Seeking advice & sharing my story

[Pol100]

Hi all. I'm 45. My BP is always good as around 120/80 & HR around 68. I'm truck driver & work mostly in night shifts. Couple of weeks ago I had heavy dinner with 3 vodka drinks. That was my day off. Entire family were sleeping & I start watching a movie on tv, bcoz as I said I work in night shifts & wasn't sleepy. Al of sudden I felt & heard my heart pumping, but wasn't fast. I kept listening the (Tuk Tuk) from my chest. I tried to ignore for few minutes but I start feeling nervous after few minutes & my Heart started beating fast, which made me more nervous. Some how I managed to sleep & next morning after kids went to school me & my wife were having mornings tea. The situation I faced during night, was still in my mind. After we finished tea suddenly again same situation started repeating. I became nervous again. I asked my wife to check my BP. It was 165/95, & HR was 112. We went to ER right way. They did my blood work twice with few hours gap, both blood work tests became negative. After that I visited ER three time for same reason. Every time they did my blood work twice, & all became negative. But my BP & HR randomly kept going up. Then visited family doc, He perscribed Bisoprolol 2.5mg a day. I took my 1st dose less than half tablet, approximately 2mg. Then I tried not to take 2nd dose, bcoz three days I felt little bit better. Please advise me should I continue to bisoprolol pr not.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

[Hidden]

Hi Pol100, sorry to hear about your recent experience but we are not medically trained therefore we cannot comment on medication for reasons I’m sure you will understand. I assume you are in USA. I assume you had an ECG (called something different over there) which is the only accurate way of establishing AF. In the UK, the normal procedure is to see your GP (local doctor) and he would prescribe ongoing medication and assess your anticoagulation needs. They would generally refer you to a cardiologist and a treatment plan is established based on your overall condition.

Without following this type of assessment it is not a good idea to second guess what you should, or should not do in terms of medication.

Hope this helps.

[cassie46]

Agree with all Flapjack has said. You have been prescribed Bisoprolol to be taken daily so you should really do this and not stop and start or change the dose. If you are not happy with this you should go back to your doctor. Best wishes.

Cassie

[JaneFinn]

Hi Pol, and welcome to the forum

Sorry you’re having some worrying symptoms - it’s scary when your heart suddenly makes itself known, after beating quietly and unobtrusively away for 40 plus years, isn’t it?

Firstly I’d say that you should be reassured that the tests at the ER were negative each time. If there were any worrying findings or arrhythmia, they would have taken action. And also i would be reassured that although those numbers in your heart rate and BP are higher than you’d want permanently, they are not in any way ‘scary high’. You’ll notice from my terminology I’m not a doctor! 😁 And I can only speak from my own experience, but for years I went about life with a heart rate as high or higher than 112 and a BP much higher than your highest readings. (Before starting on beta blockers.) So I’d encourage you not to be anxious if/when these events strike. And actually, actively trying to calm down our very understandable anxiety- deep breathing, distraction etc - can really help bring the heart back to normal.

The beta blockers will be to keep the heart rate down and hopefully prevent episodes happening where it goes too fast. I would strongly suggest you keep on the medication for now but that you discuss it properly with your family doctor ASAP. Maybe he thinks you could take 1.25 mg bisoprolol and see how that goes. And I’m not sure how referrals work where you live, but it would be good to see a cardiologist not as an emergency, but for a proper discussion, tests and treatment plan (if needed).

Good luck Do let us know how you get on x