Weaning off of Metoprolol

[Dogluvr95]

Hi everyone! Today marks 5 weeks post op since my ablation for SVT. I was put on 25 mg of Metoprolol twice a day, and today actually marks 4 weeks since I’ve been on it. My EP wants me to start weaning off of it, now obviously I know I can’t cut it off cold turkey so I bought a pill splitter but I was wondering how I would go about that still? Like do I do 3/4’s, 1/2 and then 1/4 of the pill until I eventually don’t take them anymore? He didn’t really give me advice on how to wean off of them. I’m also pretty nervous to get off of it but the whole point of the ablation was so that I wouldn’t need to take medication for my whole life, so I’ve gotta just do it. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Bryce

[Izzle]

My Metoprolol (Betaloc) is CR - controlled release. On the box it is printed 'whole or half tablets should not be crushed or chewed'. The pharmacy label also states it should be swallowed whole.

I therefore doubt if you should be doing anything with the tablets apart from getting a smaller size. Perhaps ask you Dr or pharmacy what you should be doing.

Good luck

[HiloHairy in reply to Izzle]

His may not be the CR. Mine aren't. Just FYI; If I take whole tablets twice a day as the doctor ordered, they completely crush my energy level and spirit. The most I can tolerate is a quarter of a tablet at night only. If I do any more I can't work out at the gym which is important for my health and my sanity.

[theroot]

I was on 50-25mg Metoprolol ER for a few years and came off of it, as I got into shape it was dropping my heart rate into the low 40s and making me feel like crap all the time. It has an incredibly short half life so any change you make your blood levels will be noticeably different within a day or so. 25mg is I believe the smallest dose of Metoprolol you can be put on. I was told not to worry about tapering off of it once I hit that point, and anything less than 25mg was below the lowest effective dose so I shouldn't even bother taking half (with my ER pills they could be split, not sure what you are taking though). I still occasionally take 25 during days/weeks I have episodes, it's no problem for me to start taking it and stop all the sudden with no titration. If you're really concerned about it I would call your doctor and ask for a detailed method. I imagine he would've given you more specific advice if he was actually concerned about the tapering method. If you don't want to ask, then you can cut your pills in half, just step it down in halves for a few days to a week each step.

[Dogluvr95 in reply to theroot]

Thanks so much for your reply. He did tell me that I could split them in half or just take one a day as opposed to twice a day, I’m on 25 mg twice a day so I am on the lowest dose so I suppose we are in the same boat. I’ve only been on it for a month, but I will definitely take what you said into consideration. Thanks again!