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Suggest Supplementary Medication For Blood Pressure
Question: I took your advice and started taking one half pill of the BP medication in the morning and one half in the evening. I seem to be doing fine. Thank you for the follow-up. I normally don't take prescription drugs. I don't like the side effects. I use supplements instead. Do you have any suggestions on a supplement I might be able to take instead of the Rx drug?
Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for asking on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would explain that you are right about the side effects of Metoprolol, because in general it may lead to decreased physical performance, which is commonly expressed as easy fatigue, tiredness, inability to maintain the usual daily physical tasks and sometimes even fainting.
I would be very interested to know the exact reason why you are taking Metoprolol XR.
That is why, I would like to review your Holter report in order to rule out any possible cardiac arrhythmia.
Coming to this point, if you don't have evidence of any cardiac arrhythmia on your ambulatory ECG monitoring (Holter), then you don't need necessarily to take Metoprolol XR, especially if you have experienced the above mentioned adverse effects.
If the presence of cardiac arrhythmia is excluded by your Holter monitoring, I would recommend reducing gradually the doses of Metoprolol XR (to half a tablet once a day) and even consider stopping taking it.
Instead, I would recommend finding alternative reasons of your palpitations (feeling of heart beatings) like chronic anemia, thyroid dysfunction or electrolyte imbalance.
So, some blood lab tests (complete blood count, thyroid hormone levels, blood electrolytes) would help exclude the above mentioned causes.
Regarding supplements, I would recommend taking supplements which contain Chamomile, Valeriana, Passion flower or Ginseng.
These herbal supplements help decrease your heart rate by causing relaxation of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to elimination of the palpitations.
I would also recommend avoiding caffeine intake in your diet and energy drinks. They are known to stimulate your central nervous system and cause palpitations.
Another advise I would give to you is increasing physical activity (walking, aerobics). You should know that physical activity, when performed regularly acts by decreasing our basal heart rate. In fact athletes have a lower heart rate than normal persons.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Feel free to ask me again if you have any other uncertainties!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for asking on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would explain that you are right about the side effects of Metoprolol, because in general it may lead to decreased physical performance, which is commonly expressed as easy fatigue, tiredness, inability to maintain the usual daily physical tasks and sometimes even fainting.
I would be very interested to know the exact reason why you are taking Metoprolol XR.
That is why, I would like to review your Holter report in order to rule out any possible cardiac arrhythmia.
Coming to this point, if you don't have evidence of any cardiac arrhythmia on your ambulatory ECG monitoring (Holter), then you don't need necessarily to take Metoprolol XR, especially if you have experienced the above mentioned adverse effects.
If the presence of cardiac arrhythmia is excluded by your Holter monitoring, I would recommend reducing gradually the doses of Metoprolol XR (to half a tablet once a day) and even consider stopping taking it.
Instead, I would recommend finding alternative reasons of your palpitations (feeling of heart beatings) like chronic anemia, thyroid dysfunction or electrolyte imbalance.
So, some blood lab tests (complete blood count, thyroid hormone levels, blood electrolytes) would help exclude the above mentioned causes.
Regarding supplements, I would recommend taking supplements which contain Chamomile, Valeriana, Passion flower or Ginseng.
These herbal supplements help decrease your heart rate by causing relaxation of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to elimination of the palpitations.
I would also recommend avoiding caffeine intake in your diet and energy drinks. They are known to stimulate your central nervous system and cause palpitations.
Another advise I would give to you is increasing physical activity (walking, aerobics). You should know that physical activity, when performed regularly acts by decreasing our basal heart rate. In fact athletes have a lower heart rate than normal persons.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Feel free to ask me again if you have any other uncertainties!
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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