I am 33 years old and have been taking atenolol for 4 years or so and started doing so b/c whenever I walked up stairs or exerted myself my heart would beet hard and fast, so much so it was scary.  It felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.  i also had high BP.  I switched docs a few weeks ago and he put me on lysinopril and since then ive cut down my dose of atenolol gradually.  The thing is my symptoms are back, I cant work out and climbing a flight of stairs brings back that rapid pulse and HARD heartbeat.  My BP is fine with the lysinopril but it doesnt seem to be addressing the other problem.  Also, The new doctor said he doesnt like atenolol for the long term. why is that?  what should I do?  I was very active for the last 4 years and now I cant even excercise for 5 minutes...
Hello! Welcome on Chat Doctor! I passed carefully through your question and would explain that the main action of lisinopril is lowering blood pressure. While the main action of atenolol is lowering the heart rate and preventing tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia. It has a low effect on lowering blood pressure too. So, lisinopril is not equivalent to atenolol, as it has no action on the heart rate. For this reason, I would recommend switching again to atenolol, as you have been feeling OK with it for all these years. You should discuss with your doctor on the above issues. Hope you will find this answer helpful! Kind regards,