Stopped Propranolol

[mummyofspot]

good morning

I was on propranolol 80mg SR for a couple of years for anxiety and palpitations (probably perimenopause symptoms).

over the 2 years I was on them I started to get very frequent PVCs (every other beat), bad anxiety, depression, insomnia and a horrible feeling like my body was being poisoned. I’ve had all the heart tests done and all ok there. So my Dr said to stop the propranolol. She said I didn’t have to wean but I want to take it slowly so I switched to the immediate release ones and started to wean myself down over the course of a month. This was ok. I had lots of weird sensations but nothing too awful and the PVCs and other symptoms have reduced greatly!

I’ve been off of them for 13 days now and feeling better each day however last night I couldn’t sleep because of wired anxiety feeling and today I feel very very anxious and my heart beat feels very heavy. It’s not really fast but definitely elevated and I’m aware of it.

Could this be a rebound from stopping the propranolol or would that be unusual after 13 days off them? I read that they are out of the system in 1-2 days but side effects can last up to 2 weeks. I really don’t want to go back on them as they made me feel so awful. I’ve also tried Bisoprolol which made me feel the same.

Any advice from anyone that has stopped beta blockers would be very much appreciated.

Thank you x

[mjames1]

Hard to believe your doctor told you to go cold turkey coming off a beta blocker. Smart of you to wean off of them, but the symptoms you describe are likely still from some rebound. If you don't feel better soon, maybe go back to your last wean dose for a week and then cut that in half for another week or two, etc.

Jim

[mummyofspot in reply to mjames1]

thank you for replying. Yeah 2 different drs said stop them without tapering and one of them was an electrophysiologist in London. I wonder if it’s because I wasn’t taking them for a heart condition per se?

Anyway, I’m gonna ride it out because I felt so awful on them and they made me almost psychotic so anything is better than that!!!

Thanks again