Toprol-XL and numbness

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

Hello all,
I'm a 45-yr old Air Force Major (Male) recently diagnosed with asymptomatic chronic Atrial Fibrillation (As in I have it and was walking around not knowing it). When I went to see the cardiologist, my B.P. was only 120 / 74 (Which, until they changed the rules, used to be normal)and he puts me on Diovan 80mg once a day plus Coumadin 5mg. Well the Diovan almost made me faint and I had numbness in both arms, plus a funky rash, kind of like chicken pox showing up on my arms and thighs.
I went online and read horror stories of Diovan so I stopped taking it immediately (I had only taken four doses and never had any horrible symptoms until after I took the meds!). Then the Dr. put me on an Event Monitor and it showed I was indeed in A-fib all the time, plus at night, my heart was racing briefly to 200 a minute while I was sound asleep. So he puts me on Toprol XL 100mg once a day.
Immediately I had trouble sleeping (Which I never had before, ever!) with crazy dreams and tossing/turning. My B.P. dropped to 88/65 and my fibrillating heart rate was 64!!! I was so mad because I actually felt better before the meds. I found this site and saw what everyone was posting and immediately took myself off the Toprol XL.
The day after stopping the Toprol I had slight chest pains (Like angina or gas bubble) but they went away on their own. I slept fine the next night.
I'm having an Electro-Cardiversion done on the 21st July to see if I can stop the A-fib and get in normal rhythm. I know the Dr. is going to be mad at me for stopping the Diovan and Toprol, but I'm sorry, I'm convinced there is a better way to beat all this (Namely exercise and eating right). Being in the service means you have to be Mr. Physical and Mental "perfect" all the time. I cannot afford to be diagnosed with depression in my line of work! Thanks to all on this website and I wish you the best.
PS. for those who think I'm being ignorant of my medication, I have a nice fat insurance policy and Power of attorney for my wife and kid in the event I keel over!!! I may be medication intolerant but at least I took care of my family.

My doctor took me off metopolol (genericToprol), and my last dosage was a week ago. I suffered weight gain, tiredness, and muscle fatigue during my 18 months on the drug.

I have 2 questions - how long will the drug remain in my system, and has anyone who experienced weight gain while on Toprol or the generic, lost any weight after stopping it?

Thanks, Tony

I have been taking 25mg generic for about a year. Have had increasing short-term memory loss and beginning to have episodes of slight tremors. I can't correlate this with anything else except starting this med - can these things happen on such a low dose?

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 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 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.

was put on toprol 25mgs. one year ago by my heart doctor, for tachycardia which only happened after stress. soon thereafter i developed a numbness in the toes of both feet. i saw my my intrenist who didnt know what it was from. i left the country and was livinf abroad until aug 07. while ther the paresthesia of my toes got worse and started traveling up my foot and half of my calf. saw my internist and was advised to see a neurolgist. he put me thru a series of blood test and an emg. all came up negative. went back to the internist and asked her to review my records from sept 2006. first thing she noticed was that i had been started on toprol. she told me one of the side effects is paresthesia of the feet and or hands, and advised me to cut the dose in half for a few weeks and then in half again in a effort to wean me off of it. its been only 3 days since i began to cut down and already the numbness is starting to decrease. has any one else experienced this? does it go entirely away? please write. hopefull

joint pains, mental confusion, weakness (bad), muscle aches, BP higher, bad dreams, cold hands and feet with numbness, pain in lungs.

slowly took myself off!

Numbness in lips and racing heart. Pulse went to 120 for a few house while sitting down at desk, never did this while on Micardis alone. Have been on Toprol 25mg for one week. Have mild hypertension numbers at 135/85 before Micardis and now BP ranges from 117/70-157/90 when fully anxious.

Anyone out there with chronic anxiety and on these meds?

hi i been on toprol for about 1 yr on and off i gaind about 20 lbs i look at everyones profile in here only bcuz i wont to get off of this med not even knowing about the weight thing wow
i quite smoking 9 months ago i thought the weight gain was from that but i guess i was wrong i been having swelling in the stomach drs cant find anything wrong some time numbness on the left side of my face im talking it for blood pressure and rapid heart beat i no you cant just stop toprol it could be dangerouse

I have been takig T 50mg. for 4 months now. I had a ministroke...brought on by dehydration in January. The fatigue from the T had me bedridden. and depressed.The pounding in my heart and head terrified me. I cut back to 25mg at night. Weird dreams..and recently my BONES "hurt" and I have been experiencing "numbness" in my legs. I stopped taking T yesterday..as a test..I have never had these issues before. last night the dreams were gone. I can only hope the additional symptoms will disappear as well.

Does anyone experience a high pitched "buzzing" in there head with these BP meds?

I was on 2 heart medications for over a year. In April I started taking toprol alone. I have been gaining weight rapidly like 6 or 7 lbs. in 2 months. I also have tingling in hands, a numbness, and burning which wakes me up at night. Is this from the toprol? I was happy to hear others had the same side effects. I have lower back pain and my legs hurt. I couldn't figure out why I was gaining all this weight. Maybe it is the toprol taken alone.

I have been on Toprol for a year and a half. Four months ago, I was taking 200 mg of Toprol per day. I was tired all of the time. I would have bazaar, nightmare type dreams. My fingers would go numb every morning and sometimes during the day, such that I could barely hold a fork. I would get dizzy easily and would get short of breath easily. When I was downsized from my job, my blood pressure began to decrease. I am on 50 mg per day now. I am still more tired than usual, still get dizzy or short of breath more easily than normal. The nightmares and the numbness in my fingers has disappeared. I am going to ask my doctor if I can try something else to reduce my blood pressure. I am tired of being tired.

Taking 25mg of TROPOL.
Lower back pain; all tests negative; MD feels it's pinched nerve. Numbness in both legs with tingling and needle like feeling in toes of both feet. Both legs feel like someone is squeezing front and back of legs. Legs are not swollen

I forgot to add in the previous post that I am 69 and have been on Toprol XL for almost 3 years. I think it is accumulative in the body and thus side effects show up that didn't at first. I would like to know if anyone's numbness, etc. of hands was alleviated when they cut back on dosage.

I am most glad to find this site! I take 25 mg T. I have the joint pain and numbness in my hands, elbows. My nails are really bad and I think it is from the t. Also have the fatigue feeling and I can't lose weight. I'm able to hold it steady at least. I feel much better having read some of the posts - don't feel like I am going crazy

Severe and constant pain, numbness and weakness in my left arm and tingly sensation in my left hands and fingers. Neck and shoulder pain on left side as well.

PCP recommended all sorts of expensive tests MRI, CatScan, Nerve conductance...everything is normal. Decided to take matters into my own hands and I found all this information about Toprol side-effects that sound familiar to my own.

I'm confused as to why my PCP wasn't aware of these side-effects and ordered up all the expensive tests instead of first lessening the dosage???

I decided to slowly wean myself off Toprol 50 to 25 and yesterday was my last day, today the side-effects are much less severe and much less frequent.

If the pain and numbness disappear totally after a few weeks off the Toprol I am going to change PCP's.

Oh well, I guess I have to spend more time exersizing.

Is anyone out there experiencing any numbness and burning in their feet? My doctor increased mine to 100 mgs five months ago, I stop take it today and feel much better. I was also feeling just so down no get up and go and just an overall bad feeling.