Just taking my stab at this topic. I also was taking Toprol and a minimum dosage level to control my blood pressure. I was going from 169/100 to 140/85. Was going to have wisdom teeth removed and they said my blood pressure was too high and that he was scared my heart would stop. Being the good person that I am I started taking the pills. Toprol is just not for me however. It did help me a little with my over thinking. But at the same time it Robs you of the mental energy to get things done. It didn't take me long to figure out that I might need vitamins to counter act this drug effects. Started taking Centrum Silver and love it. I take this because it has no Iron and for my blood type I just can't process extra Iron, it makes me sick. That helped at first, but I felt there was more I could be doing. A few months later the Doctor told me that my Lipids are very high! It was fine before taking the beta blocker. It was at 1500. I started going on 30min ~ 1hr walks during my lunch, mostly after work 5 days a week. Sure enough I lost 10 pounds. Was at 225 pounds and down to 215. Tested my blood again and the score went down to 600's. Doc was still not happy with that and said he might need to put me on something. I started to change my diet this time. Stopped drinking that RockStar energy drinks. Stopped eating beef and replaced it with Ground Turkey, that IMHO tastes better! Ground Turkey makes a good Chili and Taco. A few months of that and my blood fat score was down to 330's range. It was better but still not perfect. Then they put my on a water pill. Talk about needing vitamins if ever. I ran out of vitamins and ran into many problems of feeling tired, muscles hurt, sneezing and coughing ect.. If that was not enough they took me of the Toprol finally. Was very noticeable the mental clarity was back. Then they started me on an ACE- Inhibitor. Stated coughing again and had allergy like symptoms about 2 months into it. I was ready to blame the drug for these problems. They put me on Allegra and I broke out in Hives and had numbness in my hands and feet, plus was having problems breathing. Called the Doctor and they said to take some Benadryl. I was feeling tired and loopy on that stuff! Dam Doctors just pushing pills on me!! So I took things into my own hands. Stopped taking the Allegra and the Hives, Breathing and Numbness went away after a few days. Started taking Centrum Silver and the Numbness and Lag feeling started going away 100%. Started sipping on water bottles more often and went on long walks 5-days a week again because I stopped and weight was up to 220. A few weeks later they had my blood tested and all of my high blood counts dropped within their normal levels. Just doing those last few things have helped me out more than any pill have. My last Lipids score for Triglycerides was around 215 and was 1500 when we started the blockers. I blame the Toprol for the crazy blood work, so please get off of that! It will only kill you faster. The water pills almost require vitamins or you will have side effects and risk more damage to your heart. The Ace Inhibitors are known for the coughing, so it's a side effect you will have once in a while. But it's more known for just making a cough last longer and the reason for that I suspect in the lack of Vitamins. For everyone else just keep in mind that you are getting older and will need to watch things with an eagle eye. Good Luck