hey michelle... my dr. acted like i would be on atenolol for life, but then his nurse practitioner acted like if i thought i was ready to get off of it i could when i wanted. she reassured me that atenolol is a very safe drug to be on long time, meaning that it did not cause long term problems. as far as the ibs i have tried zelnorm, i had seen commercials on t.v. for it. it did not work. it upset my stomach big time. there are two forms of ibs. 1)ibs with constipation, which the zelnorm is really for. 2)ibs with diarrhea, which is the kind i have. i've read to limit caffeine, sugar, spicy foods, and pizza hurts me some. i am not taking anything for it. since i have been on atenolol my ibs has been better. i think atenolol has relaxed me some, so i guess that's why. when i get panicky though it does act up.