Toprol-XL and blood work

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?

WOW, I am so happy to find this site. I am a 56 yr old female. I too am on Toprol. I was on 75 mg 2 x's a day for HPB and mitral valve prolapse pain. Then yesterday the Dr. increased my dose to 100 mg 2x's a day .Today my ankles and feet blew up like balloons. I have been having profuse sweating and was cold and clammy for the past year and no Dr could tell me why!! NO sex drive , depression,sleep apnea, severe insomnia, brain fog, short term memory issues, moody, irritable, my husband has threatened to leave me. NO appetite!! Floaters in my eyes started a few months ago, I have so many symptoms that I have read in all your posts. No quality of life for the past year. I have felt like I was losing my mind, gained 35 lbs in past 2 years without changing my eating habits. I gained the weight after I had lost 50 lbs. Been on Toprol about 2 1/2 years ( I think ) Every symptom I have experienced I have read in your posts!! I have type 2 diabetes and am on glucophage, I also take 10 other scripts. I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, RSD in my left arm, muscle pain and joint pain. Pain in my right upper qaudrant. Nausea/ some vomiting, NO ENERGY, Loss of interest in most of life. So now after reading all your posts I have to ask myself, are all my symptoms linked to the Toprol and not syndromes or illnesses? I am calling my doctor in the morning and getting off this med!! They will just have to put me on something else!!!
So how do I post to receive replies?
Joyce47oh

I think it cause shakes and trembling for me,I started it in the end of august on toprol generic December I started shaking. and trembling.I have had thyroid checked ,brain scan plenty of blood work every thing checked out..

Wow. Thank god for this Bulletin! I was diagnosed with hypertension at age 28
and tried a variety of drugs with no control over the BP. So, about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago, I was prescribed 100MG of Toprol XL which seemed to control it well, but with debilitating long term illness. I had no idea until today that Toprol XL was causing similar grief to others. The horrible symptoms that I have been experiencing now for several years are Extreme Chronic Fatigue, Profuse Cold Clammy Sweating, Dizzy spells, weight gain, seeing specs of light and thousands of eye floaters, severe depression, muscle aches, headaches.

After reading about others with similar side effects, I am confident that it's from this medication. I have had all kinds of testing done including T3 & T4 Throid levels and a full array of blood work with NO LUCK! Regardless of the consequences, I am going to quit this damn medicine today because it appears to take 5 weeks or so to get it out of the body to notice a difference. I am so desperate for change. It is ruining my life because I can
't wake up, I'm always tired even though I get 10-14 hours of sleep. My wife and kids are bummed because I have no energy to do anything, EVER!

If you have any other suggestions or would like to comment about this.

Sincerely,

Sean

Hello,

Male 50, retired Federal Law Enforcement Agent on 50MG of Toprol XL for hypertension. Bad side effects, dizzy, light-headed, frequent blood pressure drops, pressure in head, lethargic and some tingling in extremities. Symptoms especially worsen after my 45 in walk/jog. The other day I made the mistake of taking this on an empty stomach in the morning prior to the exercise routine. gave me a heck of a wallop afterwards. Stress test, EKG, Holter recorder and blood work all OK. Dr. told me to drop dosage to .25. I'm thinking about dropping the whole damn bottle in the trash. Blood pressure is under under control now so between the retirement and better diet/exercise I think I can stay OK without Toprol. I think Doctors need to pay better attention to the adverse side effects from this stuff as I am reading in here.

Happy Holidays to all!!

wow what a eye opening experience this board has been, in march of 06 i went to the hopst. with a heart rate of over 200 bpm which lasted 4 hours befor i went to hosp. they took me in did some blood work ect. then i got these shots that brouht my heart back to a normal rythem. the next night when i went to be i swore that it was starting all over again i freaked out went back to the e r this time they had me stay for 3 days during this time they started with the toporol. when i went to my dr the next day i got a script for toporol xl 25 mg 1 x a day next visit he raised it to 50 every time i went back i said my heart was not beating right fast and thumpy well a year later i am up to 200 mg after a month i could not take it any more the depression thAT i have been experiencing this last month just about put me over the edge, i hated every one and every thing so depressed foggy feeling all the time no getup and go every thing was a chore. i fount this web sight last night i read almost every post theay all souned like me at some point or another well the last time i took my meds was monday night
when i got up this am i tell you i felt good i had the best day i have had in so long i spent the whole day at work today and it was almost a joy being there i had a clear head i did not want to kill my employees. on my way home tonight i actually yawned and it dawned on me that is really the forst time in may month that i did that i am goint to the dr in the am to see if he will find some thing else for me to take my bp has been 140/85 pulse 74 not to bad so hope fully i will not have to take this any more well thaks for listening hope every one gets some thing that works with out all the bad side effects

I am a 56 year old female who was very active ranching, balng hay taking care of irrigation etc. 3 years ago I had pain in my left arm and my heart was racing went to the E.R. where they did a 12 lead ekg. Could not find anything wrong other than my blood pressure was up to 160/90 they gave me ToprolXl 100 mg and told me to see my primary care physcian. Which I did. He continued the medication.

