Beta Blockers Are Evil
Last night when I was typing the text I included as part of the Daily Sadie, I Googled Atenelol to find out that the correct spelling seemed to be Atenolol, as it was handier than digging out the bottle.
How did I not know before that I was taking a beta blocker? Or had I accepted the fact and merely forgotten it? I have a history with beta blockers, which are increasingly, unsurprisingly in my experience, accepted as causing depression.
Be that as it may, they go above and beyond other blood pressure meds in causing lethargy and mental changes/slowness. When I first took blood pressure drugs, it was a beta blocker prescribed by a doctor in Billerica I went to because he was near work. Eventually I figured out this was the cause of my flaking out, losing my ability to remember anything or concentrate, and becoming almost completely apathetic. None of which helped my employment any.
I went off of it for a while, though I wasn’t between jobs and insurance for long. Eventually an obnoxious doctor at a walk-in clinic prescribed the same thing, based on my say so of what I’d previously been taking, in response to a high reading. I ended up picking a doctor at that practice, and when I started with him, he was horrified I was on beta blockers, saying “those are for nervous women.” I ended up on a combination of two things that kept it to a dull roar. That doctor was okay with it if we could keep it below 150/95 and sometimes got readings more like 140/90 and below.
Eventually I ended up off the drugs again, until I needed a tooth removed. They wouldn’t do that until my BP was normal, which I am sure the excrutiating pain and need to take antibiotics for a couple months helped tremendously. It was amusing to watch my blood pressure go up 30 points between the car and the dental office. I would measure it in the car and get 120 or 130, and in the office they would get 150 or 160. Doh. They made me take valium for the extraction, on top of aggressive blood pressure treatment and nitrous.
Along the way I ended up with my current doctor. The previous doctor had me on two entirely different drugs, neither of which were beta blockers. I thought I explained my history with beta blockers to this doctor, and I thought he said the one that turns out to be a beta blocker was something different. Maybe he meant a different type of beta blocker, and I heard “alpha blocker” so went away happy. I’ve been telling people all this time that I take a diuretic, a calcium channel blocker, and an alpha blocker, joking that I have no idea what that does that’s different from a beta blocker. Doh.
How convenient that I discovered this just in time for my appointment today at 1:30, where it is the beta blocker that I need to get represcribed. Just after learning about the depression angle. Which comes shortly after having discussed with Deb whether to try Lexapro again, or an alternative with different side-effects.
The doctor likes to use the blood pressure check appointments as quickies to help offset the people who need more attention. I’m afraid this will not be one of those head-spinningly fast appointments.
I am tired of being stuck in first gear, having my brain all but turned off, moving in slow motion, and just generally residing in the state of Apathy. This should be an interesting appointment…
but we are all so used to you like that..
Posted by on 08/05 at 12:46 PMJay,
Beta blockers cause depression? No stuff? Cause I opted for them over diuretics, for convenience’s sake, but I’ve been a depressed puppy. I need to check into that.
Posted by Velociman on 08/05 at 09:38 PMNow you’ve got me worried. I also take atenolol for BP control. Honestly, it’s changed my life. I used to eat bottles-worth of Excedrin, but finally even that wasn’t helping, and if I’m off the stuff for even a day the migraine will start. I couldn’t live without it.
So maybe I’m walking around all whipped-out without knowing it? I’ve just figured that was my natural lethargy. It’s still been better than the headaches.
Maybe I should ask the doctor about alternatives at my next appointment?
Posted by Solomon on 08/05 at 09:59 PMOk folks, while Betas CAN cause lethargy and depression that doesn’t mean that they WILL. In Jay’s case, probably, but for Solomon they may not be. Adjusting the dose can help, or taking them in combination with other drugs can chenge the side effects. Everyone’s drug reactions are different, so it’s important that you discuss all of your symptoms with your doctor and then make the choice that fits your life best, not necessarily just what your doctor wants…
Posted by caltechgirl on 08/05 at 10:23 PMI was prescribed an ACE inhibitor for blood pressure. I got so spacey on it that I had two car accidents in two weeks, after being accident-free for a good ten years. Like I’d see a red light and think “What a pretty shade of red” instead of “Holy sh@t, hit the brakes!”
Doc said, “Oh no, it couldn’t be the medicine, mental impairment is not a listed side effect.”
I stopped taking it, and the very next morning got caught up on two weeks’ worth of work that had been languishing due to my spaciness, AND got an appointment with a new doc who said “Well, it’s not a listed side effect but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect YOU that way - let’s try something else.”
I would rant about docs in general, but too many of them are gems - I just need to remember how to avoid the jerky ones.
Posted by on 08/08 at 01:39 AM
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