My father was being treated for HBP for a couple years and has had his medication switched a few times. I know that he was on metoprolol once before and it didn't help his blood pressure it only increased. He was switched to Lisenipril and that helped. However about 6 months ago he suffered from a mild stroke and then had to undergo heart surgery due to an annuerism that was found in one of his aeortic aretries. When this happened they put him back on metoprolol and he has since had problems with his blood pressure staying elevated. If he doesn't take the medication his blood pressure will decrease as they day goes on but is high upon rising. If he takes the medication he says that it seems his blood pressure stays elevated and will sometimes increase as well. He was taking half of a 25mg pill in the morning and then half of a 25mg pill at night but has since been increased to a full 25mg pill in the morning and a full 25mg pill at night. However his blood pressure is still elevated and his doctor and he do not agree that he should be switched to something else. The doctor swears that this medication doesn't elevate the blood pressure at all but expierience is saying otherwise. We know want to know if anyone else has had this issue with this medication.
Does metoprolol ever cause your blood pressure to rise instead of decrease?
Question posted by Agravated on 21 Feb 2012
Last updated on 15 November 2023
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39 Answers Page 2
Does and can your father take any coq10? If possible, see if he can take 200 mg a day while on the metoprolol-that should / may help.
My husband has been taking Ubiquinol Co Q10, 200mg twice a day with the metoprolol 25 mg now once a day in the evening. His BP in the morning is 167 / 87. After taking Hawthorn 400 mg Extract and Berry this morning, after 1 hr his BP has dropped to 137/67. People need to realize the benefits of Hawthorn. His PC Dr is fully supportive of his taking the Hawthorn. Do the research. Drug companies dont want you to know this.
Glad I found this site. I went to the doctor last night for a checkup. I figured since my BP is always elevated when I go I would take my 50mg of Metoprolol two hours before my appointment. My BP is usually elevated to 150 over 84 at every appointment then settles to around 140 over 80 after about 15 minutes. Yesterday my initial reading was 170 over 89 and after 15 minutes they retook and it was at 190 over 90. The doctor then told me to keep taking the Metoprolol and added Amlodipine Besylate which states in rare cases can cause a heart attack after first being taken and or liver problems that need to be treated in the hospital. I am now going back to the doctor with all these questions, answers and testimonials and am definitely not going to take the Amlodipine Besylate.
The metoprolol takes time for you to adjust as they find the right dose. I took it for 27 years and it took two years to get the right dose and get my condition under control. Your father is taking the lowest possible dose. For most it is a well tolerated medication with no side effect and I'm someone with a lot of medication intolerance.
I was told by my PC that my BP and Cholesterol was good except for Trigelcerids. Cardiologist put in a heart stent. now I am on Metoprolol, Plavix, and Lipitor and aspirin. my BP is normal in morning but after taking Plavix and Metoprolol it rises to 160/100 Pulse 78. I think it is either the Plavix or Metoprolol raising my blood pressure. my PC had taken me off Water pill because I did not have high BP.
YES-Agravated, metoprolol DOES raise blood pressure. See if your fathers doctor can switch him to CLONIDINE instead. I know that every ones system is different, I switched to clonidine (it works in the brain to lower blood pressure) and once my body got used to it in a few months, I have not had any problems with it and clonidine works pretty good to keep my blood pressure in the lower 140/80's range once I take it every 12 hours 0.2 mg. Better than metoprolol any day.
I am having the same problem with metoprolol. I really think it raises my BP which gives me very uncomfortable 'brain zaps' Anyone who has taken an SSRI or anxiety meds may understand what I mean. I've tried 50mg-200mg er and regular (tartate) but my blood pressure just sky rockets up to 181/111. Went back to the doctor and he just wants me to take more metoprolol! He explained that my heart rate is always high- around 100, every time I come in. Anyway, I take 16mg of tizanidine to sleep every night and that does a fabulous job of lowering my BP fast. If I take one 4mg tizanidine in the afternoon, my BP stays under control for the day. Just hoping to help someone maybe avoid the ER with this info. I think I'll have to find another doctor. I'm an otherwise healthy 37 year old woman with hypertension on my mom's side.
Anxiety is a problem too so I'm disappointed that beta blockers don't seem to help either issue. GLTA
P.s. if anyone else has brain zaps related to high blood pressure, or any advice, pleeeease let me know.
