Sotalol experience

[SarahMo]

Hi, I've had my beta blocker changed today from bisoprolol to sotalol (40mg x2 day). Has anyone else got experience of this beta blocker? Thanks

[BobD Volunteer]

Hi Sarah, Sotalol is not just a beta blocker. It does have a rhythm control element as well as a beta blocking element so can be useful for some patients. I have never taken it myself so can't offer any help on that.

What you must remember is that AF is a very mongrel condition and no two patients are the same so where drug control is tried you may need to try several before you find one which suits you. Most doctors seem to try beta blockers first, just because they slow the heart during AF events and only move on to rhythm control drugs if beta blockers fail or are contraindicated such as in patients with asthma.. Hope that helps

BobD

[SarahMo in reply to BobD]

Thanks BobD. I don't have AF, but have been treated for other supra ventricular tachycardias... But I guess whatever the condition you are right.. No one person reacts the same as another to medication. I have got on fine with bisoprolol but my EP thinks that due to my arrythmia post ablation it may help me. Here's hoping

[DBoy in reply to SarahMo]

Hi

My first post...

I am currently taking Sotalol (40mg x 2) having been prescribed it thirteen months ago after my heart rate started to race immediately following an operation to remove a blockage in an artery in my neck. Although the 'racing' quietened down it to some degree appearing at odd intervals it really went haywire again following a hip revision operation thirteen months ago.

This medication seems to have done the trick (I am also taking Lisinopril 10mg), I am this weekend wired up to a twenty-four hour monitor as a check up.....so far so good

To answer the question.... I feel fine whilst I am on the go but if I sit down to read or watch TV I can fall asleep in no time at all, this can be embarrassing at times. Occasionally my heart will beat a little stronger for a few moments for no apparent reason.

I haven't posted on here before as most who do seem to suffer far greater than I do, nevertheless it can be worrying at times.

Regards

[Beancounter Volunteer in reply to DBoy]

Hi Dboy and welcome to the forum.

Feel free to post away, we are all different, I for example am in A Fib all the time, but have almost no other symptoms whatsoever, no episodes or anything, apart from having a pulse like a bag of weasels with a rabbit thrown in, I'm fine.

The Sotalol will make you tired, it's slowing your heart and therefore draining your body of energy and generally making you lethargic. Don't know much about Lisinopril, but as an ace inhibitor it's probably doing much of the same.

Have you been diagnosed with A Fib?, from your symptons it sounds more like a racing heart than an irregular beat. Anyway welcome again and feel free to post

Be well

Ian

[mumknowsbest Volunteer in reply to Beancounter]

Hi

I know we are all different, I cannot take betablockers or soltolol which also contains beta blockers. I am on calcium channel blockers (ACE) and have no side effects from them

Eileen

[Offcut]

I am now on Sotalol 80mg x 2 with Digoxin 125mg x 1 a day I was on at the very start 3 x 80mg Sotalol + digoxin but my breathing got so bad and my lips and fingers went blue. (I have Restrictive Lung Disease 53% Lung function) It does seem to have it more under control and will revert to a lower rate quicker than all the others I have had.

I will be having a Pace and Ablate next year so should be off some of my tablets once I am pacemaker dependant?

Be Well

[Gmc54]

I had my prescription changed in 2009 from bisoprolol to sotolol (40x2 daily) and it has worked from the point of view that my afib has stabilised i.e. I get the same amount of episodes as I did when first diagnosed. It does make me slightly tired and a bit slower mentally, but I can live with that. I did consider asking my doctor to change me to something else because of the tiredness, but all these drugs have side effects, so I decided to stay with the 'devil I know' rather than change to something that might make me feel worse.

[Mamamarilyn in reply to Gmc54]

Hi Gmc, I have been on Sotalol and Bisoprolol, both of which made me very tired. There were no other side effects with them but neither prevented a long lasting PAF episode. Now I have been on Arythmol for two months and the difference is amazing, I no longer get those days when I'm too tired to do anything. We're all different but it might be worth asking about it?

Happy Christmas

Marilyn x

[iloveyorkies]

I had no side effects .... What side effects are you having

[DBoy in reply to iloveyorkies]

Thanks for your comments... I haven't really been diagnosed as such. When I asked if I had AF at the hospital I was told No!...they didn't elaborate further.

I can only assume that the tests they have/are doing are to ensure that I am stable....its now just over twenty-four hours since the monitor was attached to me and I had a blip a short while ago for no apparent reason.

This is why I feel a bit of a fraud posting on here.

Tiredness, certainly when I sit down and try to read....my wife reckons I keep forgetting things she has told me (even that day), I am not sure whether that is strictly true or that it is that over the years I have acquired a selective listening policy...and I have just been found out!

Derek

[Beancounter Volunteer in reply to DBoy]

Hi Derek

Well I am told AFib is unmistakeable if you are having an episode whilst on an ECG, it's the disrupted p wave that gives it away. It sound like they are checking to see why the heart is racing at times, and that could be a number of things, but an episode with the monitor should sort it out, and tell them what it is.

Good luck and have a great Christmas.

Ian

[devonmillie]

July 2012 after being fitted a p/maker and diagnosed with A/F I was on Bisoprolol but it did not suit me. Changed November 2012 to Sotolol 80mg x2 plus Digoxin am, 500 mcg, this was fine for 10 month and then I started quickened beats again and so the Sotolol was increased to 120mg x2 and although I have recently been widowed and had much stress this dose seems to work for me and although ,like a previous subscriber I am feeling tired most of the time I do feel this medication suits me better.

[arwa]

The doctor changed my medication from beta blocker to sotalol after my ablation to control the SVT and VT as well

Recently I'm rarely having SVT , which maybe because I already recovered from ablation since I completed the three months , or the sotalol is managing the case

I started the dose as 80 twice daily , which made me too tired and weak , then i agree with my doctor to have it as 40 twice a day and another 40 in case of SVT attack and I'm doing a lot better thank god

Hope you will feel a lot better after sotalol just be patient I think we should give the medication enough time to do the job

Regards

[mkp589cmn]

My cardiologist was going to put me on sotalol but because he wanted me in the hospital for a couple of days to make sure the dosage was appropriate he changed his mind and put me on Propafonone. I have never heard of sotalol as a beta blocker but as a heart rhythm med same as Propafonone. I had fairly ok luck with Propafonone, but I am the type of person that when I take a pill I want the problem fixed and truthfully none of these meds fix AFib. They do control it to a point but do not cure it. I had cryo- ablation done in March and have not had an AFib episode since. Best decision I ever made. I hope this helped. I do know how disheartening this condition is, but on the right meds for rhythm control and a blood thinner to help prevent stroke ( I take Pradaxa ) and the trust of your doctor you will do fine. Also remember no two people have the same experience on the same medication. That is a little frustrating. Everyone with AFib is unique.

[Christo4]

Hi

I have been taking them for a few weeks now 40 mg x2 a day no problems so far so good.

Good luck with yours.

Christo.

[DBoy in reply to Christo4]

Its a year now, I am still on the medication as prescribed before.. I stll get the occasional quickening for no apparent reason...sometimes it is when I have just got into bed and totally relaxed.

I turn onto my right hand side (I can't feel it then)...it then returns to normal within a short time...I sometimes wonder if the Sotololn

The tiredness....this is still with me whenever I sit down or start to watch TV.... I have found the secret is to keep moving.

I was speaking to a cardiac nurse a week or so ago and she advised me to go back to the hospital to discuss the medication as it may need to be adjusted slightly

I