OBS'S PHARMACOM (Experience Log)

[JohnnyBreeze]

I know this is a very old post, but if you can get your hands on some Clonidine (not to be confused with clonazepam), It would help your blood pressure more. A beta blocker like atenolol generally just brings down your heart rate. Well at least for me it did. I have to go round and round with doctors about it until finally I go some clonidine and it works perfectly.

[almostgone]

You have to be very careful with Catspres/clonidine until you find the appropriate dosage.
It can work too well and put your BP waaaay low. Beta blockers slow down your heart rhythm and the forcefulness of the contraction, which lowers BP. For my issues, CoReg/carvedilol work great.

[JohnnyBreeze]

You have to be very careful with Catspres/clonidine until you find the appropriate dosage.
It can work too well and put your BP waaaay low. Beta blockers slow down your heart rhythm and the forcefulness of the contraction, which lowers BP. For my issues, CoReg/carvedilol work great.

This is true, you have to titrate up from the lowest dose (0.1mg = 1mcg) until you find your appropriate dose. I can't remember, but I think I wen't up by 1mcg every week until I found mine. Another reason metoprolol didn't work for me is because I have an autonomic dysfunction where my HR goes very high when I stand (130-150 bpm) but when I sit down it's in the low 50's. It made my HR too low when I was sitting down and back then I was pretty much couch bound from the pain.

Also, especially when it comes to BP meds, everybody reacts differently, so one med that works great for this person might be terrible for the next.