Toprol-XL and own health

I am a 39 year old white male that had aortic valve replacement surgery five years ago. About three months after the surgery (which went off without a hitch) I had a tremendous spike in my BP that went on for a few days (200/100 - enough so I could see my heartbeat in my eyes!). My Dr started me on Toprol XL 75 and while it brought my BP down some, it didn't bring it down a lot. He moved me to 200 mg a day and now my BP is around 105/55 with a resting pulse around 50.

While I experienced many of the side effects listed here (feeling groggy, confused, etc) they only lasted a few months. I must admit that I did pack on about 20 lbs over six months. However, unlike so many who choose to blame drugs (or lack thereof) for their problems, I took it upon myself to start exercising and guess what?!? The weight comes off! I now weigh less than when I graduated high school, I am in better shape than any time in my life and I believe that exercise helps me sleep better at night. All of this even though I still take 200mg a day. Given that some of you say that you're practically dead at taking 25, I should be 6 feet under or weigh 400 lbs.

I guess what I want to say is that perhaps instead of jumping on the bandwagon here that Toprol causes all of your problems, perhaps you want to take your own health into your hands and begin to eat a little better and exercise (and don't give me "but my ankles are swollen!" excuse - there is something called water aerobics). I don't deny that it can cause some side effects, but it can work wonders with your BP. You just have to DO SOMETHING to help keep the weight off (which then help with the sleep problems, mental clarity, etc).

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