I'm on 25 mg of Metoprolol twice a day and experience bouts of severe insomnia often being unable to fall asleep until 3:00 am. I'm almost sure this medication is causing the problem. What do others take instead of Metoprolol that serves the same purpose and not cause sleep disturbances.
A former nephologist who was an excellent provider prescribed the Metoprolol. A new nephologist who is not a very imvolved one is questioning the prescription. I'm thinking of making an appt with a cardiologist whom i had seen before to have him evaluate my BP medication rather than the new nephologist. I understand it can be dangerous to stop this medication abruptly.
Any comments and/or information will be greatly appreciated.
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drmind
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Beta blockers DO cause sleep disturbances. I was newly prescribed Carvedilol. I titrated up by taking half and then another half over a period of weeks. But once I was fully on the script, I noticed blaring insomnia. I mean let's clean the house and play in a marching band insomnia. And for over five hours. It was awful. The Neph cut the prescription in half. It helped and I was only awake for three hours at a time. I have cut it back again to half and although I still have some insomnia, I am not solving the world issues so much. I can stay in bed and fall back asleep. So now I am only taking 6.5mg of it. She had me at 25mg. I have not told her I cut it back again as I know she is strongly medicating my BP because I am stage 5. With the full script of the carvedilol, I was feeling really awful, like hung over. I did have very low BP on the script to the point of heart rate of 52 and my diastolic always in the low 60's. I do not usually change a med without DR approval, but this was crazy.
Several years ago I was put on Metoprolol. I blew up like you wouldn't believe. I had so much fluid my ankles looked like hams. One day I was trying to help my husband clean off the snow on his car and I had to stop because I could not breath. I was gasping for air. That was the end of that med. Some people just do not do well on certain drugs. Beta Blockers and me are not so good.
YESSSS! That is exactly why I stopped the Metoprolol as well. I was blowing up for no reason. I just couldn’t do it anymore. My doctor at the time said it wasn’t the Metoprolol. I did eventually stop it myself. Thank you for sharing this Bassetmommer. 🙏
I got put on that before Christmas because I was having a high pulse rate.. I hated it...especially at night.it actually made my pulse worse...I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.. ...My Neph finally said I shouldn't take it anymore...and slowly reduced by cutting it in half every week until down to zero...I think alot of us Kidney Patients get too sedentary ( not very active) because Kidney Disease takes away alot of our motivation....I have always rode my stationary bike each morning and I increased it to 2 and 3 times a day....and it seems to keep my sitting pulse between 80 and 90...but sure hated the Metopropol.. and I will continue to be more active to stay away from it
Thanks. I have to get back to walking my one mile day. But age and a bad back keeps me unmotivated to do it, but i will. Meantime, I am going to try to see a cardiologist to get help in dealing with this.
Instead of a mile try doing 1/4 mile and add to it as you can...it doesn't matter how much you exercise...just that you start...Sometimes I can peddle my bike for 5 min...and sometimes it's only 2 min...but it all helps
So true. I used to do 2 to 3 miles, but my back has deteriorated and even with a walker, I'm happy f i can do a half or one mile. BUT a big BUT , I just read today that even slow walking is not recommended for my condition. So, I'm getting an appt with a pain management doctor in a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm not sedentary at home. I have a big house and every day there are things to do. Thanks so much for your support and encouragement. I've always been an active person and won't stop trying.
Wow, I never had any swelling, but I do have the insomnia and the cough. I'll be seeing a cardiologist soon to get him to help me deal with this. I do think there's two beta blockers that do not cause insomnia. However, who knows what these will do. What a world. I'm old but my parents lived to their 80's and neither one of them ever took a prescription medication. Not sure what we are doing wrong these days. Thanks again for sharing your information.
I have taken metoprolol for several years before and after my heart attack it keeps my pulse rate low helps with the pvc’ s
I used to take 50 mg but after having septicemia I was off of it completely for about a year then pressure started going back up. I take a 25 mg and half of 25 every am I don’t take it but once daily and they’re still probably going to have to add a second med for high bp control. I never noticed any insomnia with it. I do take an anxiety med at bedtime without it I can’t sleep but I stay up to 3 am sometimes 4 am much to my Chihuahua displeasure
Maybe if they say it’s ok take it early in am if it’s controlling your bp if not then ask them to change it . Just a suggestion anyway. Best Wishes for good sleeping.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad that the Metoprolol helps you and takes care of your BP problem. We're all different and it seems as if we all react differently to this medication.
