Slightly Freaked - BP tablets and Heart 'murmur'

[boddtm]

Long story short so I apologise in advance:
I spent most of Friday at the local hospital after going to the GP with a migraine that wouldn’t quit. I suffer with migraines (or did very much until they were brought under control) quite frequently, but this was the mother of all migraines and gave me some right sided weakness which I’d never had before. GP was going to prescribe a bunch of painkillers then took my blood pressure, 183/126 and then a couple more times that were quite similar then packed me off to the hospital for tests. Neuro exam was fine, no need for CT (apparently) so they gave me blood pressure tablets and more migraine drugs and sent me home to revisit for blood pressure readings in a week, but also for heart scan and kidney scan because she 'might' have heard a murmur.
Fast forward to yesterday and I was back at the docs, ran out of migraine medication and was having chest pains. Docs switched the Rampiril the hospital put me on to beta blockers and gave me more meds, telling me to go back Friday for more BP readings.
I guess my question is .. do ALL BP tablets make you feel like an old woman? I'm generally a fairly fit and well person but couldn't manage a 15-minute walk to town today without having to stop for a rest and i'm getting out of breath going up the stairs at home. I don't want to bother the docs again before Friday so hoping others have had similar experience and i'm not alone and this is the beta blockers 'bedding in' or something. Also, has anyone else been tested for hear murmur? Is it a dye scan or ultrasound they're likely to do? I was not in a position to question anything the way my head was on Friday and am kicking myself for not finding out what i'm letting myself in for.

I’ve recently had an echo for my long standing heart murmur after changes to my ecg. It’s just an ultrasound scan, quite simple and mine took about 20-30 mins. I did feel a little bruised for a few days afterwards though.

Thanks henni - much appreciated :)

The BP meds make you feel awful. The only stuff I was able to tolerate was Labetalol. Everything else made me feel like I was dying. Apparently it gets better if you can tolerate the meds for long enough.

Thanks Helpme - I'm half hoping if I can get through the next few days things will get easier ... If not I may well ask if they can switch to a different one..
I'm glad it's not an uncommon thing in a way, stops me worrying so much - glad you found us something that you could tolerate :)

I take Atenolol, quite a high dose and have never had side effects, I would persevere and see if you tolerate them better as time goes on.
Too check up on heart murmurs you will have an echo to check your heart structure, I have a congenital heart defect so have had many of those!

Beta blockers can certainly make you breathless if you take a highish dose. I think it was on the list of cautions of the one I took. It did get better over time though and I was able to cut my dose anyway.

Beta blockers are horrible. I felt completely out of it on them and my heart rate was so slow that I once stopped the car as I couldn't feel my pulse and thought my heart had stopped. [Yeah, stupid, but I was in a weird daze]
It can take some time and trying different meds to get blood pressure sorted, I'm on Losartan and a tiny dose of a diuretic, after going through many other drugs and combinations of drugs.
I'm fit and active, gym three times a week, so certainly don't feel like an old woman.
Wishing you well.

Thanks Jen,
I'm hoping these are teething problems and things settle down. I think I may just need to be patient and get the meds right.

I think it was an mri with dye that my dh had to investigate his murmur. It was the actual problem with his heart that made him feel dreadful. He takes bp meds and a blood thinner and he's had two inpatient treatments so far, he's not 100% better but better than he was.
Beta blockers do get better after a while if you can tolerate them, my dd is on them for migraines and after a while the symptoms are getting better.