BETA BLOCKERS – CONCLUSION
Beta blockers, by blocking the action of these chemicals, can lead to wheezing and breathing difficulties in asthmatics and so their use is limited. Some people may get dizziness, headaches, sleep disturbances, bad dreams, hallucinations, abdominal pains, fatigue, muscular cramps and aching legs from these drugs.
Although, in medical circles, most drugs are known by their proper or generic names, they are usually prescribed by brand and so patients become familiar with the names given by the manufacturer rather than by the chemists who discover and research them. These drugs are:
Alprenolol — Aptin and Betacard
Atenolol — Tenormin
Labetalol — Trandate
Metoprolol — Betaloc and Lopressor Oxprenolol — Trasicor Pindolol — Visken Propanolol — Inderal Timolol — Blocadren
Anxiety often stimulates the autonomic nervous system to key up the body ready to deal with the feared danger. We are all familiar with this “fight or flight” mechanism, when the beating heart, tight feeling in the throat, and sinking feeling in the abdomen tends to make us sick with fear.
These physical symptoms of tension can be controlled in many cases by the use of the beta blockers and have been used in relieving those inconvenienced by “stage fright”.
Their safety has not yet been established in pregnancy and, of course, doctors and women are cautious about using any drug during pregnancy, especially in the first three months when the foetal organs are forming.
Beta blockers can be excreted in human milk and so nursing mothers may need to be cautious of these as well as other drugs.
Recently they have found use in preventing migraine.
If you are taking beta blockers, relax — their benefits outweigh their disadvantages and, having been around for some time, any hidden dangers should already have shown themselves.
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