Fatigue

Hi I have been diagnosed with AF 14 mths ago and take 5mg of bisopronol daily. I seem to have had most if not all the side effects....but its the fatigue that's a problem.

I am a self employed carpet cleaner and after a day cleaning i am shattered for the next day and struggle to work. Its now effecting my earnings. Is it worth changing my medication?

[BobD Volunteer]

Beta blockers are known to cause fatigue. have you tried taking your bisoprolol at night? If that doesn't help then speak to your doctor about either reducing the dose or changing to a different drug.

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

Hi Bob, yes have tried switching to night time, sadly no different. Will try the Doc again they just say unfortunately the dosage is about right.

[Hidden]

I take mine at night now I think I'm less lethargic now

[Annekw]

Hi, see if it’s possible to change the dose of medication. I began with 2-5 mgs and that made be very tired, now on 1-25 mgs - no problem!

[Buffafly]

How about Diltiazem? It made me feel lethargic but I have recently seen someone posting to say it was better for them than Bisoprolol. There are other alternatives too I believe, your doc needs to be shaken out of his lethargy 😀

[Hidden in reply to Buffafly]

I think you are right....do you know if because of the fatigue and other side effects if you heard of anybody getting financial help. tried the CRB but they say I'm not within the criteria?

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Hidden]

Not usually.

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bobd

[Hidden]

Hi brighty,

Just another thought .... and I'm on 5mg Bisoprolol too, and have been since Jan 2010 ...... without telling your GP, go to your pharmacist (pharmacists are usually happy to give a consultation) who makes up your prescription and ask if you can take Bisoprolol in two parts during the day, say - fer instance - 2.5mg at breakfast and 2.5 mg at night before bed, or another variation might be 1.25 mg at breakfast and 3.75 at night before bed. If he can't or won't help its back to your GP, or maybe consider changing your GP to someone who is more street wise.

When I was put on Bisop in the beginning the consultant prescribed it at breakfast and it wrecked me even to the point of giving me nose bleeds (which initially I thought mistakenly was warfarin - it wasn't). I went back to my GP at the time and did some good old table thumping .. she looked up in her book of witches magic potions and brews and said take it at night. The nose bleeds stopped and I've taken it at night ever since without a problem.

Yes, I still get fatigued but my job fortunately permits me much flexibility, I'm 73, I work 30 to 40 hours a week driving a tourist bus which involves physically handling passengers baggage much of which weigh over 15 kgs and I just pace myself on my days off.

Good luck.

John

[cuore]

I agree with Buffafly. Investigate taking a calcium channel blocker instead: diltiazim or verapamil rather than the beta blocker that you take . My brother-in-law refused to take a beta blocker precisely because of the fatiguing side effects. He is taking the calcium channel blocker diltiazem , and is doing just fine. I refused to take metoprolol, also a beta blocker due to its extreme side effects and was prescribed verapamil which worked out fine for the period pre my ablations. Fourteen months is a long time to get a handle on your medication.