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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Irregular Heart Beats After Taking Atenolol?

Hello. I recently started taking atenolol for stage fright, 50 to 100 mg once to twice a week. it worked great! until after several weeks i started getting a sensation of irregular heart beats. i have been off of it now for 2 weeks and i still get a skipped heart beat sensation followed by a very forceful heart beat. i checked my pulse and there is a long (couple of seconds?) pause in the heart beats when i get that feeling. the only other symptom is a feeling of being more tired than usual. my question is how long can i expect this seeing i have been off of beta blockers for a couple of wks. i will be seeing my GP next wk. i hope i didn t do permanent damage by take the beta blockers! thanks in advance for your answers! take care.
Thu, 23 Jul 2015
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello
ATENOLOL is a beta blockers and as you mentioned that you took it for sometime . Now therapy is wean off.
The adverse reactions are mostly due to extended cardiac actions.
As you mentioned that initially , you got relief ,but later on there were irregular beats and skip beat even stopped ( even after 2 weeks ).
Actually this action of atenolol was due to increased contractility due to sympathetic activities .
COLD EXTREMITIES & ABSENT PULSES may sometimes be observed after stoppage of beta blockers . It may remain even up to six months to one year.
But in my opinion consult a CARDIOLOGIST and get an ECHO and consultation for heart function because skipping of a beat is not good.
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What Causes Irregular Heart Beats After Taking Atenolol?

Hello ATENOLOL is a beta blockers and as you mentioned that you took it for sometime . Now therapy is wean off. The adverse reactions are mostly due to extended cardiac actions. As you mentioned that initially , you got relief ,but later on there were irregular beats and skip beat even stopped ( even after 2 weeks ). Actually this action of atenolol was due to increased contractility due to sympathetic activities . COLD EXTREMITIES & ABSENT PULSES may sometimes be observed after stoppage of beta blockers . It may remain even up to six months to one year. But in my opinion consult a CARDIOLOGIST and get an ECHO and consultation for heart function because skipping of a beat is not good.