Metoprolol Succinate ER Compared to Alternatives

For High Blood Pressure: I originally started taking Metoprolol 25 mg once a day due to SVTs. they helped calm them down a bit. I also have PVCs and PACs especially when my blood pressure is superhigh. I am now back on this medication and started at 25 mg, within a few months it was up to 50 mg, I recently went up 100mg from my GP, but now my cardiologist up me to 200 mg. I have been only taking 100-150 mg. I break to be 100 mg pill in half and take 50 mg every six hours. My blood pressure went from 197/130 to approx 147/97. I have recently changed my diet dramatically and Inc. swimming and walking as an exercise. 49F, 208lbs. Sedentary life for 5 years. No side effects at all. Take with food though as directed. Causes nausea w/o food for me.

For High Blood Pressure: Have very frequent Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), heart testing said my heart is fine. Put me on metoprolol succinate ER. Been taking for a year now & PVCs are still as often as they were. I see/feel no improvement. Taking at night & valsartan in a.m experiencing BP drops. My BP is very high in the morning, like 167/110, before I take my daily dosage of valsartan. Within 2 hours of taking it my BP hasn't improved, then at about 5 hours after I take my BP med my BP plummets to like 71/54, sometimes lower. I fall asleep without even realizing it when it happens & sleep for about half hour. BP readings, about 4 times daily, shows PVCs at all times with an infrequent no PVC reading. Not convinced this med is doing anything for me.

For Pain: I have been taking aspirin for the last 35 years or so for headache related pain. It is far more effective than Tylenol or ibuprofen. It's pretty safe and very affordable.

For Pain: This would be the second most effective NSAID for me, behind Motrin but well ahead of Aleve or other OTC's of any type - It is my preference for "cold and flu" because it breaks a fever pretty quick. If there is a downside, it's that if I take 2 or 3 a day for more than a week, it definitely causes a ringing in my ears, loud. Short-term or simple pain, the old school aspirin just works.

For Angina: My doctor started me on two doses daily (am and pm) in August, 2011. The second day on it, I was on a camping trip and developed an itchy rash on my lower arms and hands, and my lower legs. I didn't connect it to the Ranexa so I went to my regular doctor and my dermatologist. The dermatologist told me to stop taking the Ranexa and wait for my my cardiologist to come back in town. As it turned out I was having a "sun sensitivity" to the medicine. He cut my dosage to once at night and I have not had any more problems with a rash. However, a month or so after I started taking the medicine, I started having "shaking episodes". I did tell my cardiologist the last time I saw him. It is mainly my hands shaking.

For Angina: I've been taking it for three months. I haven't used a nitro in that time. The chest pain I experienced in breathing cold or humid air, or after climbing, or even after stress has dissipated to an unexpected and happy extent. However, the side effects are bothersome, though not insurmountable. Dry mouth, almost continuously, which sometimes affects ability to speak clearly. Constipation, overcome by hard bowel movements, use of stool softeners. And just a general feeling of stuffiness, in body, in sinuses, elsewhere. Hard to say whether I would recommend it. The annoyances at times are major; the feeling of freedom from the chest pain and fear greatly offset the annoyances so far. Incidentally, I am 77, with only one open artery.