Since that time I have complained to all of the symtoms I have seen on this site. With one exception. Two months ago I was watching TV and had double vision. It only lasted for a few seconds but noticed the next day my peripheral vision was gone. I made an appt with an opthomologist and he spent 3 hours with me and recommended an MRI which was conducted some 2 weeks later. I was referred to a neurologist who ran a lot of blood work. My first batch of blood work showed a raging inflamation. They started testing for MS, lymes, lupus etc. Last week i met with my neurologist for the follow up blood work report. Everything is normal he says but by the way you have myathenia gravis. You get double vision again you call me I will give you medicine. Like I am a two year old.

I have researched myasthenia and the one thing you dont want to do is be on a beta blocker or a calcium channel blocker, as both of these will aggravate the condition. I called him to ask that he change my blood pressure medication. He says I wont do that. My primary care physcian is no longer in practice with the original medical group and has left the area. I saw him only 2 weeks ago and nothing was mentioned. The point is folks Don't trust anyone. Oh and by the way the side effects you are seeing mimic myasthenia gravis. Now no one knows what causes it for sure. Stress is a factor. But if you have not been tested get yourself tested. I may not even have this disease but I am getting off this medication and I am going to find out for sure what in the heck is going on. By the way I have seen a cardiologist last month without a referral because I wanted answers and he says there is absolutely nothing wrong with my heart...so why was I put on this medication? Heaven help us all.

well, this has been an enlightening forum.. glad to know im not crazy. I started taking toprol xl about 1 1/2 months ago..and it's been DOWNHILL ever since. I went to the ER one day with a rapid heart beat and overall weird feeling, they say it was either a panic attack or dehydration. anyway, the first 4 days after that i took 25mg of metroprolol, and my first side effect was tingling and pain in my leg. Then, my Dr. prescribed 50mg to keep my BP and palpiations down. Since then, i've felt bad EVERY day. Tingling in legs, arms, face and lips. Fatigue. Consitpation and Gas. Nausea. CRAZY dreams. An overall bad/weird feeling. Weird heartbeat. Though, I have to say i havent had any weight gain. I told my Dr, his first idea was i was having panic attacks, i tried zanax for about 2 weeks, didn't really help. He insists what im feeling isnt from the toprol...(must be in my head?) I had blood work and and echocardiogram-everything came back normal. I guess he's all out of ideas so his next suggestion is for me to see an neurologist who i'll be seeing this week, if that doesn't work, he suggested a psychiatrist... That's not gonna happen. If it comes down to it i'll just have to ween myself off these crazy pills.. After reading all these posts, i'm convinced it's the toprol....

I am so glad I found this site. I have been experiencing severe joint pain and constant edema. I never even thought it could possibly be the toprol xl 50 mg I have been on for over a year now. I have had extensive blood work to find out why I have such joint pain and everything has been coming out normal! I am in pain EVERY day...and it has been getting worse. I do have a thyroid condition (which was also recently checked and all the blood work was fine), because I got terrible joint pain as a symptom of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (an auto-immune disorder) way back in 1999 when I was first diagnosed. So, when this terrible joint pain returned, I was sure it was the thyroid and that my medication for THAT would have to be adjusted. Needless to say, I was shocked and concerned that my thyroid numbers are all normal.
I cried today over this pain...I am only 44 years old and I feel like I'm 90 years old. Maybe fate led me here tonight. It may or may not be the toprol causing all of this pain, but at least I have some hope now. I am scared because since I do have an "auto-immune" disease, I am apparantly at a much higher risk of developing other auto-immune diseases....so perhaps it is not the toprol. I HOPE IT IS THOUGH...

Weight gain!!!! No matter what I do I am still getting bigger in the stomach area. I have been on the drug for a year and have gained several lbs even though I exercise 7-10 times per week!! And I've changed my diet due to a heart attack. Still the weight keeps climbing. My echo and blood work have been great, I would love to get off this med!!

