Beta Blockers & Weight Loss


I came across this article when I was researching my new beta blocker today. This is something I've struggled with since I started taking beta blockers 6 years ago. The new one I'm on is making me extremely exhausted. It's really frustrating. Just looking for some solutions to the problem. Hopefully I can start taking some iron & b vitamin supplements and it will help.
I hope everyone is doing well. If any of my fellow pacers out there have any advice on losing weight and combating fatigue please feel free to share. Thanks again! Abelle

http://www.ehow.com/about_5633426_beta-blockers-weight-loss.html

10 Comments

interesting

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-21 10:02:48

I have struggled to lose weight since I went on atenolol. My dr said it was not the beta blockers. The pharmacist said it was not the beta blockers... I feel a bit avenged reading the article!

It took me a year on Weight Watchers to lose 15 lbs. The weight came off, but soooo slowly then I plateaued and could not lose the last 15. After 6 months of plateau, I had my thyroid checked, I tried South Beach then I tried Paleo then I tried simply counting calories. I experimented with calorie levels. I bumped up my exercise. My last attempt was a nutritionist who told me I have excellent habits and eat very well and perhaps this is just where my body wants to be. (insert eye roll) The scale hasn't budged in 2 years.

I gave up fighting the fatigue, I've napped nearly every day since I started on the bb's. I was trying to fight it at first but then asked myself why- I'm tired by midday and it gets hard to concentrate on work, I work from home, what difference does it make? So most days I flop on the bed with my kindle for an hour after lunch, read then doze off most days, then I'm good the rest of the day. It works for me.

I exercise hard for an hour every morning, that helps a LOT. I do better in a class than on my own, makes it easier to push through when I'm tired and want to quit.

I have experimented extensively with my diet. None of it led to weight loss, but by tracking what I eat for months at a time I've been able to figure out what helps my energy. I mostly ended up on paleo, not strict but maybe 80-90%. I found I am a lot less sluggish when I cut out the grains and sugar, so my diet is mostly fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, one serving of nuts a day, dairy a few times a week, organic and local grown when I can get it (has more nutrients) and as little processed food as possible.

My iron levels are good on my blood work so I have not taken supplements. I've tried different b supplements but don't think any of them work, at least I didn't feel a difference. I've heard only the injections work, have not tried that.

How long have you been on the new one? I was told to expect to feel better after 4-6 weeks, but it was more like 2-3 months.

weight loss fatigue

by ratsyp - 2013-02-22 02:02:19

I have lost weight post pm. I found being commited using an app to journal and record calories helped me. As for fatigue I had a stress test and it was found that my pm needs to be adjusted. Since then I'm not as tired it helped so let the doc know how tired you feel.

Thanks!

by ABelle - 2013-02-22 09:02:19

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback. Tracey E I think we might be living parallel lifes! I've had good success with WW too. However, it took me a year to lose 15lbs as well, and then I plateaued. I've never heard of Paleo. I'll definitely be looking in to that. My little guy just turned a year old last weekend. :) And I'm still hanging on to the last 15 / 20 lbs of baby weight. I should just join WW again. It really did work well for me, but I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has had similar problems. I've only been on my new beta blocker for a week now. It's brand new. I know I need to give it time, but with a toddler in the house I don't have time to slow down right now. However, I do work from home, and lately I've been giving in and taking an afternoon nap everyday as well while my little guy is at daycare. My problem is I could sleep all afternoon! Ha ha. It's reassuring to hear that both of you have had similar experiences with your meds. I eat healthy. I walk everyday. I don't smoke. Generally I like to think that I really take care of my body. It's frustrating to still feel so tired. Hopefully with a little time and a few changes to my excercise routine and diet I can start to feel a little more pep in my step. I hope that you're both doing well. Thanks again, Abelle

There are different types of Beta blocker

by IAN MC - 2013-02-22 10:02:09

As you know, earlier beta blockers such as atenolol are not 'cardio-selective" i.e. they go all over the body latching on to beta receptor sites . It is believed that fat molecules
have B3 receptor sites... the earlier beta-blockers hit these sites and prevent the fat from breaking down hence the weight gain.

Newer "cardio-selective" beta blockers do not do this to the same extent. Your Dr should know which are the cardio-selective ones e,g, metoprolol, bisoprolol..there are lots of them.

If you change to one of these newer drugs , weight gain should not be a problem

Ian

yep, my twin

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-22 10:02:39

If WW worked for you before, give it a try again! My only complaint about it nutritionally is that it's not hard to fit in daily doses of junk food. I love their strategies and support and the accountability of the meetings.

