Toprol-XL and organs

I wanted to give an update. I'm the 31 year old cancer survivor who posted yesterday about my concerns with Toprol XL and some side-effects I was feeling. After a trip to the doctor, everything was made clear to me.

After having some bloodwork done and a chest x-ray, we determined that I, in fact, have congenital heart failure. This is when the heart is unable to pump blood fast enough to the body's organs. The result is weight gain due to fluid retention, shortness of breath, and especially trouble breathing when lying down. So, I imagine, the body's natural remedy to this is to speed up the rate in which the heart pumps, to compensate and get the needed blood to the body. That would explain my elevated heart rate.

Toprol XL did exactly what it was supposed to do: lower my heart rate. But, in my case (and, as it seems to me, might also be the case for many of the people posting here), that was not the right solution for me. Slowing the heart rate caused the natural side-effects of congenital heart failure to emerge. So, what I thought were side-effects of Toprol XL were in fact simply the my body's "normal" state, being someone with this heart condition.

As of today, I have stopped taking the Toprol XL and have been placed on a few new medications in its place. I have been correctly diagnosed now, and I look forward to feeling better soon.