I had a bad SVT episode recently where it kept flipping in and out, with lots of PVCs. It turned out my potassium was pretty low (3.2). After a potassium IV in the hospital, I was sent home on metoprolol ER to use while getting my potassium back up. Normally my SVT has been very manageable, so the plan was just short term until things stabilized.
I was on 23.75 mg daily, then started taking half (so about 11.9mg once a day) for about 4weeks now. The problem is, whenever I try to stop completely, the next day I seem to get a rough SVT episode. It honestly feels like coming off makes the SVT worse, which is scary. Since lowering my dose aswell my pvcs have been extremely bad, way worse than anything ive ever experienced before.
My potassium is stable now, and I really want to stop because I was doing fine before, but metoprolol feels like it’s blunting how my body usually responds to my heart.
I’m not asking for medical advice, just curious if anyone else with SVT has come off metoprolol ER and what their experience was like, thank you!
For the past 17 days I’ve been dealing with something that has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through, and I feel like I’m starting to break down from it. This all started after I was put on Metoprolol 50mg XR for about 6 weeks because of blood pressure issues that were mostly tied to anxiety. While I was on it I had terrible side effects, and my doctor eventually told me to stop, so I stopped it abruptly without tapering. Ever since then my body has felt completely off. I’ve been dealing with BP spikes, heart rate surges, constant shakiness, internal adrenaline rushes, and lightheadedness that comes and goes. My face, chest, and arms flush constantly, and one of the worst symptoms has been my legs—they feel full and “pumped” all day, especially when I’m standing, and they actually look bigger by the end of the day even though they feel firm, not like typical swelling. Some mornings I wake up and feel almost normal, like myself again, but then it all comes back and I feel like I’m right back in it. I’ll get these random surges that leave me shaky and on edge for hours, and even after they pass I’m left feeling drained, foggy, and sometimes my speech even feels off, like I can’t think clearly or get words out right. The inconsistency is what’s killing me—feeling like I’m getting better and then having a day where everything flares up again. It’s started to take a serious toll on me mentally. I’m exhausted, I’m frustrated, and honestly at this point I feel desperate just to feel normal again and not have to think about my body every minute of the day.
I’m on Day 20 now and I’d say I’m definitely better than where I started, but still dealing with some frustrating lingering symptoms. The biggest difference is that things aren’t constant anymore—there are periods where I feel close to normal—but it’s still inconsistent. I’m still having episodes of shakiness, that “jumpy” adrenaline-type feeling, lightheadedness when moving around, and pretty persistent flushing in my face, chest, and arms. My legs are a lot better in the mornings and can feel normal after resting, but they still tend to fill up and feel larger as the day goes on, especially when I’m on my feet. I also notice some unevenness where my right side gets tight (especially my shoulder, which can even cause some hand tremble), while my left side can feel weaker or less engaged—but it comes and goes like everything else.
The hardest part at this stage is that I’ll feel like I’m almost back to myself, and then I’ll have a flare day where the shakiness, flushing, and overall “off” feeling come back and last for hours, which has been really draining both physically and mentally. That said, I am still recovering from those episodes, and I can tell my baseline is better than it was a week or two ago. Right now it feels like I’m out of the constant phase and into a more inconsistent, lingering phase where things haven’t fully settled yet. At this point I’m just trying to ride it out and find ways to manage symptoms while my system hopefully continues to stabilize.