Hello drmind. I’m sorry to hear about your insomnia issues. I’m actually experiencing the same problem myself lately (not sure why - other than some extra stress perhaps). I actually once took Metoprolol years ago (I stopped it due to excessive bloating), and I did not notice that it caused insomnia then, but I’ve found this website that claims that it can cause that. Perhaps your PCP can re-adjust your BP meds, and find a less problematic option. Also, you may want to try other options like drinking some chamomile tea before bedtime. Some people find that it helps induce sleep. I hope you will find this website helpful. All of my best to you. 🙏
It was so nice of you to share your experiences with Metoprolol. It was also especially nice to share the website that does such a good job discussing sleep and Metoprolol. I plan on having a telehealth visit with a cardiologist this week and ask him about making a medication change. I think that there are two other beta blockers that could be used that do not disturb sleep. I'll see what he say and report it to the community. Thanks again.
I take 25 mg metoprolol per day for rapid heart rate. It helps tremendously and honestly I would be afraid to not take it. Occasionally I will wake up at 3 am, sometimes I can go back to sleep and sometimes not. I had no idea that this could be the metoprolol. Another reason to love this site. Thanks for the question Drmind and thank you others for sharing.
There must be something in the make up with Metoprolol that has to do with 3:00 am! I am often up at that time--either just falling asleep or getting up for the 1st time after falling asleep earlier. I seem to wake up in two hour shifts and it seems as if its a miracle if I can sleep for a longer time. Still, I seem to be getting my rest even if its in short term shifts. I don't nap and never needed a lot of sleep, but I do like to get 7 hours at least. Oh, well, this is annoying but not something that I can't cope with. It just look at it at times as a new normal and thankful that when I eventually get up for the day, I don't have to go to work.
I'll be discussing this insomnia with a cardiologist this week and will report back any suggestions or changes he makes. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I have been taking 25MG Metroprolol for a few years now and no side effect or any problem with sleeping. I take it once a day. Maybe you can ask your doctor to see if you can take it once a day instead to see if that helps.
Wow, thats good. I take 25 mg twice a day. I was on 50 twice a day but thankfully that was changed a year or so ago. Frankly, I'm not even sure why I'm on this medication. My regular BP meds appears to do a decent job controlling my BP. My pulse usually runs within the normal range but on the high side. I don't recall it ever being very high with or without the Metoprolol, Anyway, a visit with a cardiologist this week should help me decide what to do. I have been a little afraid to get off this medication without medical consultation. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I took metopolol and I did have trouble sleeping if I took the second dose to late in the day .I have asthma and it made me short of breath that's why they took me off it.I can't take anything in that class I take amlodipine
I am SO glad I don't have that side effect. I take 75 MG of Metoprolol daily (50 MGs of them right before bed). I am a night owl so I go to bed pretty late (12:30 AM) but thankfully I don't have problems falling asleep.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Its amazing that you can take 50 mg of Metoprolol right before bed and still fall asleep. I'm a night owl, too, but not by choice. I take that 2nd Metoprolol at 4 pm and within an hour, I'm energized and can paint the house if my family would let me. I just don't get tired until way past midnight. I do take Melatonin and it helps but not always. I take the first 25 mg of Metoprolol around 10:00 am and was advised to wait several hours before the 2nd dose. Anyway, I do get a lot of reading done.
Try Dickens....that will make your eyes close. I am currently reading Bleak House and between the antique language and the over 1,000 pages, it does the job! But I love it... it's truly hilarious.
I love the old novels. I'm especially fond of the Russian writers and went thru War and Peace twice already. However, I'm also a news junkie and can never get enough of it. I share news posts with a nephew in Philly as well as my son. My nephew is a busy, hard-working attorney and I vowed to keep him abreast of any Breaking News whenever. Its fun and we all enjoy it. We need to start a club called the "Metoprolol Midnighters."
My husband has been taking Metoprolol in various doses for a very long time. At one time, he was switched to Carvedilol, which was new at the time, but it caused all sorts of issues and he returned to Metoprolol. My hubby never had trouble sleeping on any blood pressure med until a few months before he was put on dialysis. I suspect he had a lot going on internally as his kidneys shut down, but being on Metoprolol, along with two or three others during that harrowing time, probably didn't help. Betablockers are definitely known to interrupt sleep for some. After my hubby's transplant, however, he's been fine - Metoprolol is the only one he takes. Interestingly, some blood pressure meds are prescribed separately as sleep aids and stress relievers - clonidine is one of them. So, since there are so many different kinds of blood pressure meds, I wouldn't hesitate to switch to one that agreed with you. We're all unique. Make yourself and your body happy.
Thanks for sharing your husband's experience. Yes, it is obvious that we are all so unique and respond uniquely to our medications. I also think a lot depends on our stage of CKD, the status of our current labs, and, of course, the variety of medical problems that we have. I just also read the Metoprolol depletes Melatonin so one has to take extra Melatonin if we want help with this supplement. Its all so complicated, but its such a good feeling to share with others and extend our knowledge of the worrisome problems that we may have. Sometimes, I get more from hearing from all of you than i get from the-10 to 15 minutes with my doctors. Thanks again everyone.
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