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Is Abrupt Stopping Of Atenolol Advisable?
Question: Can I switch immediately from my daily 25 mg Atenolol to one of the ARB antihypertensive drugs (cozaar or Diovan), or this has to be gradual?
Also will these ARB be useful for lowering the heart rate (can be 110 sometimes), as the beta blocker would do?
Thank you.
Also will these ARB be useful for lowering the heart rate (can be 110 sometimes), as the beta blocker would do?
Thank you.
Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that an abrupt stopping of Atenolol can lead to rebound tachycardia.
Your actual heart rate is really high, so I would not recommend stopping atenolol cold turkey.
Besides, Atenolol has a weak anti-hypertensive effect. Which means that it is not equivalent to ARB (cozaar or diovan) as these drugs act mainly by lowering blood pressure and have not any effects on the heart rate.
So, I would advise to start cozaar or diovan in low doses (if your actual blood pressure values are above 140/90mmHg), increase the dose slowly to avoid adverse effects until reaching the desired blood pressure values.
Then, you can start to gradually reduce the dose of atenolol (to 12.5mg daily for 5 days) and then stop it.
If your heart rate increases by reducing atenolol dose, you may need to increase the dose again or switch to another betablocker or a calcium channel blocker (diltiazem, verapamil), in order to have a better control or tachycardia.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above issues.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
I remain at your disposal if you have any other questions!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that an abrupt stopping of Atenolol can lead to rebound tachycardia.
Your actual heart rate is really high, so I would not recommend stopping atenolol cold turkey.
Besides, Atenolol has a weak anti-hypertensive effect. Which means that it is not equivalent to ARB (cozaar or diovan) as these drugs act mainly by lowering blood pressure and have not any effects on the heart rate.
So, I would advise to start cozaar or diovan in low doses (if your actual blood pressure values are above 140/90mmHg), increase the dose slowly to avoid adverse effects until reaching the desired blood pressure values.
Then, you can start to gradually reduce the dose of atenolol (to 12.5mg daily for 5 days) and then stop it.
If your heart rate increases by reducing atenolol dose, you may need to increase the dose again or switch to another betablocker or a calcium channel blocker (diltiazem, verapamil), in order to have a better control or tachycardia.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above issues.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
I remain at your disposal if you have any other questions!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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