year ago for anxiety and ended up with high blood pressure????? I have been on Toprol for 8 months now and my hair is thinning on top. I have very thick hair and this is not normal at all for me. I am very very tired all the time. Hard for me to get going and when I do I want to go back to sleep. I get heart palpitations. I am also on an anxiety pill. I tried to get off the anxiety pill and I could not for fear of having attacks again. Also, I don't think I understood how to start taking the medications. At the that time my grandmother passed away, my bosses husband pased away and I was worried about my daughter. I want so bad to get off the 2 medications I am on because I have not been the same ever since. I wanted to get off the Toprol but the doctor wanted me to stay on it. I WANT MY LIFE BACK.

I am 26 years old and have been on toprol xl for 7 years. I started on 50 mg and now my doctor has increased the dosage to 200mg. I am exhausted 24-7, I have joint pain so bad I can hardly function. i can't even hardly keep up on my housework and I can't work. My hair is falling out and has for 2 years now. I have no sex drive which is ruining my marriage. I just had bloodwork done and my tryglyceride level is 915 which it is suppose to be below 150. I just saw an article that said beta blockers will raise tryglycerides(which is fat in your blood). Also I still have high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, chest pains, palpatations, and "episodes" where i become really hot, pale, nauseated, have severe chest pains, cant move, and weird heart beats and my doctor doesnt know whats wrong. My doctor puts me on a special diet and tells me to exercise. I eat better than most people and still weigh 200 lbs. and I am 5 feet tall. I try to exercise but I am so tired and hurt so much, it is just about impossible for me to do. I felt this way for many years and my doctor doesnt seem to care. she blows me off when i keep telling her how I feel. I didnt even really know toprol could cause such harsh side effects. and now that i know that is why i feel so bad I cant do anything about it because i tried one time to get off the toprol for one day and almost ended up in the hospital because of how bad i felt(my heart)

I had by-pass surgery 12 years ago. They put me on Attenol to lower my irregular heart beat. Attenol lowered my heart beat too much. A new doctor prescribed me Toprol 12.5 MG. I do have to cut 25 mg in half (when on label its says DO NOT CRUSH OR CHEW) oh well: I am suppose to take with food also. I forgot to take with food and went to bed, all nite could not go to sleep. nausea and anxiety was bothring all nite. this happened to me last few times in one week. Please some body had any experience like answer this letter. thanks

Was on 25mg of Toprol for 3 years with no side effects. Started taking 50 mg last week because of increased PACs noted on heart monitor (24 hr) and have experienced anxiety, gritting teeth some hours out of the day and extreme fatigue other hours. Hope my body finally calms down but am having trouble working! Talked to my pharmacist who says the anxiety could be a side effect even though it's not common.....just like Benadryl, which makes some people hyper and others sleepy.

27 yrs old and put on toprol for high blood pressure. have experienced large amts of hair loss, moderate weight gain, and heart palpitations with worsening anxiety. I am in the process of weaning myself off the toprol and am hoping the palipitations will get better.

My doctor took me off toprol and put me on a ace inhibitor
I was on toprol xl 100mg for 7 years. I gained over 100 lbs and was tired all the time. I started to experience anxiety attacks about 5 weeks ago. I want to know if she should have stopped my toprol without tapering me off. I have had angina, tingling in my head and headaches after being taken off. I did not expeience any of this before. i was told i could get tacartia from just stopping. does anyone know?.