Toprol-XL and nerves

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 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!

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.

My cardiologist started me on 50mg of Toprol to "soothe" my irritated heart after a second catheter ablation for AVNRT. I don't have any noticable side effects and I'm supposed to be weaned off of it in a month or two once the nerves in my heart settle down. I'm pleased with the performance of this medication.