Toprol-XL and cold turkey

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 prescribed 25 mg Metoprolol-XL for irregular rapid HR episodes and slightly increased BP (after all the tests to rule out heart disease). It did the job, but I began to suffer with insomnia (a common side effect). So for the last month and a half, I've been only taking half the dose (I made sure that it was the type of tablet that was ok to break...it is, but they do caution you not to chew or crush it). No more insomnia, and the irregular HR has not returned, BP remains normal.
I figured out that the cause of the palpitations etc. was delayed anxiety attacks from a recurring family situation (the delay made it hard to link the cause and effect until I started journaling). Knowing that was the beginning of being able to better cope with the situation, so I thought I would be weaning myself off the medicine. However, I also am a migraine-sufferer and realized that I have not had to take an Imitrex since starting the metoprolol (3 months!). I used to get 4-5 migraines a month...now I may get none, one, or two and none so bad that one Ibuporfen can't handle it. Not so sure I want to stop taking it now.
New problem: Since cutting the dose, I find that any exposure to warm environment or to mild exercise, where I would normally only sweat mildly, if at all, now my scalp sweats profoundly, so much so that sweat runs rivers down my back, my chest, into my eyes and ears. The rest of me only sweats like I normally ever did. Is this because I decreased my dose...will it last forever? I did read that one should not go off this stuff cold turkey and that one of the things that would happen if you did could be excessive sweating. All I did was go from 25mg to 12.5 mg! What if I go off it completely...what am I in for??

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'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...

My heart doctor had put me on toprol xl for my heart arrhythmia but I was also having really bad dizzy spells and feeling like I want to pass out before the toprol.I did pretty good on it for a good while.then out of no where the dizzy speels started back up and feeling like I want to pass out.Had all the other tests and nothing abnormal was found.But I'm still having the same problems.I had done an oxymeter test and found that I was only getting 79% oxygen to my brain.Then was put on an oxygen concentrator.It worked for a short time but the symptoms came back.So I called the doctor Friday to see if I could quit taking the toprol.They you can't quit cold turkey cause you could have a heart attack.That's scary..And I'm a 44 year old female.I'm not quite ready to go just yet.Especially from quitting a medicine.

I just started Toprol XL on Friday (four full days ago). I was put on it to decrease heart rate and palps, I have Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. I am 35 years old. I was prescribed to take 50mg twice a day, and I am on the generic. Almost immediately, stomach upset started with diarrhea. I still had some palps at 25 mg. twice a day, which the MD told me to start with for about two days. So, after doing the 25mg for two days twice daily, I went on to the 50mg twice daily. Last night I slept for twelve hours straight, and then felt like I had a sedative after I got up. After taking my next 50mg dose this morning, I got so sleepy again, and felt like sleeping and was in a fog after the twelve hours of sleep last night! I can't imagine mixing anything else with it that causes drowsiness, you would pass out. I feel like I can't think clearly,and feel more crabby and irritable. I called the MD this am. and was told to go back to 25mg twice a day, and that side effects would lessen over time. I have had this sinus tachycardia problem for years, and got diagnosed with it officially in 04. It is very annoying, with shortness of breath, pounding heart,and feeling like you are running a race which sitting still. I have also had an increase in feeling like it skips a beat. All this prompted the Toprol usage. It does help the heart rate and palps, but now I feel so tired I can hardly put one foot in front of the other. I try to walk for thirty min. at least five days a week, and today it was all I could do to make it. I have to watch my twenty month old daily, and I can't keep up with his energy now for sure. I plant to go back to the 25mg twice a day starting tomorrow, and maybe eventually get to the 25mg once daily. I never would recommend anyone stopped something like this cold turkey, you could find yourself in the ER, never play with any heart meds!! I pray that a slow decrease will be the answer to finding some symptom relief of my condition, yet still being able to function daily. Thank God also I am a stay at home mom for now, starting this and trying to work, I would be sleeping on the job!

