Does anyone else find it harder to think clearly or do problem-solving tasks since they have been taking beta blockers?
Since I was started on beta blockers after being diagnosed with AF, I find I cannot do problem-solving or puzzles I used to do without breaking into a sweat, feeling panic, erratic heart beat, giddiness, breathlessness...
...and I find myself more 'hard of thinking', which is frankly embarrassing as well as difficult.
With POTS, (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), which causes confusion and disorienting weird symptoms anyway, these symptoms generally are relieved by lying down, but since beta blockers the symptoms I get with mental effort are not, and can persist for a long time after ceasing the activity.
Sometimes I just get so confused I put my head down for hours and just weep with frustration!
As I have low blood pressure, I am assuming that anyone whose blood pressure was already low enough to make them dizzy or confused will feel more confused on beta blockers.
I was assuming anyone with low b p or PoTS will feel worse confusion on beta blockers.
But what if it is the effect the AF bout had on me, given that I already had POTS and low b p, and did not seek help until I had been breathless etc. for several hours?
Does anyone else experience this confusion on beta blockers? Or is is confined to us PoTSies?
How do you cope?
Thanks,
Boombiddy
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Boombiddy
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I don't know what to blame my confusion on, but I certainly get periods of feeling very woolly headed! My neighbour once asked me if I'd feed her dog when she went off for the day, her house is right opposite mine. I completely forgot and it was so embarrassing.
I also do voluntary work where I have to talk about the history of a house and sometimes a word I use all the time escapes me. I apologise and am always told, without fail from whoever I'm talking to, not to worry as they get like that too. I think it's more normal to be like us than not.
I do worry sometimes when I can't remember if I've taken one of the pills by my bedside. Others I take are in a daily pill box in the kitchen. Must get another pill box, but then I've been saying that for months!
I find life a lot more peaceful and happy being so forgetful as I can't dwell on petty things any more, as I can't remember them.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Seriously, I know how scary it can be. At the moment I'm saying if I get any worse I'll have to go and see my GP, but I really don't want to take yet another pill.
I'm sure lots of other forum members will be saying they are very forgetful too.
Hiya Jean, thanks for reply. I was already as you described before the beta blockers, so you can imagine...
And as for short term memory I can identify re your embarrassment re said doggie feeding task. It's annoying that even things you care most about can slip your mind.
It has been suggested that the cognitive difficulties you can have with PoTS are a kind of dementia, although the causes are not likely to be the same. Mild cognitive impairment at least. I have had problems with word-finding, for example, for as long as I can remember, and tend to 'replace' a word I can't find, which can get me into scrapes, as someone thinks they understand what I’ve said, and I think I’ve communicated, as chaos ensues...
You should research the drugs on drugs.com or a similar site. I believe I read or heard that beta blockers can cause dementia. Doctors often prescribe a drug they think will help your immediate need and often overlook the long term impact, if they even know it. Taking lots of drugs adds complexity. The challenge is this impact can be different for different people. Often you are not included in the decision. It is your life so you should know all the information and choose what you believe is your best option. This takes effort and many people do not want to put in the effort. Doctors can get upset if you choose something different from their recommendation so you should be prepared to explain why you have made a specific decision and to hold your ground. They may even tell you that you cannot sue them if your choice proves to be wrong.
Take a look at this video. It may help you understand a bit more about your health and your choices.
Thankyou. Chiropractic treatment would be destructive for me as I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, but I will watch the video soon (can't right now) for the useful info you referred to.
It has been argued that the problems I already had due to PoTS are a kind of dementia.
Hi Boombiddy I take beta blockers and actually feel less 'woolly headed' since I began taking them .
I have come to the conclusion the reason for this is the BBSs have helped to lower my blood pressure considerably . I know high blood pressure is supposed to be 'symptom less' but I can tell when mine is raised and it makes me feel woolly headed .
Im not sure if its my beta blocker..bisoprolol..or flecanaide which might have had an effect,but certainly feel more woolly headed these days! Im 58.Have burnt dinner several times recently,very unusual,but as Jeanjeanie says,many people do get naturally more forgetful as we age.We also have a lot of things on our minds with our conditions,I do find if I try and 'go with the flow' I get less stressed about the brain fog .
I wonder if it might help to discuss this with your GP? Perhaps dosage or type of beteablocker might need looking at?
I can totally relate, wasnt sure if it was meds, turning 65, retiring and my brain isnt as challenged or all of the above. In some readings Ive done, it said a fib can cause a decrease in cognition, so not sure how the powers that be determine what came first the chicken or the egg???
Thankyou Hidden , that may answer my question, re. is it the AF or the meds causing the added cognitive problems. If you could post any links here re. AF and cognition, whenever you have some time, I would be grateful, as I am under pressure at the mo and finding it harder to keep up.
Im not computer savvy enough to post links( probably my cognitive decline😂😂😂)... sorry. But I just googled a fib and cognition and lots of info popped up, articles/ studies. One was from stop a fib. Org
Thankyou wilsond . AsI am on the lowest possible dose of bisoprolol already, the conversation with the GP re dosage can’t help, but maybe could talk about changing the type. I dread the messing about but it is maybe a good idea.
I sypathise - I had similar. Brain fog is well recognised symptom of AF but I found Bisoprolol just made it 10 times worse! BUT the Biso did help in stabilising my BP - contra intuitive I know!
