Iis it to make you feel better? "symptom relief"? To make abstract numbers on a clinical test look closer to a "normal" heart? Protection against something?

I know...I suppose the answer is "it varies by individual".

I ask because my doc seems to be after me to up my medication, when I have no particular complaints at the moment irt my heart condition itself; my complaints, if any, relate more to the side effects of the damn drugs. I feel better, generally, without them. I've been on atenolol for several years now, but only 50mg/day. When I first started that, I felt like a lump. Couldn't get out of my own way. Doc said to take half a pill...That improved things some. I still felt sleepy and generally unmotivated most of the time...But for the most part, tolerable. Last year, doc convinced me to take half a pill, twice a day. Said it would make me feel less fatigued if I could up the dose. I keep trying to tell him, "more pill=more fatigue". He says "no". Its my heart that is causing the fatigue. I'm not buying it.