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any experience with beta blockers for fast heart rate?

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gealach

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I have had 2 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for covid, about 45 days apart, with the 2nd dose being 2 months ago tomorrow. I have a lingering side effect of tachycardia, sometimes progressing to SVT and an irregular rhythm (? atrial fibrillation, ? ectopics), and this week have noticed an irregular rhythm even at 80bpm. There is a relationship between ambient temperature and my heart rate: the hotter it is, the faster my heart rate, to the point where this week I was sent home from work for tachycardia, hyperthermia, dizziness, nausea, and pre-syncope. I just can't cool down, even with the AC running at full, and my heart rate spikes, taking hours to come down after the ambient temp has decreased. I've had no chest pain or fever, so there's no myocarditis or pericarditis.

I finally gave in today and saw my doctor. It's about a 2 month wait for a cardiologist and a holter, which he says is just too long, so he's prescribed propranolol (beta blocker). I'm a paramedic and a cardio tech, so academically/professionally I know what this drug does, why, and how it works. What I don't know is the real experience of taking this drug...


just a note, I'm not knocking this/any vaccine. I'm immunocompromised and a front line paramedic, so I am at increased risk of covid on 2 fronts. I've seen how bad this illness can get, I've seen what dying of this illness looks like.... and if a little vaccine is kicking my arse, I can imagine how sick I would have been if I would have caught covid before being fully immunized.
 
@gealach it's been a couple of decades but I took propranolol for tachycardia associated with Grave's Disease. When I took the meds it worked great problem was I was a young, dumb 19-21 yr/old and was too preoccupied with avoiding/re-enacting my traumas to consider the implications of a resting heartrate of 180 really meant for me long term. As someone who at the time had the distinction of being the youngest recurrent patient in the cardiac ICU I wish I could go back and kick myself in the ass and take the meds the way I should have and the way, they were prescribed.

As a side note have you had your thyroid checked since these symptoms began? Everything that you are describing sounds just like the symptoms I had with Grave's which is as you know an extreme form of hyperthyroid with a goiter. You may not have Grave's and I am not implying that the vaccine is affecting your thyroid but it is an idea to have your PCP check out your levels, it is a condition that can come on suddenly and may not be related to the vaccine at all.
 
I take metoprolol for heart issues caused by high blood pressure. I have taken propranolol and don't find it to be invasive. It was like I took a Xanax actually. I may have been a bit sluggish the first week, but not to the point where I had to lay down. I just remember the decreased anxiety I felt bc my heart wasn't pounding out of my chest all the time!
 
I take Carvedilol at night and it doesn't bother me at all. I suppose it would be different if I took it in the morning but so far, so good. @gealach, it sounds like you have it worse now than you would have side effects on a beta blocker. I'm sorry you are so ill.
 
I was on proponanol a few years ago because I had a resting heart rate of 135bpm. It worked. I was only on it for a few weeks. Made me feel tired and spaced out.
 
I'm currently on propranolol for anxiety and dysautonomia. It's doing a decent job of keeping my HR and BP at reasonable levels (unless I do something to flare the dysautonomia). I'm LOVING the anti-anxiety properties of this!! It did make me a little sleepy for a week or so while I acclimated, but now it doesn't bother me at all. Helped some with the nightmares, too, although it did cause some intense insomnia (disrupts melatonin production). I got stuff to help with that, and now everything is mostly peachy again. I still don't tolerate high temps or intense physical exertion, but I'm better, and that's important.
 
he's prescribed propranolol (beta blocker).
My physician put me on this several years ago for an arrhythmia (no tests, just "you need to take this) - it did help initially, then at some point made things very much worse.

I did have an EKG finally and was diagnosed with PVCs (I had been worried about a-fib) - I changed my diet (stopped caffeine, mostly) and paid closer attention to my stress, and have had few problems since.

The doctor I went to after the one that prescribed the propranolol said it should never be prescribed like it was. *shrug* I don't know, but things are much better now that I don't take it.
 
I am a nurse and have many many patients on beta blockers. Not every drug is a match for every patient. If it’s not a good fit for you, talk to yourself doc about other options. I recently started metoprolol myself for anxiety and migraine control. It has been a wonder drug for me. My migraines are less often and shorter when they happen. And I finally don’t feel like a constant ball or anxiety.
 
I have been on propanolol and flunatop, the first for managing anxiety and pounding heart rate and the second against migraines due to variations in blood pressure. Forgot the actual name of the latter but it's not something available in the US. I don't remember feeling any different with propanolol (that I had at very low doses) but the flunatop clearly did completely block the variations in pressure and the migraines with the side effect that I didn't give a f*ck about my work. I missed deadlines and got fired. At the end it's my fault lol but really I wasn't anticipating how anti anxiety stuff would work as the doc didn't explain it. However it makes sense that it blocks anxiety as well as traumatic emotions as everything works together. I found it to be a very useful medication at the end as it filled its purpose but I would have liked to have more guidance on how to use it and what to expect.

Now I'm used to psychiatric drugs that are much more potent than propanolol so I can't really compare anymore, I don't have anything I can feel, my standards are very different than the ones I had at the time.
 
I use 20mg of Propranalol as spot treatment for expected C-PTSD blood pressure spikes. It really helps to keep my BP from intense levels. Unfortunately, I cannot predict every instance that will trigger my response (like unexpected texts/emails) from the source of the trauma.
 
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