Last Updated on June 3, 2023
Metoprolol is a commonly prescribed medication used to treat high blood pressure, chest pain, and heart failure. It is classified as a beta-blocker medication and works by slowing down the heart rate and reducing the amount of work the heart needs to do. While it is typically available only with a prescription, there may be situations where individuals are seeking to purchase metoprolol over the counter in the UK.
Currently, it is not possible to purchase metoprolol over the counter in the UK. As a prescription medication, it must be obtained through a licensed healthcare provider such as a doctor or pharmacist. It is important to speak with a healthcare provider before taking any medication, including metoprolol, as they can provide guidance on potential side effects, interactions with other medications, and appropriate dosages.
For those seeking an alternative to prescription medication for managing high blood pressure or other conditions, there may be natural remedies and lifestyle changes that can be effective. These may include things like regular exercise, a healthy diet, stress management techniques, and supplements like magnesium or CoQ10. However, it is important to speak with a healthcare provider before making any significant changes to your healthcare regimen.
Ask your pharmacist any questions you have regarding this medication, especially if it’s new to you. The foremost benefit of purchasing prescription medicines like metoprolol and other medical equipment from BuyOvertheCounterUK.net is the secure buying process and also the dedication to providing the finest care and maintaining the common up to the mark.
What is metoprolol?
Metoprolol is one of the main drugs used to treat high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias. As a member of the beta-blocker class, it is well tolerated, but overdosage of metoprolol may cause side effects such as severe hypotension and low heart rate. Children under the age of six and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should not take medicines containing metoprolol or should do so only after consulting a doctor. Read all about how metoprolol works, its dosage and administration.
How does metoprolol work?
In stressful situations, the body releases the hormone adrenaline into the blood. This stress hormone travels very quickly through the bloodstream to all the body’s organs and transmits the stress signal by binding to certain receptors (beta-adrenergic receptors). The affected organs then adapt their activity to the stress situation – the bronchi dilate to take in more oxygen, the muscles are supplied with blood, digestive activity slows down and the heart beats faster to supply the whole body with more oxygen and energy.
Sometimes the system goes wrong, for example when the heart beats too fast without a signal to do so. This puts a strain on the body and can have serious consequences such as arrhythmias, blood clots or damage to blood vessels.
Metoprolol works by selectively blocking adrenaline receptors in the heart, preventing the stress hormone from attaching to them and causing the heart to beat at a normal rate.
When taken orally, metoprolol is almost completely absorbed in the intestine, but is then reduced to about two-thirds by the liver before reaching its target. As the drug is excreted relatively quickly by the kidneys (reduced by about half in three and a half hours), extended-release tablets or capsules are often used, which delay the release of metoprolol. This means that the level of the drug in the body remains about the same throughout the day and the drug should only be taken once a day.
When is metoprolol used?
Metoprolol is approved for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and coronary heart disease, including the treatment of heart attack patients.
The use of metoprolol in the prevention of migraine attacks seems to be rather atypical. By regulating blood pressure, the drug can reduce the frequency and severity of attacks.
Outside its approved uses (“off-label”), metoprolol – once taken – is also used against stress-induced body overreactions (such as stage fright). In the approved uses of the drug, it is usually taken on a long-term basis.
How metoprolol is taken?
The active ingredient metoprolol is in the form of its salt with succinic acid (as succinate, “metoprolol succ.”), with tartaric acid (tartrate) or with fumaric acid (as fumarate).
The most common form of administration is the extended-release tablet. There are also regular tablets and solutions for injection. There are also combination products that contain a diuretic or calcium channel blocker in addition to metoprolol. Patients with high blood pressure often need to take all of these drugs in reduced doses, so combining them makes it easier to take them all in one tablet.
Sustained-release tablets usually need to be taken only once a day, while immediate-release tablets need to be taken several times a day. The doctor must first determine the optimum dosage of metoprolol for the patient.
If you want to stop taking metoprolol, you should do this slowly and gradually reduce the dose. Otherwise, you may experience a rebound phenomenon, in which your blood pressure reflexively shoots up after you stop taking the drug.
What are the side effects of metoprolol?
Common side effects of metoprolol (between one in ten and one in a hundred patients) include tiredness, dizziness (especially when standing up), slow heart rate, nausea and vomiting. Shortness of breath during exercise may also occur.
What should I watch for while taking metoprolol?
The active ingredient metoprolol is metabolised in the liver by a metabolic pathway that is frequently used by many other drugs. As a result, metoprolol interacts with a variety of other drugs/drug classes:
- medicines for depression (antidepressants such as fluoxetine, paroxetine and bupropion)
- medicines for mental illness (antipsychotics such as thioridazine)
- medicines to control heart rhythm (antiarrhythmics such as quinidine and propafenone)
- medicines for viral infections (antiviral medicines such as ritonavir)
- allergy medicines (antihistamines such as diphenhydramine)
- for malaria (such as hydroxychloroquine or quinine)
- medicines for fungal infections (like terbinafine)
- medicines for stomach ulcers (like cimetidine)
As metoprolol can also interact with other medicines, the doctor will ask what other medicines a patient is taking before prescribing metoprolol.
Metoprolol may be used during pregnancy if absolutely necessary. If used for a long time, the growth of the unborn child must be monitored as metoprolol can cause hypoperfusion of the placenta and thus deficiency in the child.
Metoprolol may be used during lactation if necessary. As it is excreted in human milk, attention should be paid to possible adverse effects in breast-fed infants – in isolated cases a slow heart rate (bradycardia) has been observed.
How to get medicines with metoprolol?
Metoprolol is only available on prescription and therefore only available on prescription in any dose.
How long has metoprolol been on the market?
Metoprolol was first placed in the form of its tartrate salt in 1978 in the US as a medicinal product. In the course of extended claims the drug as succinate of Astra Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) was developed and approved in the US 1992nd Meanwhile, many low-cost generics with Metoprolol on the market.