OK FOLKS -HERE'S A GOOD ONE FOR YA- Just over a year ago I was on a heart transplant list. Today my heart function is normal and I am off ALL HEART MEDS. Even after finding out my heart function level was normal I was still living a nightmare for some unexplained reason. After MONTHS of tests and everyone telling me I was nuts a neurologist finally found out I was having seizure activity. Funny how my "seizure activity" feels EXACTLY how I felt when they increased my beta blocker dosage. I'm telling all of you.. This beta blocker helps some but they are burying their mistakes. I now know all of my ER trips, only to have them laugh and have them send me back home, were do to seizures caused by beta blockers while I had heart failure. I'm lucky to be alive.... and now that my heart function is good I have to fight this seizure BS. *REMEMBER THIS - Only YOU know what your body is telling you.. LISTEN TO IT! But do be careful.. You can't just stop taking a beta blocker.. Good luck all cuz we sure need it!

I'm a 30 yr old healthy male. I went to the ER, and then the Dr., about 4 weeks ago after waking up with intense pain in the veins of my right arm and having pounding palps. I had just been told some extremely stressful news the night before, so I was pretty sure this was blood pressure & stress related. ... EKG showed Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome, so that's what the Dr's assumed was the problem. I never knew what it was called, but I've had my heart race due to WPW many times since I was a young child .. this did not seem to be related. This was just pounding.

The cardiologist put me on 50mg of Toprol XL daily to control the WPW - even though that wasn't acting up. I left confused. Pharmacy issued generic Metoprolol Succinate mfg. by Sandoz.

I didn't want to be on meds, so I didn't take it for the first few days, hoping that I would return to normal. After all, I just woke up with this all of the sudden.. I had been fine the day before. Palps continued, though, so eventually I relented and started taking the meds.

The first two or three weeks were filled with ups and downs. Exhaustion, palpitations and anxiety would come and go.

This past weekend things got really bad. I began having anxiety attacks -- I think that's what it was, I'd never had one before -- and my vision was totally screwed up. I couldn't focus on anything and was sensitive to some lighting. Black text on a bright white screen (lcd monitor) was especially hard to read. I was completely in a dazed & confused state. Loud noises and crowds were bothering me... which was awful, considering it was my best friend's wedding. Also had headaches, lightheadedness & loss of appetite. These side effects came and went on Friday & Saturday and were pretty constant on Sunday & Monday.

I decided to quit Toprol cold-turkey on Sunday. I have been 2 days without. I have used L-Theamine to reduce stress and keep my blood pressure steady. It seems to be working. I also began taking CoQ10 today after reading some good things about it here.

My vision & mental focus is beginning to improve after 3 days of disabilitating problems. Anxiety has also improved. I even attempted to "get back to normal" at work today, but had to leave after only an hour of strenuous exercise in the heat. Vision problems returned, anxiety set in. It's like riding a really freaking scary roller coaster, except with a legitimate fear that this thing might kill you.

I will update this as time goes by, to let you all know how things worked out for me. I'm really hoping to be mostly back to normal in another day or two, since I haven't been on for very long. Hopefully this will be of help to someone in the future. Damn, I Wish I had never gotten on this stuff.

I started to use toprol the generic type 3 weeks ago, I have the worst panic attacks, anxiety and depression ever, I never had depression in my life before, this medication took my pleasure of life away from me. I am getting off this horrible medication, started with 50, now I am on 25 (symptoms better), in two days I will be down to 12.5, then seven and is bye, bye. I read is not good to go cold turkey on this medication.

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!

Hi,
I just found this site and was wondering how long it takes this horrible drug to leave your system. I have been taking it for a year and have suffered the WORST depression and anxiety attacks from it. I have been lucky enough to have never suffered from any of these symptoms in my entire life and my heart goes ou to those who live with it every day
So far I have lost my job, any chance of sleep, and I can barely get out of the house in the morning. Its having a direct affect on my marriage, I have lost all intest in my hobbies, unable to concentrate, I'm just a wreck. I just saw my Dr. last week and she made my dose smaller (25 MG) for the past week and I feel worse. Is there any ending to this?