T
Dear Aggravated: All I can tell you is that I had this experience, Metoprolol actually increased my blood pressure and I felt terrible. I called and told my doctors office, they said to give it a few days as I was just getting used to a new medication. (I did what they said which wasn't wise on my part) I called back and complained again so they told me to go to Immediate Care so they could monitor my blood pressure. At the Immediate Care they told me to lay down and be quiet that they were going to call an ambulance to transport me to hospital. (I insisted my husband take me instead) At hospital I was given Catapres, and then more Catapres and sent home, (having only seen a nurse and never even having spoke to a real doctor-ridiculous I know). I personally didn't like this drug Catapres generic name is colonodine as it caused very many bad bad side effects and complications for me.
I do want you to know that I also take meds for autoimmune hypothyroid disease. It may or may not have something to do with it. If the medicine isn't working and the doctor and your Dad don't agree, maybe it's time to find a new doctor or get another opinion? I have found that doctors sometimes don't want to hear it from the patients, but if the medicine isn't working for your Dad, it's not working and that needs to be addressed right? I mean that is just common sense. Some doctors may not realize that a certain medicine may not work for everyone because they haven't heard about that happening for a given medicine so they might not be inclined to believe it? I don't know.
At my cardiologists office I told a new doctor what happened to me on the Metoprolol, and then I asked him "So what if I had stroked out on that medicine?" He looked at me and said, "Well, all medicines have risks", and I looked at him and said, "that's great, but I don't want to be some statistic". I care about my life and I called and told my doctor who prescribed this that it wasn't working and it was making me feel bad and it sent my blood pressure skyrocketing to stoke levels, where my pressure wasn't that high prior to taking the medicine. I also told him I found something online that said there could be a problem with the way this medicine interacts with another medication for Thyroid problems. Nobody wants to hear it. Everything I have said here is MY PERSONAL experience, I'm not a doctor, nothing I say should be interpreted as medical advice and I am just sharing what happened to me so that you know that it can and did happen to me though I don't have an answer as to why. Hope you get the help you need for your Dad and he is able to get on a medicine that works for him.
Thank you for this posting. I was put on a blood thinner (Xarelto) and Metoprolol and got very bad headaches. The pharmacist told me it was a common side effect for the Xarelto and it would take about a month to adjust. I only took the Xarelto 1x Daily and the Metoprolol 2x daily. About three hours after taking the Metoprolol, I began almost passing out because my BP was too low. So, when my BP started to get really bad, I thought for sure it was the Xarelto. My head aches were horrible at night , which is when I took Xarelto, and my BP was dangerously high. The doctor took me off the Xarelto and put me on Eliquis. Same issues! So, now I am off the blood thinners but the high BP continues! The only thing I am taking is Metoprolol. So I started reading these comments and learned that it CAN cause an elevated BP! THANK YOU!
TRY CLONIDINE instead of metoprolol. Works for me and much better than metoprolol. So far so good for about 3 months now. Yes, expect the dry mouth, that is better than BP spikes. BP only spikes if you miss your doses.
I specifically asked my doc for clonidine thinking it might also calm me down and help my anxiety but he refused and said it might make my allergies worse? Weird. clonidine seems to be an old, safe drug. He wants me to take more and more metoprolol. So frustrating! It doesn't work. Thank you for your 2 cents! :)
Hi Agravated-I would find your dad another doctor-I have 2 and I also take 200 mg of coq10 per day as I have hypertensive heart disease as well. Like I said, different medications work for some and don't work for others-everyone is different. I just don't think that metoprolol will do your dad any good down the line.
It seems higher now since taking this medicine it never ran up to 170/90 that's terrible
I've been on this medicine since June 2015 and still no improvement it still runs high ,I was on the dose your dad was on for a while then they took to 50 mgs morning and at night at bedtime, the high dose was making me short of breath so after few months went back to the 25 mgs twice daily, ism what to do either it's like we're not fixing this problem were only hiding it with drugs that don't even help , the doctors like filling out body's with pills , my daughter told me to lower blood pressure by eating bananas, and strawberries
I only take 1/4th of a 25MG tablet as needed.Years ago they had me try 50MG and I had all symtoms of a heart attack. People I know , too high dose causes problem. Since stopping the drug mostly, my blood pressure has reduced to normal. If I have trouble , I take 1/4 th of the tablet and an aspirin.