Have you tried sparkpeople.com? It's free, you can log your food similar to WW but it tracks calories, cholesterol, fat, sodium and and whatever vitamins and minerals you want. It was eye opening to me. I found I get more calcium now doing very little dairy but lots of fresh veggies than when I used to do 2-3 servings of dairy a day, go figure.

Paleo- It's a bit controversial and hard to follow at first, definitely takes some getting used to. I'm hearing of more drs recommending it for diabetics and athletes have followed it for years. My gym (crossfit) pushes it, that's where I learned about it. I thought it was crazy extreme at first but when nothing else worked I gave it a month. I didn't lose any weight but my energy skyrocketed. I don't really agree with all the spiel that goes along with it, eating like a caveman, etc. but it's more or less going back to basics, avoiding processed foods and anything not as nature intended, which makes a lot of sense. Do small meals 5 times a day, get protein and a healthy fat with every meal. No grains, processed foods, dairy, sugar, soy. That pretty much leaves fruit, veggies, meat, seafood, nuts.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-review-the-caveman-paleo-diet

http://thepaleodiet.com/

If you want to know more, let me know. There are some terrific books and blogs out there with tips and recipes.

Don't feel bad about your naps!! Esp if you have a toddler and are only a week into new meds. I felt guilty for a long time, I'm way too young to nap all day like an old lady, but by giving in for that hour, I feel a whole lot better the rest of the day. You're doing all the right things, that's really all we can do, so listen to what your body is telling you and don't worry about it!

Ian

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-22 11:02:07

No, actually, I did not know! I couldn't tolerate metoprolol, that was the first one I tried. Made me so drunk I tripped and broke my foot walking across my kitchen, that's when he gave up trying to get me to wait it out and give it more of a chance lol. He didn't want to put me on bisoprolol because it lowers bp too much (it's pretty low to start). Now I have to do some more homework and some thinking! As much as I'd like to be able to lose the weight, it took us a full year to get me on the right med and dose that enables me to workout, might want to leave well enough alone. Hmmmm.

Wt. Loss While Taking Beta Blockers

by SMITTY - 2013-02-22 12:02:39

Hello ABelle,

Tracey gave you a good rundown what is like for her to lose wt. while taking beta blockers. As for me, I gave up trying to lose wt. and went to trying to keep from gaining too much. It is my opinion that beta blockers make very hard to lose wt. by those people that suffer the fatigue side effect. Even when I was young enough to participate in activities that would help me with wt control I was to dang tired to do them while taking the beta blockers. That plus the fluid retention that I went through made wt. loss just abut impossible. I suggest that you set a goal of not gaining wt. and losing some when you can.

Good luck,

Smitty

Non-Cardio Selective

by ABelle - 2013-02-22 12:02:51

It looks like Pindlol isn't considered "cardio-selective"... maybe I need to go back on metoprolol! Geez. Thanks for the heads up Ian. That's really interesting.

Tracey,
I'm def going to check into the paleo diet! Thank you so much for all the info. My little guy is allergic to milk & soy anyway... so maybe this will be better for the whole family! Thanks again, Anna

Tracey..Whoops

by IAN MC - 2013-02-23 06:02:02

There are so many "lols" that I got bit of "lol-confusion" LOL.

I wrongly said that atenolol is non cardio-selective but it really does depend on which articles you read . The common view seems to be that

Cardio-selective beta-blockers ( i.e. those LESS likely to cause weight gain ) include

Acebutolol
Atenolol
Bisoprolol
Metoprolol
Esmolol

Non-selective beta blockers ( i.e. those MORE likely to cause weight gain ) include

Pindolol ( you are right ABelle )
Propanolol
Nadolol
Timolol

There are lots of others...it's all something of a minefield, each one may not suit some people because of side-effects or they will be fine with some people

Hope this is helpful

Ian

Ian

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-23 08:02:15

Too many lol's!! I'm going to leave well enough alone, I think. I'd like to weigh a bit less but I am in the best shape of my life and I eat well, so that's going to have to be good enough. It took a lot of experimentation to get the right balance on the atenolol. If I take it at night, I race too much at the gym in the morning. If I take it in the morning, my rate won't get up enough to work out. So, my cardio came up with the brilliant idea to cut it in half, I take half before the gym, half after. For now, that's working so I can take my pudgy self off to the gym every morning and pretty much do what I want.

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