Coreg CR

I had a pacemaker implanted a little over a week ago. My cardiologist prescribed 20mg of Coreg CR yesterday. I took it last night and today I feel as crummy as I did before my PM was implanted. For that one week, from the time the PM was implanted untiil yesterday I felt on top of the world. I walked a mile or two every day. It was great.

Has anyone else been prescribed Coreg CR, and if you did, how did it affect you? I feel crappy today, no energy, low bloor pressure (68/42 this morning) but my heart rate is fine (84).

cd

6 Comments

Maybe the dose is too high?

by Gonnie - 2008-12-04 10:12:33

My cardio doc started me on 3.25 mg Carvedilol (Coreg generic) twice a day. Two weeks later it was doubled, two weeks after that it was doubled etc. until I was on 25 mg twice daily. He told me it had to be cycled up until we reached that level. I feel great on it. Could be too much too soon for your system. I would try it tomorrow & if you still feel crappy, by all means call your doctor. There's no sense feeling bad thru a weekend if you can avoid it. Best wishes to you!

Coreg

by SMITTY - 2008-12-04 10:12:50

Hello CD,

Coreg is a beta blocker and the following is a list of some of the side effects this class of medicine can cause.

"Adverse drug reactions associated with the use of beta blockers include: nausea, diarrhea, bronchospasm, dyspnea, cold extremities, exacerbation of Raynaud's syndrome, bradycardia, hypotension, heart failure, heart block, fatigue, dizziness, abnormal vision, decreased concentration, hallucinations, insomnia, nightmares, clinical depression, sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction and/or alteration of glucose and lipid metabolism."

So your problems are not uncommon for those of us that do now or have taken beta blockers. In my case I have experienced the symptoms you describe however, I never had them to show up so soon after I started taking the beta blocker.

You body has been through some amount of trauma from getting the pacemaker, so you could be experiencing the effects of that trauma. However, deliver me from saying flat out that what you are experiencing is not caused by the Coreg.

As for your blood pressure, 68/42 is a little low and that could be a contributing factor to your feeling poorly. Of course that low BP is probably caused by the Coreg as that is one of the functions of Coreg, so in a round about way, yes the Coreg could be causing you to feel crappy.

I would say tough it out for a couple of days and if you don't feel better give your doctor a call. Of course you should watch you BP and if it shows signs of getting any lower, call the Dr. at once.

Good luck,

Smitty

coreg cr

by bonniefox - 2008-12-05 08:12:01

Hi,
I received my pacemaker in Nov of 07 and was started on coregcr 20mg and a cholesterol lowering medication(before surgery my chloresterol was always about 150 and after surgery it was 210--lab error? surgery trauma?) Anyways the end result was that I felt AWFUL and couldn't tell which med was to blame with the symptoms that you described. So I stopped the chloresterol meds (with a 3 month trial to try to lower my chloresterol by life style methods) and my coreg cr was lowered to 10mg and to be taken at nighttime and I have tolerated that very well for over 1 year.
"Squeekey wheel gets the grease" when it comes to healthcare. Keep asking questions !

Coreg CR

by aldeer - 2008-12-05 11:12:39

I have been on many beta blockers and have felt terrible. (very tired) and they didn't do their job. After my pm and av-node ablation (at first showing 3 episodes of VT, I was put on Coreg CR (continued release). in June. It is an alpha and beta-blocking med. Began at 40MG and because it wasn't taking care of the morning hypertension, another 20MG was added. So in the evening I take 60MGs and I must say I have felt better then I have in the past 10 years since being on many, many different meds for a-fib. It took a couple of months to work, but it does! No more VTs and the pharmacist told me it was so much better getting the continued release tablets. I sure hope it works well for you. I walk every day and swim 1/2 hour straight swim five days a week. Lots of good luck with yours..... aldeer

Coreg

by Vai - 2008-12-06 01:12:00

Hi,
Each person reacts to beta blockers in different ways and tolerance varies significantly. Suggest you check this out
- did you feel "bad" after taking the drug and there was some improvement as the day goes on. If so, consider splitting the 20 mg once per day into twice per day of 10 mg each time (12 hours apart). This was what the doc recommended for me (I am using another beta blocker) and it worked for me.
- check out what was the underlying reason for the medication. Maybe the dosage was too high. Experiment by halving it. Clear this with your doc. I was taking another drug to eliminate the risk of high blood pressure but it was too effective and brought it too low. So halving the dosage made it just right. My b/p is averaging 110/78 with minor variations only. Getting it right is just so wonderful!

Trust this helps.
Regards

Coreg CR

by cdauer - 2008-12-11 02:12:27

Thanks for all your comments I did finally see the doctor and he reduced my dose to 10mg CR. I've been taking it for a little less than a week and trying to be patient. Before I had my pacemaker implanted I would have "spells" where I would get very week and come very close to blacking out, and sometimes actually passing out. For the week following the implant I felt like a miracle had happened I felt so good. Then the doctor put me on Coreg and I'm now back to feeling pretty much like I did before the pacemaker but not quite to the near passing out point.

It seems like the message from all of you is "give it a little more time." So I guess I'll give it a month and if things don't get much better I'll give the doc a talking to.

Thanks for all your help. It helps a lot to talk to people who have "been there."

cd

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