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 :(

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

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

I have been on Toprol XL for 4 years - was on 50MG - Dr. tried other meds for a while (bad side effects) - so put me back on 25MG of Toprol until we can figure out something else.

When I was off the Toprol I lost 16 pounds!!!! I have not gained any back being on a lower dosage.

I think it is causing me breathing problems and pain and cramping in my legs - any one else having this? How should you wean off?

Thanks!

I am a 41 yo woman in good health. I started Toprol xl about 3 years ago for a heart palp that would happen maybe once a day, and occasional racing heart beat. I did great for a long time on 25mg once a day. Then about 6 months back I was switched to generic due to insurance issues - they only want to pay for generic.

It took me a while to figure out what was happening, but several problems started happening over the last few months that I am sure were from this generic drug. Suddenly I was having vivid dreams - fish swimming on the ceiling, cats with heads 5x too big! Worse yet, over about 3 months I gained 20 pounds with no difference in diet. And I was getting more and more tired. I started looking into what could be causing these crazy effects - I was only on Toprol and birth control pills.... well, it was not the birth control!

So, I decided to wean myself from the Toprol. I decided I prefer a heart palp and occasional racing heart to this!! I gave myself a couple of weeks of lesser doses, then 5 days ago I stopped it altogether. I am having some horrid "rebound" or withdrawal effects! Numb/tingling hands and feet, headache and - surprise! High blood pressure! I never, ever took this med for HBP, and I have never had HBP! I always had a nice, low blood pressure, even when 9 months pregnant! Now it's running around 135/93 - I work in a medical office, so I got one of the nurses to check it on Tuesday...she sort of freaked! She said she has seen much higher, but mine is not normal. So we have been checking daily, and it's staying up there. I am so mad to think Toprol could have damaged my body in some way so that my blood pressure may not stay messed up for life. I have read online that the rebound effects can last up to a month, even with a fairly low dose like I was taking. Does anyone know if a month is about right? If my blood pressure keeps this high, I suppose I will have to seek treatment at some point. Ugh!

On the plus side, I don't feel so tired. No vivid dreams since I stopped the Toprol, and much better sleep! I feel "clearer" mentally. I just wish the tingling hands and feet would stop - and the high blood pressure!

I am 49 years old and have been in great health until about 6 months ago due to some stressful situations with one of my nephews. My blood pressure was 140/80 at the highest. At this time...I began to have some mild heart palpitations and was put on Toprol XL (50 mg.) suddenly my palpitations became more intense and occurred more often. Then I began to have panic attacks and vision and memory problems. My doctor then prescribed Xanax .25mg. for the panic attacks. I weaned myself off of the 50 and began to take .25 mg. I really wanted off of it so I tried to cut that in half for several weeks. After about a month...I went off of the medicine for several days and began to have some strange symptoms. My arms were tingling and numb, I woke up sweating, my head felt strange...so I went back on the Toprol (25 mg.). I really would like to get off of all of this medicine. I have never been one to take anything and I am far worse than I ever was. I just wonder if doctors read this information and if the drug company takes note of any of this. I think this is a very strong drug that is over prescribed. I worry that I have damaged my heart with this drug. I am just not sure what to do. Please help...

