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Still waiting it out
- by Mae11
- 2021-09-23 14:56:25
- General Posting
- 666 views
- 1 comments
I'm still waiting it out until my October 7th appointment to follow up since starting the meds. I felt like real crap yesterday though. My BP was 117/70 and pulse 102 before taking my morning dose.
About an hour later I started feeling very lightheaded and nauseous folding laundry. Sat down for about 10 minutes and checked again and BP was 88/44 pulse 115. My BP came up a little bit(105/56) after awhile but my pulse stayed in the 90 to 115 range for about two hours just laying on the couch.
It seems like the metoprolol is lowering my BP much more than the intended heart rate. How is my heart rate even at rest that high while taking a beta blocker?
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Arrhythmias and fluctuations in BP and heart rate
by Gemita - 2021-09-23 17:19:16
Mae, looking at your blood pressure fluctuations I would think those are probably affecting you more than your heart rate going up to 115 bpm.
As you know, Beta blockers lower both blood pressure and heart rate and while our pacemaker can prevent a fall in heart rate below the set base rate, it cannot prevent our blood pressure from falling and that is a real problem for so many of us with arrhythmias. If you take more Metoprolol to control your heart rate and bring it down to below 100 bpm, it will also drop your blood pressure further which wouldn’t help you.
Getting an arrhythmia and a heart rate under control may take a little while and trial and error with medication is often necessary.
Your question: “It seems like the Metoprolol is lowering my BP much more than the intended heart rate. How is my heart rate even at rest that high while taking a beta blocker?” This is because of your arrhythmia Atrial Flutter which can trigger very high heart rates and may be difficult to stop with medication alone. An ablation for symptomatic Atrial Flutter is often recommended because in the right hands, "typical" Atrial Flutter can be easy to fix. A higher dose of Metoprolol would certainly help to lower your heart rate Mae but would equally reduce your BP. If you are feeling unstable I would have a word with your doctors before the 7th October. Sometimes another medication can be tried and might suit you better although I realise you have only just started Metoprolol.
When I first took a beta blocker (Bisoprolol) for Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter, my heart rate and BP were exceedingly volatile. After a few weeks everything calmed down, so you may want to wait a little longer before making any changes. Good luck