Do beta blockers have an accumulative effect?

[Kitten-whiskers]

Good morning everyone,

Just a quick question about beta blockers - I have been prescribed Propranolol and have been told to take 3 x 10mg tablets a day - is this a normal dose and do they have an accumulative effect?

Thank you : >

[shaws Administrator]

Betablockers can affect the uptake of levothyroxine and interfere in the conversion of T4 to T3 (which is the active hormone). He is obviously unaware - I don't know why the provide them but I suspect you are having palpitations.

Beta-blockers: may decrease peripheral conversion of Levothyroxine to triiodothyronine. Levothyroxine has the potential to reduce plasma concentrations of propanolol due to increased propranolol metabolism.

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

If you have been having bad palpitations, try an anti-histamine tablet 1 hour before your next dose of levo. If it calms you down - you it's levo (or that brand) which is causing you problems.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Hello Shaws, thank you for the information.

I was given better blockers to slow down my pulse, my erratic breathing and the tightness around my chest. I have had no luck in getting the tablet form of medication in - it has always gone toxic. so I have been given a trial of liquid T4 - this has been a Hugh improvement - I took it for nine days in a row before experiencing any problem - the only problem being my pulse being in the hundreds and a horrible feeling around my chest - I am not in any way toxic, The endro said that it was quite normal to experience this and over time when the body got used to the medication things would calm down.

I had only taken a small about of beta blocker at night, so hopefully it won't upset the conversion

Best wishes

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I am sure the small dose at night will be beneficial as I had to take beta-blockers too initially. I understand how palpitations make you feel.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

I only had quarter of a tablet - The sound such iffy things to take. I just hope it settles down and I can go back on the T4

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Hopefully it will settle down when the meds don't have a reaction on you.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Hello Shaws,

My pulse is increasing and my heart pounding, it was 114bpm - I took this reading about 35 mins after I had a betablocker (which seemed to ease things)

What is happening? I haven't had any medication or HC - just supplements.

This is really horrible : <

It always seems to be at it's worsed about 30 mins after an evening meal.

[humanbean in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Is there something that you regularly eat at meals? Could you be suffering from an allergy to something you eat or drink?

Perhaps it would be worth keeping a food diary and note what your BP and heart rate are every 15 or 20 minutes, for an hour after each meal.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to humanbean]

Hello Humanbean,

This has only been happening since the new medication.

It does flare up in the day but not quite to the same extent.

When I was at the docs it was 109bpm.

I have been keeping a food diary - because I am certain I have

food allergies but this hasn't happened to me before : <

Not like this

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

I take 80 mg slow release propanonl have done for 8 years , no propblems cardio said i have to take then for palpations and fast heart rate at times ,i have bad anxiety

[humanbean]

I just took a look at the patient information leaflet for propranolol and the dose you have been prescribed is really quite low. So if you are only taking 1/4 of one tablet when your heart rate speeds up they really won't be doing much for you at all.

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

Perhaps you could try taking a whole one and see what it does.

Edit : Ah! I got it wrong about the 1/4 tablet... You weren't referring to the beta blockers. Sorry!

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to humanbean]

Thank you Humanbean, I will be having the whole 3 tablets a day.

I really thought this new medication was putting me on the road to recovery and now it has done this.

I hope it settles down

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

If you have only been taking 1/4 tablet at a time, to go straight to 3 whole tablets a day may be a bit too much. When I needed beta-b I only took one per day and it worked. Is your palpitations more during the night or during the day?

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Hello Shaws,

much worse of an evening, I thought three might be too much but that is what I have been prescribed - I don't know if I would need more when I am back on the medication.

It is now eight days without the medication.

Maybe one of an evening would be enough

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Hello Shaws,

much worse of an evening, I thought three might be too much but that is what I have been prescribed - I don't know if I would need more when I am back on the medication.

It is now eight days without the medication.

Maybe one of an evening would be enough

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I don't know what your dose is. I was having a problem early a.m. was prescribed one 2.5mg by the cardiologist and that suits me fine. If you do get palpitations at other times, just take a tablet - it should work quickly. When I had severe palpitations when on levo, I found sipping ice-cold water did the trick and here is some more info:-

lifeoffbeat.com/stop-heart-...

Maybe they will have to give you T3 if the liquid isn't satisfactory for you. I feel well on T3 and as it is absorbed into blood stream quickly and then into cells, betas don't appear to have any affect on my thyroid meds.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Thank you for the link - that will be very handy.

The endo recommended 25mcg a day but I was taking 2.5mcg daily.

This has been the only one where I feel it stands a chance of working - all others and T3 were awful for me, so I must persist with this one - I am running out of options.

Maybe I should only take a little once a week and see if my body gets used to it slowly.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I am not sure what you mean by:

Maybe I should only take a little once a week and see if my body gets used to it slowly.

I assume you mean T3. Where you taking T3 alone or with T4.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Sorry Shaws - I meant the liquid T4.

I would never take T3 again - that was horrible

Thank you for the link - I did watch that video - it is very interesting.

Their must be something else going on for me

[shaws Administrator]

This is quite a good video to watch re finding it difficult to feel well on thyroid meds.

youtube.com/watch?v=dwnhT38...(Not working as expected?)