Propranolol withdrawal

I was on 10mg propranolol for two weeks for headaches and had weird reaction- ice cold hands and red skin. Doc took me off. 24 hours after stopping it I was in ER with racing irregular heart rate. EKG was fine. Said it was possibly dehydration, or anxiety, or Orthostatic Hypertension, but couldn’t be related to stopping propranolol after such a short time. I never had these issues before taking propranolol. Has anyone else had a similar experience after short term propranolol use? I would be grateful to hear.

[Kels1217]

My first time taking propranolol it made my heart race I now have regularly heart palpitations it also gave me a headache never had headaches like I do now they are daily headaches so instead of helping with headaches it gave me headaches

[Hidden in reply to Kels1217]

Are you still taking it? I started it for headaches and it did not help and now I feel worse than before too!

[Kels1217 in reply to Hidden]

Right that medication gave me more problems than I had before, no I am not still taking it I was so glad to get that medicine out of my system I now have anxiety when it comes to taking medication because of the effects the propranolol gave me my experience was horrible I was admitted into the hospital for 4 days because my heart rate would not go down from taking that

[Hidden in reply to Kels1217]

Thank you for sharing that. I am off it now too and still dealing with irregular heartbeat. Going to see my primary care doc tonight. I’m nervous about taking anything new too!

[Kels1217 in reply to Hidden]

You are very welcome I hope it gets better for you

[Hidden]

This is the reason I’m on this site. The same thing happened to me. I was given bp medicine over the phone that I didn’t need ( I was actually dehydrated) this made my bp too low. This caused my HR to increase so they gave me propanolol. This drug was horrible for me. It did actually the opposite! I searched everywhere to find someone with similar side effects and I found several on this site. I live in palm beach Florida. Doctors brushed it all off calling it anxiety. After spending $100,000 in doctors and hospital fees, I’m now getting better. I only took this drug for 3 weeks off and on 5 mg.

Im in my 7th week recovery. So many times I wanted to take some sort of pill for relief but all of those had side effects too. They even sent me to and electrophysiologist all suggested I take another beta blocker. I requested that they take another 5 day heart telemetry heart monitor rating and it showed up that my heart was fine and that I didn’t need any medicine. I never any of the problems propanolol brought on before all of this. I’ve been getting better each day resting and moving forward. Take baby steps your body will need time to readjust be cautious about medications. Also propanolol depletes the body of magnesium and co enzyme.... I didnt take these vitamins I only ate a healthy diet because co enzyme made my heart race, it can be considered a performance drug. I got better through somatic exercises meditating on Gods word (the Bible) and slowly walking everyday and finding something to distract me like drawing.

I could go on but for now I hope this helps

You are not alone. I wish you well

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I’m so sorry for what you went through. ER doctor here kept telling me it was either dehydration or anxiety and I knew it wasn’t. My doctor last night agreed that it was propranolol withdrawal, but had to stress how unusual it was given my low dose. I said there is plenty of information about people who were on very low doses having the same experience if you just look around and don’t only read the “official” statistics put out by the drug companies. Stories like ours don’t get reported. All my heart tests were fine, so like you now I just have to wait it out. I will start taking magnesium again. I had stopped all my supplements when I started to feel so weird. I am not someone who routinely takes prescription medicine and this experience will not make me any more likely to do so again without first doing a lot of research. Please let me know how you are doing,

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I agree with you my friend. Keep your head up things will get better. I had to screen shot the testimonies I saw that sounded similar to mine so when I got down I read those. Some said it took them 6 months to recover some 2 months some had to take a leave for their job. They were shaking heart rate palpitations high blood pressure but eventually everything went back to normal. I’m very thankful I didn’t rush into another prescription drug, which really is all they can do for us. One day at a time things will get better.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Do you have any type of somatic exercises that you would recommend? Prior to this I did weights and cardio, but my doc said not to go back to them. I’m thinking about yoga instead.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I listened to Peter Levine he wrote a book on healing trauma which deals with the feeling of being calm and anxious pendulating between both... so you kind of have an equilibrium there ... then other exercises called TRE (I got the app) where if you are shaking or tremoring in a certain area you would purposely make it tremor. For instance if it was your legs you would lift them up and hold them and slowly tremor down. It’s kind of like a toddler that needs attention if you don’t give them the attention it will increase. You can find exercises on YouTube. I personally like Emma macadam therapy in a nutshell as well.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you! I will look for them.

[Caitlyn6]

I had withdrawal after taking 10mg for a month. It was tapered down over a week and I went high BP and high heart rate. Cardiologist said the withdrawal was too fast

[Hidden in reply to Caitlyn6]

Thanks for the reply! Did things settle down for you?

[Caitlyn6 in reply to Hidden]

I saw a cardiologist privately and he swapped me from propanalol to the lowest dose of bisoprolol. Palpitations and high heart rate stopped. I have not tried withdrawal but if I do it will be under the advise of a cardiologist not a GP. Can’t believe gps can give these out. You can also get a rebound effect from coming off propanalol.

