Suggest treatment for high BP and palpitation after treated pneumonia
Patient: Hi dr samuel, firstly thankyou for your time, iam a male my name is ben 42 years of age 6 months ,ago i caught pneumonia, which in short gave me gave me heart arrythmia, take anitbiotics, i.v. which fixed the pneaumonia , but then had cardioversion , heart back into normal rythym now, never had high blood pressure , but doctor put me on beta blocker and bisosprol and coversyl, iam experiencing side effects from , the tablets anxiety , impotence, and just not feeling myself, iam wondering why i need them if my heart is in normal rythm and dont have blood pressure , he said just as a preventive , to keep your heart healthy, so it never happens again , i was very active and it has just slowed me right down , lost alot of drive and enthusiasam , is there any natural alternatives , should i seek a 2nd oppinion , he said we dont have any journals or references we can look up to c how people go off them , so just keep taking them , Doctor: Hi,  Arrhythmia especially Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) is pretty common, especially during Pneumonia.   The episode is generally paroxysmal i.e. it occurs during that time only and mostly doesn't recur back.  If it is treated at that time we generally do not give any medication but if there are certain risk factors like dilated heart chamber (Left Atrium) or heart dysfunction we continue it for prophylaxis.  You can stop the medication if you don't have risk factors or the arrhythmia has never recurred again.  If it has and you are feeling side effects of beta-blockers than for such patients we can start on another type of anti-arrhythmic called calcium channel blockers (Tab Diltiazem).  For BP you have to check your BP daily and if it is normal on medication than you definitely need them if the BP is lower than 110/70 you can try tapering the dose to half tablet and gradually stop it.  Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Take care  Regards, Dr Sameer Maheshwari, Cardiologist