New Rx for Propranolol

New for 2015 is very high blood pressure for me

I've been prescribed a daily 10mg dose of Propranolol, to be taken at bed time.
Has anyone any experience with this drug? Is it going to have any adverse effect on my CPAP therapy?
I have read that it lowers your heart rate and pulse. I have yet to sleep with my pulse oximeter on to actually check any changes in pulse. I 'm just putting the feelers out for now.

Hopefully everything will be OK. I don't see any changes in my AHI of mostly 0.0 over the two weeks i have been taking it.

Have you talked to your MD about your apnea - reminding him/her that Cpap lowers BP in many cases and often a fair amount? I wonder if you could take the new meds in the a.m. instead.

I was switched to it in my last hospital visit replacing Atenolol I had been using for a long time. I had problems with it and a few weeks on the follow-up was put back on Atenolol. Hard to describe but it caused me problems with my CHF making it hard for me to sleep.

But, I know others who have not had similar issues... do it could be just fine for you.

I take it morning and night.

Uncle_Bob wrote:New for 2015 is very high blood pressure for me

I've been prescribed a daily 10mg dose of Propranolol, to be taken at bed time.
Has anyone any experience with this drug? Is it going to have any adverse effect on my CPAP therapy?
I have read that it lowers your heart rate and pulse. I have yet to sleep with my pulse oximeter on to actually check any changes in pulse. I 'm just putting the feelers out for now.

Hopefully everything will be OK. I don't see any changes in my AHI of mostly 0.0 over the two weeks i have been taking it.

Hi Uncle_Bob,

I took Carvedilol, another BB, very briefly before finding out thanks to a 24 hour blood pressure monitor that I didn't have high BP. I hated the fact that even at a low dose, it reduced my exercise tolerance which I found very ironic in light of the fact that exercise is suppose to help high blood pressure.

AARP has listed beta blockers as one of the top drugs that cause insomnia. So I would second the advice to take it in the morning.

49er

My MD should be aware i have sleep apnea as they have access to records via a computer in all the treatment rooms. And I'm pretty sure i mentioned it during the visit. My doctor is at an urgent care facility, I seem to have a new one every few years. None of them seem to want to talk about sleep apnea or feeling fatigued in general, although i have had my thyroid checked.

With the propranolol I've started taking half a 10mg tablet sometime in the AM. Then added the second half mid afternoon. As of yet i have not taken a whole 10mg just before bed. The next step will be to take the first half mid afternoon and the second before bed. I'm very wary about harming my sleep so i'm ramping up to see if i get any insomnia issues.

During the day i've noticed that propranolol is a fairly significant chill pill. Any worries or stresses are gone but then so has any sense of urgency or ability to concentrate for long periods of time.

If insomnia is going to be an issue and taking whole pill in the AM is going to zone me out too much then maybe half in the morning and half before bed might be the way to go.

I forgot to ask the doctor if this was going to be a temporary or permanent treatment. Also I may swing by a pharmacy on the way home from work and purchase a blood pressure monitor. I can keep it next to my Zeo sleep monitor and my pulse oximeter, i seem to be building up a collection here

My specific concern was that you'd wake up in the a.m, sit up and immediately lose it because your BP had bottomed. And do NOT assume your MD remembered your OSA when prescribing for you. Do not.

Uncle_Bob wrote:New for 2015 is very high blood pressure for me

I've been prescribed a daily 10mg dose of Propranolol, to be taken at bed time.
Has anyone any experience with this drug? Is it going to have any adverse effect on my CPAP therapy?
I have read that it lowers your heart rate and pulse. I have yet to sleep with my pulse oximeter on to actually check any changes in pulse. I 'm just putting the feelers out for now.

Hopefully everything will be OK. I don't see any changes in my AHI of mostly 0.0 over the two weeks i have been taking it.

10 mg. is a very low dose.

Physician wrote:

Uncle_Bob wrote:New for 2015 is very high blood pressure for me

I've been prescribed a daily 10mg dose of Propranolol, to be taken at bed time.
Has anyone any experience with this drug? Is it going to have any adverse effect on my CPAP therapy?
I have read that it lowers your heart rate and pulse. I have yet to sleep with my pulse oximeter on to actually check any changes in pulse. I 'm just putting the feelers out for now.

Hopefully everything will be OK. I don't see any changes in my AHI of mostly 0.0 over the two weeks i have been taking it.

10 mg. is a very low dose.

Physician,

Just because a med is a low dose doesn't mean it can't cause side effects as I have learned with several meds. Sorry, I don't mean to get off topic but this is a hot button issue of mine because so many people have been blown off by doctors regarding med side effects because allegedly a low dose couldn't have caused the problems. Well, they did.

Ick, I hate all the IR, short-acting BB's. They cause all sorts of issues. If he wants to keep you on propanolol, you may want to ask him about Inderal LA. Its the ER version of propanolol, so its time to peak activity is longer, so the ramp up isn't as severe, and the duration of action is longer.

Its very strange he started you on a BB for significant HTN. BB's are like a second or third line treatment these days, behind ACE inhibitors, ARBs, adding diuretics to the first two groups of meds, calcium channel blockers, etc... Most docs like to stay away from BB's if they can, despite some of the benefits, because they are known for increasing the risk of Type II diabetes long term.

Beta Blockers can also aggravate breathing problems for those with COPD or other breathing disorders. Many physicians seem to
forget or ignore this, from my experience.

Some can cause migraines.

Thanks for the comments, I'll be speaking with my doctor soon as he wants a follow up after my last blood work results came back not so good

I did try half (5mg) at noon and half before bed. I got to sleep no problems but had very vivid dreams. That was just one night though, which does not make a trend