[Vps1980]

I was on them 12 days and had and still have severe chest pain, blue fingers and toes on and off, nausea, feel faint and itchy xx

[Hidden in reply to Vps1980]

Oh my goodness! How long have you been off them and what was your dosage? My heart rate is still not back to normal but I’m having periods of feeling closer to normal. I had one day of feeling weirdly itchy a few days ago but it passed. I will never take a drug like this again!

[Vps1980 in reply to Hidden]

5 days off them only on 10mgs xx

[Hidden in reply to Vps1980]

That is pretty much identical to me with length of time taken and dosage. I’m about ten days out from stopping them. I hope you feel beater soon (and me too). Please let me know how you’re doing.

[Vps1980 in reply to Hidden]

Aw I will do, fingers crossed we are both back to normal soon xx

[NatalieJ29]

Hi everyone.

I've just been reading all your comments and im slightly concerned now. So I went to bed fine not a problem then woke up around 11pm with a sharp left under boob pain. So obviously I shot up and sat for a moment waiting for this pain to move which it hasn't, but only hurts when I take a deep breath in and lay down 🤔 I also keep having feelings of goosebumps in my legs.

My GP gave me proponolol last week and said it was for my aniexty. Im on 10mg for 28 days. I've had all tests done, ecg, chest Xray, bloods and apparently nothing wrong but now again I have these chest pains? I'm absolutely terrified at the thought of anything being wrong with me so as you can imagine this is not helping at all.

Its now 12.25am and the pain still hasn't gone! I'm a wreck... a very tired one too

Is this or could this be these tablets?

Thanks xx

[Hidden in reply to NatalieJ29]

Hi Natalie,

I started to have weird symptoms on Propranolol after about a week on it. With me it was freezing cold hands and sometimes arms. It definitely does weird things to some people. I don’t know about this type of pain. Sending you good wishes! Let us know how you do.

[NatalieJ29]

So that happened to me as well plus I have asthma, so I rang my gp back and told them that my hands and feet were freezing and it was making my chest wheezy I was having to use my inhaler more and she actually asked me if I started councilling for aniexty 🙄 as though I was making it up, like they didn't believe me. This is the problem I'm having now they have put some of my other issues down to aniexty and panic disorder they try and shrug every thing off with that!

My heart palpitations are full on as well when these tablets wear off...

Let's hope I survive the night 😂

Thank you hun 😘

Hope your okay too xx

[Hidden in reply to NatalieJ29]

If one more doctor asks me if I’m stressed I’m going to scream. Why is that their go to answer for anything they don’t understand? I do get anxiety but I can definitely tell the difference between that and a reaction to a drug. Don’t give up.

At least you’re halfway through the night over there. I’m in the States - it’s still early.

[NatalieJ29 in reply to Hidden]

Excatly my point too!! Like we aren't making pains or feelings up, its so annoying 🙄

Well yeah you have a point. Suppose I better just sleep at some point.

Have a good day 😊

Xx

[Hidden in reply to NatalieJ29]

Hi Natalie

Just wanted to check on you to see how you’re doing.

[NatalieJ29]

Hii

Aww bless thank you! Well its 14.12pm here im running on fresh air I think. I eventually fell asleep it was around 1.30am. Still had pains and still had pains this morning, I've been light headed today but I'm not sure if this is because I'm tired. I mean my 2yr old woke me up at 6.30am so no rest for the wicked!

I have phoned my Doctor though still waiting for a call back I just want to check with him.

Hope your well? Xx

[Hidden]

Doctors will say anxiety because they are dodging a law suit or negligence. I’m in my 8th week now. I was shaking so bad I couldn’t stand in the shower 🚿 for 6 weeks. If I turned over in bed my heart would race if I walked across the house my heart was racing. I had panic attacks. It was all from the propanolol. My heart was racing like that for roughly 2 weeks after the last dose of 5 mg. Now I’m just dealing w shaking in my chest whereas before it was my entire body. It’s hard to even talk about because to me its been traumatic. The doctors asked me if I’ve talked to my therapist ugh!

The drug affects the autonomous system for a couple of months, dont over exert yourself causing your heart rate to go up but don’t get too upset when it does. Your body is resetting itself, take deep calm breaths. Propanolol is a lipid soluble which means it can pass into the brain easily causing your adrenaline receptions to increase but the beta blocker stops the adrenaline from binding and when you stop the propanolol your body has all the adrenaline sites open which exaggerates symptoms. Be careful of caffeine chocolate msg sugar alternatives that could all speed up the heart rate. I found (therapy in a nutshell on YouTube) progressive relaxation to be very helpful. It lowers the heart rate and helps you relax. Reassure yourself this wont last forever, you are getting g better each day.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi MisLissa,Just wanted to check to see how you are doing now!

[Hidden]

Thank you for asking! I’m so much better now! I’m 98% back to normal. I have had to do a lot of techniques to quiet my body into a sense of calm, that I had before and speaking Gods word and praying. How about you? How have you been? Just remember this is temporary and won’t last forever. You will get through this, it’s awful and I’m thankful for this forum to share and encourage.