Atenolol Side Effects

[Sarah D]

I'm 21 years old, I've been taking 25mg of atenolol since I was 7 or 8. I stopped it a few months ago in august after my boyfriend asked me if I was on any medications. After giving him a pill he bit into and stated that it was exactly the same chemical taste that he detected on my skin. A few months after taking it I realize just how many side effects that it had caused. I was always lethargic and tired, my hands and feet were always cold, I had open sores on my legs that finally healed and left severe scarring, I was depressed, my muscles and my mind were atrophied, I had the worst memory, and I always just kind of felt foggy brained, stupid and lazy. For years I thought that there was just something wrong with me mentally, I wasn't motivated to do anything, I was severely depressed, I didn't do well in school. Although I cannot medically prove that these things are due to the medication, I can positively say that after taking them I have changed dramatically. I have more energy, my legs no longer get open sores and they look so much better, I'm no longer depressed, I have a better memory and I just feel 100% better. My symptoms got worse when I hit puberty, my parents thought it was normal, possibly that I was on drugs or something, just involved in a bad click. But I truely believe it was the atenolol. I believe that my body was so saturated with it and that the changes of puberty may have been the causes to why I reacted so badly to it. My point in all of this being that anyone whose been on atenolol for a few years or have young children on the medication should look out for these symptoms. My doctors always focused on how my heart was doing, they told me my legs were infected hair follicles, they never asked if I was experiencing any of the side effects. Maybe in my case this could have been avoided, maybe I'd be smarter for it, I wouldn't be embarrassed by my body and maybe it could have saved me years of mental anguish. Maybe not. Hopefully someone reading this who felt the same way I did wont have to go through it. I didn't even know I was having symptoms until I stopped taking the medication. Hopefully I've opened a patients eyes to the fact that they may have these symptoms to, that it may be the medication, and made a doctor more apt to ask questions about a patients general health and not just focus on the HCM.

[Linda]

Sarah, Welcome - glad you've found us. I'm sorry you've had such a tough time. I hope you have kept your doctor in the loop. Have you started a different med?

Call the HCMA office if you have not yet done so, they will be able to help you with much info. If you search thru posts here, you will see stories of others who have had to try a few meds before finding the one. Not all will give you the bad side effects - unfortunately, you've had a prolonged time of these miserable effects.

Best wishes - Linda

[mbcube]

Sarah - Glad your feeling better. I hope you did this with your Doctor's knowledge as I was a bit alarmed in reading this. I don't think I (or anyone)should decide to change medication because of one person's perception of how I tasted.

[Sarah]

Tenormin is the worst. They put me on it in high school and it made me a zombie. Horrible stuff.

However, beta blockers are the medication that controls my heart rate the best. I take Toprol XL and the side effects aren't that bad. You should talk to your doctor about whether you need rate control or something to soften your heart beat. Calcium channel blockers may work better for you if you do. Also, it sounds like you need very little medication -- even though you were on a tiny dose, you seem to be especially sensitive.

Hang in there and I'm glad you are feeling better.

[Sarah D]

No I did this without my doctors knowledge. And I'm sorry but if one's body is so saturated with a drug that another person can take it I think that means you've been on it a little to long. After I stopped taking it I talked to my surgeon who put my icd in and he told me that there was no real need for me to even have been on it or for so long, especially with the icd. I dont plan on ever taking any beta blockers again.

[cuore80]

Tenormin is the worst. They put me on it in high school and it made me a zombie. Horrible stuff.

However, beta blockers are the medication that controls my heart rate the best. I take Toprol XL and the side effects aren't that bad. You should talk to your doctor about whether you need rate control or something to soften your heart beat. Calcium channel blockers may work better for you if you do. Also, it sounds like you need very little medication -- even though you were on a tiny dose, you seem to be especially sensitive.

Hang in there and I'm glad you are feeling better.

Tenormin is the best.

Im on it since last year, very small dose but it really works.

No side effects at all, only benefits, so we are all different in diagnosis and in medications-

Regards

[Reenie]

The reason for most people with HCM to be on medication - usually a beta blocker - is that they soften and slow the heart beat. This allows the heart to not work as hard as it would without the meds. An HCM heart works too hard already. When your heart works too hard, the cumulative effect can be bad over many years.

There are many kinds of beta blockers and other medicines that offer the same sort of benefits and they all have different effects on the people who take them. Although Atenolol didn't work that well for you another med might be great.

I'm not sure what kind of doctor your surgeon who put your ICD in is, probably an electrophysiologist, but I would definitely consider seeing a specialist at an HCM center of excellence about your condition. A specialist might not put you back on beta blockers either, but you would have the benefit of knowing someone who truly understands HCM helped you make the decision to medicate or not. There aren't many EP's who are up to date enough about HCM to suggest whether or not someone take a beta blocker.

The reason Marc was concerned that you just quit the medicine without consulting your doctor is that most beta blockers need to be weaned off instead of just quitting them cold turkey. There can be rebound effects if you quit them suddenly. Your dose was pretty small and you had no adverse effects, for which we are all grateful. My point is just to explain his comments.

I wish you well.

[Cynaburst]

I also used to take Atenolol. When I switched to Toprol I was much happier and feel much better on it.

I agree with what Reenie has told you. It can be beneficial to take a beta blocker, even just a small dose over the long term. I would also suggest a consultation with a specialty center. I have found that E.P.'s are not that up on matters of cardiology and vice versa. My E.P. defers to my cardiologist regarding my meds.

[Sarah D]

I've seen alot of the top specialists in the country. I was in a study at NIH about HCM. And yes I do know that stopping the medication cold turkey was a bad idea. I just wanted to get it out of my system. Thank you everyone for your responses.

[Sarah]

Hi Sarah

I hear that. Sometimes I want to stand in the middle of the street and scream.

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

S