I had what a nurse called as a hypertension crisis with a 220/130 bp. I went to the ER in an ambulance. After trying me on several meds over a short period of a few days, I am now on Toprol XL 50 mg. and cardizem LA 180 mg. I have only been on Toprol for 1 day and I already have leg muscle weakness and feel a sense of depression that I never have. I am also dizzy and have some shortness of breath. The doctor says that my heart is strong and that all my blood work was great. I am just worried that it won't stay that way. I have an alternative medicine physician that I will be talking to and looking for safer alternatives. Does anyone know if only 5 days on bp medicine and then weaning myself off will hurt me?

Since a few days prior to Christmas I have been experiencing constant chest pain about 4 inches below my collar bone. I've been on Toprol 50mg for almost a year and it has helped some with my high BP. I have no idea if toprol is the medication tht may be causing this pain or if it is due to something else. I would describe it as dull (maybe a 2 on a pain scale of 1-10). Worried, as I am only 23, I went to the ER and the ER doc couldn't pinpoint the problem after doing blood work, ekg, and a chest x-ray. I forgot to ask him if the med could be causing such a side effect, but he did know I was on toprol. The pain doesn't seem to be cardiac related as I just got done running 3.5 miles and the pain seems about the same. Again, I don't know if left-sided chest pain could be a side effect of Toprol, but I would certainly like to know if anyone has experienced these symptoms while on the med or can confirm this possibility. Thanks guys and gals!!

I have been taking 25 mg. of Toprol for about a year. I am 48 years old. For the past several months, I have been fatigue, having chest pains, swelling in my feet and severe muscle weakness and joint pain. My head throbs on just one side very often and I feel light-headed. I have had complete blood work( including a sed rate) an EKG and stress test, all coming back NORMAL. From everything I have read lately, I believe that my problems may be from the Toprol.

I have been on Toprol XL (25 mg/daily) for 6 months (F/41). I was really glad to come across this message board in a frantic search of "weight gain with Toprol XL". Have gained 10 pounds in these 6 months and for the life of me I cannot get any weight off, my body is just stuck where it is at. My problem is I have to lose weight since I am overweight about 40 pounds right now so this is so frustrating to me. At least I am not alone, thanks for posting your problems also with weight gain. I take Toprol for my fast beating heart, was having bad palps last January. Toprol does work well in keeping my B/P down (tends to be just a bit high) and the palps are non existent for me on this drug. I do have swollen ankles (at night) ok in the mornings. But the weight gain is really making me go crazy especially when I need to lose weight. This just isn't going to work so this morning I am cutting that pill in half and getting the heck off of it. I do find that if I stay away from sugar/caffeine my palps really don't bother me nearly as much. I went on it because the job I had was very stressful and brought back my palps again after not having them (as bad) for several years. I just hate those "fluttering" heart beats, they are hard to deal with and Toprol takes them away and keeps me "calmer" so I will miss Toprol for those effects, but not the weight gain! Thank you for this message board, it's been so helpful.

I am taking Toprol XL for HBP. My legs have been cramping very badly during the night sometimes (Charley Horses). Now my doctor sent me for a doppler and they say it showed abnormal wave forms in both legs. Now they want me to do an angiogram which I am quite reluctant to do. These cramps didn't come on until I had been taking this medicine for a few months. My BP however had gone down, lower than the doctor remembers seeing it. I had blood work done earlier in the spring and everything on it was in normal range.

I was healthy until I went to the doctor. Now it seems I am on the way "out" of the world.

Dull pain in right side started about the same time as starting Toprol XL (25mg) about 2 years ago. Also started being treated for GERD around that time. For the past year, dosage of Toprol XL was increased to 50mg. The GERD is getting worse and dull pain in right side is still there and radiating towards the front and back. Docs have ruled out any problems with kidney, gall bladder, UTIs. All blood work normal.

has anyone ever heard of toprol causing high blood sugar?i have been on toprol xl 50 mg for 3 years and recent blood work showed high glucose levels. i dont have a family history of diabetes but am overwieght. just wondering.

I have been taking Toprol for about a year for heart palputations. Over the last few months, I began to experience a tired feeling. In the last four months, it has gotten worse and now I can't do my husehold chores. I have a trembling feeling in my arms, legs, and upper body.
I also experenced muscle aches. That has ceased since I have been off the Lipitor. I have had numerous blood work done and all has come back in the normal range. I have seen a Neorologist and the tests he gave me were also normal. My guess is, it is both the Lipitor and Toprol causing my problem. I am 68 years of age, always been on the go and a fun loving person. I would like to be that person again.
Ruth