I also have POTS and all of the symptoms you described, miserable isn’t it? I often felt it very difficult to stay conscious when sitting up when in AF and HR would shoot up to 180+ and BP drop to unreadable.
Good news - my brain fog improved dramatically after Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment and when I stopped all Heart meds. I still get it when in AF but not as persistent and all consuming. Ablations also reduced symptoms simply because my BP doesn’t consistently drop below 90 systolic and generally life is better.
Other things which helped-
I was prescribed Pyridostigamine for another condition but it is a med which is sometimes used to help stabilise BP - are you hyper mobile as well?
Keeping very well hydrated
Valsalva manoeuvres as described on the STARS site
Increase intake of salt
Movement - too much lying down increased the frequency - but difficult when sitting was difficult.
Have you considered collagen supplements? I found I couldn’t digest short chain fatty acids and when I corrected that and took protein supplement and adjusted my diet - all nutritionalist advice - things also improved.
I also read somewhere that tilting the head of your bed so that the whole bed is at 15degrees by putting something under the feet at the head of the bed (pillows don’t work) also really helped. Lying prone worsens things - which is difficult when you can’t sit up. Also - I was told to always sit with feet up.
All I can say after ALL of above - I would say I am 90% improved!
I was having a lot of this "confusion re memory " and started on a course of magnesium chelate 1000mg (500 x 2 ) - one in the morning and originally one at night. But I had to change the second dose to midday as my mind was over alert at night.
It all may be a coincidence and subjective but it certainly made a difference IMO
I am on Flecainide 50mg x 2 and Diltiazem CD 240
Needed to split the dose of magnesium because it caused a ' runny tummy'
I was diagnosed with AF just before Christmas and spent a miserable couple of months first on Bisoprol and then Corvedilol, which both made me feel like a zombie, lethargic mentally and physically. I know someone else who feels the same on Bisoprol. I'm now on Atenolol, which I find not so bad, but I still call it the stupid pill, as I think it makes me stupid, and I really recognise the comments about forgetting names. I told my doctor who told me to take it only when I felt I needed it, which is what I now do, e.g. when my wrist pulse monitor tells me my pulse is way over 100 bpm. Currently, I take one 25g Atenolol every other day or so. Bit alarmed at the idea that beta blockers can cause dementia.
If you have low blood pressure anyway, then taking a betablocker will lower it still further, which can produce unpleasant, or even dangerous, symptoms. I suggest you see your doctor to discuss your symptoms.
I find that even the smallest amount of Bisoprolol leaves me drifting through life, not really taking the initiative or making meaningful decisions about anything. Consequently I use it as a PIP, but a 'Biso' day is a 'wasted' day, usually.
Yes I think the reason for the confusion is the bp further lowered by the bisoprolol, yet I have had a recent bp measurement which was 'low normal' which is confusing... but with POTS, bp is very variable.
I take the lowest dose as my b p is too low to take more, and I know what you mean about it making you drift through life...
It is tempting to go for bisoprolol as a pill in the pocket. However, I find that bisoprolol has helped with two problems:
First is one of the problems I was having with sleeping (which was suddenly waking with a sense of shock as if I’d been frightened into waking).
Other is, it helps a bit with the jitteriness and panic of POTS autonomic nervous system dysfunction, so it stabilises mood a bit.
Hi Boombiddy, I, too, have had almost total memory losses. Meaning short term and long term memory. As well as confusion and then anxiety because of the confusion. My problem was caused by Diliatiazem (spelling probably wrong). If one digs deep into the side effects of this drug, it tells you how much this can affect you in this way. I had to stop taking it and my memory gradually normalized. I'm not familiar with the drugs you take, but please check your side effects by Googling and going very deep into the effects. One way to get some real answers for true side effects of a drug is to Google by putting "actual user reviews for severe side effects of (name of your drug)" into the search bar. Skip the quote marks.
Good luck. Sometimes reading how a drug REALLY affects other people can help a lot.
Short answer is yes. 10mg Bisoprolol on and off for nearly 4 years now and always find the periods when I'm on that level of medication to contain more "vacant" episodes and less concentration, even to the point of being able to read more than a few pages of a book without zoning out.
Time of day also matters, I'm not usually much for concentrating after about 3/4pm depending what else I've done in the day.
Recently having been awake for 4 hours in the night due to my AF and Cardioversion, I couldn't even hold a conversation properly and even had some aspects of it twice!
Compare this with the rare periods I haven't been taking medications and I've had energy, concentration, motivation!
Thankfully those around me know when it gets to 4pm I'm not really "with it" and it takes a lot of effort to stay "on the ball"
Thankyou jedimasterlincoln , I recognise the problem with taking in what you're reading and retaining it, and with conversations. It causes endless frustration when memory problems trash conversations! Especially when you don’t realise til later 'that's not what I was saying at all'!
(As I’m a 'one the one hand X, and on the other hand Y' person, it really trashes any case I’m arguing when I've put forward X, the 'for argument’s sake' case, then forget Y, the sensible argument. (As this way of arguing is vulnerable to memory problems you'd think I’d be wise to it but it's an ingrained habit, alas)).
What you are saying re the Bisoprolol is reassuring from the point of view of it being the Bisoprolol and not the AF causing confusion in the long term.
...except ah, reading it again I see the 'more' word re. vacant episodes, meaning you get them without Bisoprolol as well, just more of them when on the Bisoprolol...
Hmmm. Do you think it is both, or just the Bisoprolol?
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