I'm a 53 year-old male and do regular Cardio Exercise every week and have for 31 years.
A cardiologist put me on Toprol XL 25 MG on November 22nd. The Doctor prescribed it because I add heart irregularities and palpitations which resulted in me going to the hospital as I didn't know what was happening and never had heart palpitations before in my life. I went to the emergency room and they got me stabilized but brought in cardiologist. My heart returned to normal function in a few hours and was result of taking a decongestant as well as Lisinopril 5 MG. I had just started these drugs and had been on them for three days when the heart palpitation instance happened. The decongestant is ... I had done a two hour hard workout at the gym which I do regularly 3 times per week and then the heart irregularities started on day 3 of taking the two drugs. A cardiologists now has stuck me on this Toprol 25 MG after that day because it helps with irregular heart beat plus my blood pressure was a bit high around 140/90. I immediately started noticing side effects from the Toprol 25 MG but stayed on it plus the Lisinopril 5 MG and 325 MG Aspirin for about 12 days at that dose. I started side effects like tremors, tiredness, constipation, strange dreams, anxiousness, impotence, and struggled to do my workouts etc. I made some lifestyle changes like eliminating caffeine, alcohol, etc and that plus the medicine reduced my blood pressure below 120/80 a bit. I stopped the Lisinopril on December 3rd and my blood pressure is still normal and reduced the Toprol to 12.5 MG at the same time. I did research and the doctor also thinks the irregularity was due to the Decongestant and Lisinopril I had taken for 3 days as both have heart irregularity and palpitations as a side effect. I decided I want to get off the Toprol XL altogether and let my body go back to normal functioning. All my problems were brought once I started taking medicine and the only real problem I have is high blood pressure which I can control now with life style changes and natural supplements. I called the cardiologist's nurse and she said not to do anything until I see the doctor on December 18th. I had already decided to cut the dose in half to 12.5 MG on December 3rd anyway and the side effects got better, but then I had instance the other night after taking a spin class at the gym whereby my heart beat stayed up around 82 bpm for several hours and normally is 59 pbm. I also felt anxious and couldn't get settled to sleep real well. I read on the warning label that your not supposed to work out during the process of reducing the dosage so I guess I will have to stop working out until I'm off this stuff. I have been an exercise person for 31 years doing at least 5 hours of Cardio Exercise per week and then racing bicycles in the summer months doing 10-12 hours of Cardio Exercise. I really want off this drug so I reduced to 6.25 MG today and will stop working out I guess until I'm off. I feel a little shaky and feel sort of like I could faint if I did to much exertion since reducing to 6.25 MG today. I was wondering how long it take to get off this Toprol since I was only on it for 12 days at the 25 MG dosage and should I keep cutting the dosage and go down to 3.12 MG after a few more days and then eventually off after a few days at 3.12 MG? Then how long once I'm off should I wait to return to my rigorous exercise routine?

I'm 50 years old. Have been on beta blockers for at least 10 years. Recently I developed a wheezing and then got the cold from hell. I was referred to a lung specialist who asked me to stop taking Toprol-XL immediately as it was causing me to wheeze and have shortness of breath. I stopped taking Toprol and the wheezing stopped. I'm still coughing though. I hope it goes away soon. I think I'm going to look into natural cures for my hypertension. These meds have too many side effects.

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.

I have been on toprol-XL for aprox. 1 + years. I chose to take this medication at night because of massive headache's. I also have most of the symptoms that everyone on this site has. I am going to stop this medication immediately. Have no clue how I am going to feel or what the concenquences are going to be. Hopefully no more massive headache's, and rapid weight loss. those are my two complaints regarding this medication. Thank you for this space to speak my peace. Patricia age 61

I ran out of Toprol XL 50mg 4 days ago. I am having blurred vision and chest discomfort/pain, muscle spasms, disorientated and cant hardly get out of bed do I need to worry?

I'm 27 F, been on metoprolol 25mg for a year now, gained 15 pounds for absolutely no reason, the last month i lived on salad tuna and water and still gained weight, consulted my doctor and he let me go off. (cold turkey since low dose) and I've been off it for three day, my bp and pulse have been very low, thank goodness, but I've been getting ringing in my ears and very bizzare/disturbing dreams!! Anyone else get these symptoms after they went off? How long will it take for the drug to leave my system? GOOD LUCK 2 ALL!!!

Be carful stoping your toprol you can experience episodes of rapid heart rate, when I forget mine it's like im in a perminent panic attack.

definitly you should check with the Dr before stopping cold turkey. you probably need to ramp down the dose

