Recently diagnosed AF

[Robbo1975]

Hi I’ve recently joint the club, and have been put on abixapan 5mg twice a day until cardioversion, and 2.5mg of Bisoprolol, but I’m constantly getting out of breath doing the simplest of tasks ie climbing the stairs, getting changed etc can anyone help?

[Hidden]

Yes I was pretty low on energy when I was first diagnosed.... walking up the steps to my office used to kill me! You do get used to it.... your body adapts I think. Mine did. Of course once I had my CV I felt a million times better. That was on Jan 17th and I’m still in NSR. So no tips really other than get used to it.... learn to live with it, learn a bit about your body. I gave up a few things to give myself a fighting chance, caffeine and alcohol. I think if you find your triggers, your success is greater .... as you can avoid them. Good Luck 😉

[Olliemonty58]

Hi.

Yes I get out of breath. Typical af. At work we have 2 flights of stairs yuk. Now take the lift. The consultant will do what he can. Good luck x

[Paulbounce]

Being breathless is part of having a-fib for many - myself included. Try to learn breathing techniques which may help.

A little off topic but yoga could help with a-fib all round and breathing correctly. Worth consulting our friend Mr Goggle. He knows everything

Best,

Paul

[momist]

Blame the bisoprolol. I started on 1.25mg and then was told to move onto 2.5mg. That wiped me out, I could hardly get up the stairs at night. I phoned the doctor, and he said go back to 1.25mg. I've been on that ever since. Resting heart rate at night is about 56 bpm.

The beta blocker is, I believe, being taken to limit the high rates you might go into during an AF attack. It has the effect of lowering your HR across the board though, hence the tiredness and breathlessness. From reading others experiences here, it sounds like everyone is different in their response to this drug (bisoprolol) and the dosage has to be tailored to that. There is no one dose for all. Some cannot tolerate it at all and have to take a different drug.

[Robbo1975 in reply to momist]

Thank you for your reply, I’ll be asking to change ASAP

[Hidden]

Agree with Momist. I couldn’t even tolerate 1.25 Bisoprolol which lowered my resting heart rate to 40. It also lowered my BP & I felt completely wiped out. Cardiologist told me never to take it again - now on Flecainide 50mg twice daily & Apixaban 5mg twice daily. Suits me, but some will also need rate control - there are alternatives to Bisoprolol which seems to cause problems for many people.

Regards

Pat