I was taken off Atenolol and put on Metoprolol for the control of my blood pressure. Within two days I was in the emergency room with bad headache and blood pressures above 200/100. I was advised to go back on the Atenolol for a few days and then resume Metoprolol. When I resumed Metoprolol my blood pressure again spiked to over 200/100 and back to emergency room. Metoprolol can in FACT cause blood pressure to skyrocket to very unsafe levels.
Yes the same thing happened to me. Were you ever able to find out why? I have asked 3 doctors now and they do not have a good answer they offer no answer except some people have bad reactions, all drugs have risks. I think this risk, because it is so severe should be listed on the warnings for this drug. Perhaps a close inspection of all E/R records for persons coming in with hypertensive crisis who recently started on Metoprolol would give us the real evidence needed to document this issue.
My doctor had no idea why Metoprolol caused my blood pressure to spike to a STAGE 4 HYPERTENSION EMERGENCY when I took the drug. The reason I am on this internet page is to try and find other people with the same reaction. I have no doubt in my mind the Metoprolol caused my blood pressure to spike to over 200/100. I was told Metoprolol is a timed release 24 hour dose of Atenolol. I have taken Atenolol since 1977. I very strongly feel the adverse reaction possibility should be listed on the bottle. Stokes and deaths can very easily happen with a STAGE 4 HYPERTENSION EMERGENCY!
Yes, it happened to me as well. I called the doctor immediately and they said to wait a few days I thought that was a bad idea as I felt very bad and very much like I was going to have a stroke. Then I called again and they said to go to immediate care, where I went and they told me to lay down, not talk and they would call an ambulance to take me to the hospital where I would be admitted and they would find a drug to bring my blood pressure down and it would probably be a few days before I could go home. At the hospital I never saw a doctor, was given 1 tablet of Catapres and then another and then sent home with a prescription for Catapres. In my opinion Catapres is a very bad drug with horrible side effects and though I complained of the side effects to my doctor repeatedly he said I would get used to it. I got used to being a zombie and passing out for several hours almost everyday for the years I was on it.
I'm weaning off this dangerous drug and though I have read some good reviews for this drug from some people but my experience with it was horrible and I have many reviews that match my experience as well.
In the beginning, Metoprolol 12.5 mg lowered my BP to 79/53 and I would almost pass out. After a few months, my BP started going up instead. No one believed it was the Metoprolol and wanted to put me on a higher dose because I had had two minor strokes. However, I already had bad headaches and I refused a higher dose. I am ready to wean myself off. This medicine scares me! Wish me luck!
I am on Metoprolol Succinate ER. In 2013 I started Metop 25mg for high bp and SVT. The metop was then increased to 50mg because, I was still having the same problems. After a year and continued SVTs, I went and had an ablation and was taken off meds. Of course my high bp continued and so I was put back on metop 50mg. I do have white coat syndrome, so getting an accurate bp reading while the dr is taking it is not happening. My norm was 198/115, let's not forget the panic and anxiety attacks that didn't help. I was moved up to 100mg of metop, bp went down to 172/100. So the dr increased me to 200mg a day. Talk about falling asleep standing up! Heart rate without meds is 62. On 200mg I'm at 55 or so. My bp varies from 135/95 to 160/110. I've cut out fast foods, junk foods, I never salt my food. I don't drink, smoke, drug, nothing, yet my bp wants to stay sky high.
Of course my parents have high bp and I gained weight having 6 kids. I also stay at home, work at home, barely any exercise. If I get lazy and don't take 200mg a day, my bp starts to go down. I swear the metop raises my bp, but as others have said, drs disagree. I say it does! My cardiologist prescribed a water pill, but I'm paranoid to take it. My other cardio prescribed Diovan, again paranoid. And reading reviews on the web about meds does not help! Good luck to all and be well! 49/F. PS: besides high bp and PVCs, I'm healthy as an ox! :)
I was on 50mg metoprolol q d x14 years, B/P stayed in normal ranges. Now it is up to 144/92-198/98 q d and med was doubled to 100mg q d... now that it is so high, I'm wondering of the next course of action. My pulse is normally within normal range or low. I'm a 57 yr old caucasian female
my blood pressure is normal when I don't take the Metoprolol. I was taking 1/4 of mg. tablet. I also stopped Lisinopril. It goes up with the Metoprolol. . Right now I don't take anything. I just relax and breath. If it does surge, sometimes, I take the 1/4 of Metoprolol.
I have been told to always take metoprolol at same time with food and if I miss a dose my B/P spikes.
Related topics
Further information
- Metoprolol uses and safety info
- Metoprolol prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Metoprolol (detailed)
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