Off of Toprol
Re: Nov 26th entry: I visited my primary doctor after my cardiologist said my thryoid med was too high and that was the cause of my high BP. My cardio had put me on Toprol and I had some ugly side effects from it. Well, I gave my primary doc the hospital test results of my thyroid and he said, "But this is in the normal range. There's nothing wrong with your thyroid level." Ugh. Makes me question the cardiologist. I told my primary doc about the Toprol for heart palps, etc., and he took me off of it and onto Triamertine (sp?) which is not a beta blocker but a diurectic for high BP. I took 50 MG for a week, and visited my primary doc again. My BP was down to 100/something small. Can't remember. So he cut my dose of BP med in half. I'm still taking the lower dose of thyroid med until my primary doc can retest and get a handle on my true condition. Thyroid med takes up to 6 weeks to take affect, so it's too soon to test.
So now I don't really know what sent me to the ER with the high BP and arythmia - possibly a panic or anxiety attack. I have Xanax now for that, but have only taken it a couple of times. When I tried it, it pretty much made me sleep great, but don't want to become hooked on it.

So, I'm glad I'm off Toprol. I did not like it. I have a feeling my doc will eventually wean me off BP meds, as I'm losing weight, exercising, etc., to that end.

Oh, you definitely don't want to go off Toprol cold turkey. It can cause a heart attack, etc., is what I've read. I'm not a doctor!

I'm male and 34 yrs. old and 168 lbs. I've used Toprol XL 50 mg for almost 10 months now. There's got to be a better drug than this. On the first 4 weeks, I experienced sporadic nightmares and waking-up with cold sweats. I gained 12 lbs immediately, had difficulty getting up from bed in th morning, mild depression, leg pains, low sex drive. On some occassions, I'd feel incoherent and having difficulty making quick decisions. I guess that's also related to loss of mental focus. It came to a point in the following weeks when I left town for the weekend and forgetting my Norvasc and Toprol. I thought two days wont hurt. The 2nd day, my heart-beat sored to almost 130 bpm. My BP was 173/108. I had ice-pick chest pains, palpitations and shortness of breath. I wound up in the emergency room. The doc at the hospital suspected my heart went cold-turkey on Toprol XL. They then gave me the same dosage and an hour later along with Norvasc got me under control. I don't like this med. I was told by some doctors , once you're in it, its tough to get out of it. It is something I'll have to take for the rest of my life. Also, stopping the med may cause cardiac arrest. Dunno if that's true. I did try spliiting my Toprol in half and it has reduced the side-effects on me. I still want out of it though. Anyone having the same dillema?

I have taken BP meds for about 20 years and never experienced this effect ever. In the last year a new Doctor because of insurance purposes change my meds to Toprol from Diovan. He increased and decreased several times and then had me stop,cold turkey. Which I should have never done. My hair fell out and I experienced mood swings, chest pains, and numerous other side effects. I have since went to another Doctor and have been regulated. I went from 180mg of toprol to only taking 10mg of Altace now. Thank goodness I found out in time.

I'm a 40 year old male, diagnosed with high BP (148/110) and was placed on Cozaar (25). One month later placed on Toprol XL (25). Since then the side effects have been -
Sleepy (yawn, stretch, scratch, snore)
Loss of Mental Focus (I'm male, it was small enough before and now it's even smaller. The mental focus people...)
MUSCLE PAIN! Pecs, both sides but mostly the left. From deep muscle throbbing to pin-prick ouches. Left arm, follows the large bones (deep pain.) Lower back pain but hey, that may not be from the Toprol.
Oddly, sexual function has been helped. Sexual *drive* has gone down though. (Hey, my wife is 10 years older than me so she's ok) ;)

I hate this lethargic, crampy feeling. All my reading has shown to not quit Toprol cold-turkey but do a weekly dosage reduction down to 12.5 for two weeks before stopping. I'll see my doc in a couple of days to discuss this further.

Sidebar: EKG, Stress test show that my BP is reduced but not while exercising. So there's a fine line between side effects and prevention of High BP. Best of luck ladies and gents,
D

I'm feeling depressed and tired. I am taking 25 MG/day. My wife is ready to run me thru a sausage grinder as I've become "difficult".

My BP is swinging between 144/85 to 100/60 (get very dizzy).

Morning is the highest....late afternoon is lowest.

I need help from my doctors' here otherwise I'll never be able to work and pay off my CABG bill....;>)....

NB
All the reading I've done suggests to never cold-turkey stop the TOPROL.