Hi I was taken into hospital recently after feeling unwell and was diagnosed with AFib. My heart rate was very high and stayed irregular and high up to 147bpm for approx 48 hours. I am now on 7.5mg of Bisoprolol daily but feel so tired all the time with no energy. I also am experiencing headaches and when I bend down or go to pick something up my head feels heavy like all the blood is rushing to my head and my nose and eyes feel under pressure whenever I bend my head down. I also feel very depressed and tearful (which is not like me) and I’m also gaining weight despite sticking to a very strict and healthy eating plan. Before I went on Bisoprolol I went swimming most mornings (no longer have the energy) and had successfully lost 7 stones in weight but I’m now putting weight back on despite sticking to my diet. Is this normal and has anyone else experienced any of these side effect after being put on Bisoprolol?
Oh I’ve checked my heart rate on my BP machine and my Apple Watch and it’s giving me a steady reading of 44 - 46BPM. Is this too low now?
I’m so worried and wish I could just throw these flipping pills in the bin but I daren’t.
I await with eagerness your replies.
Thank you.
Sue x
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WE should not recommend drug changes or doses as we are not medically trained but 7.5 is quite a high dose of bisoprolol and 48 is far too low a heart rate IMHO so I am not surprsed that you have no energy. 70 is considered a good rate and "normal" is anything between 60 and 100. Why not discuss with your doctor and see if he can reduce the dose. Many people are on 2.5mg
Weight gain on bisoprolol is also common I'm afraid and can be a real problem to many. Think keeping sparrow alive portions. Weight loss in AF is VERY important and a BMI of less than 25 highly desirable to freduce AF burden.
Thank you BobD, I have a follow up next week with my GP so I will discuss all this with her as you suggest. I’ve got to arrange to have a heart scan too just to check out what if anything is causing the Afib.
I’m feeling so depressed and tearful and just wondered if all this is a normal response to this particular medication? I’m not used to feeling so down and so emotionally drained - so it’s all hitting me like a ton of bricks!
I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis and your experience with Bisoprolol. It doesn't work for everyone and talking to your GP about reducing the dosage is a good start.
You've had quite a shock to the system recently. It's no fun at any age being told you have a heart condition. It questions your mortality so no wonder you are down and feeling tearful. Weight gain, feeling like you have been hit by a bull elephant and frightening headaches are enough to make anyone tearful! Don't be frightened to talk to your GP about these feelings too. Deep breathing exercises may help you to relax a little more when these overwhelming thoughts hit you.
I do hope you feel better soon but you know that you can always sound off at us on this site. There are some very good and knowledgeable people on this site who have all been through this. X
Depression and tears was awful for me on beta blockers, I phoned 111 on a particularly bad day in floods of hysterical tears. They wanted to send my to a mental health walk in centre because they thought I was in danger but I knew it was the tablets. Managed to speak to the consultants secretary and get the drug changed and it all settled down. X
Hi Sue the the tearful and depressed when I was first diagnosed with afib I went through this. Looking back I think for me it was more to do with the shock of going to hospital and finding out something was wrong. When I have had further hospital events it has left me like this for a while.
I found that I put on weight because I exercised less due to anxiety.
My doctors aim for my testing rate to be below 60 but certainly worth reviewing your meds with the dr.
Hope you get things more settled.
You need to ring your GP about this.
You joined the forum 4 years ago, but haven't posted before. What's happened in between, need some context to give you better advice.
In your shoes, I would be stopping the Bisoprolol and asking why I needed to take such a high dose of a medication which is notorious for its side effects, all of which you are describing.
I'm not suggesting you do this because I don't know your history.
I joined the forum 4 years ago when I was suffering a lot of pain with my arthritis but that was basically so I could read some of the posts from other members who were experiencing similar problems to myself. I haven’t posted before today as not really needed to ask for any advice but since being diagnosed with Afib (only recently) and being prescribed Bisoprolol I have felt terrible and this has caused me to look for advice and possible answers to my concerns on this forum.
I had a mild heart attack in 2015 but fortunately no real problems re my heart since then and all tests since have come back normal well that was until this recent Afib episode that just came on out the blue.
Hope this explains a little more about my medical history.
Sorry, when I read you joined in 2015, I assumed (wrongly it turns out) that it meant you had joined the AFA forum then. Was not meaning to pry into your non AF history.
Well, based on my own experience I was prescribed 5 mg of Bisoprolol in Jan 2010. It took some months to adjust to this powerful item in my party bag ! In fact one of the significant side effects was for me to develop random and dramatic nose bleeds and go through 'cold' spells. It was originally prescribed for me to take in the morning around breakfast. I was also put on Warfarin at the same time - YET - I just knew it wasn't the Warfarin.
Anyhow, went back to my GP and did a hell of alot of table thumping and demanded I be taken off this crap medication. She looked up in her Witches Book of Magic Potions and Brews and said take it at night. From that day onwards I have never had a nose bleed and the drug is now my best mate .... ever! It keeps my HR at a steady 65 bpm, day in day out. That said at times my HR used to drop to mid 40's. In the early days my body used to go ice cold and it was nothing for me to go to bed with a hot water botttle, an electric blanket on (yep, I know, most unwise) and socks and gloves. I would lapse into a 4 hour sleep, wake up as if nothing had happened and carry on with life. Now after 9 plus years of this stuff I don't notice it and all the odd side effects have disappeared. What time of day do you take it ?
It is a drug that is normally prescribed for heart rate control however, some members of the professional healthcare community prescribe it for blood pressure control.
It is not a drug to play around with ..... so no matter how you might feel do not just go willy nilly playing around with it or the doses . Do go back to your GP for guidance. Do read the bit of paper in the packet. My personal view is 7.5mg of the stuff is a bit high. Your doses can be played around with, as can the timing of when you take the doses, but only under professional medical guidance. OK ! By the way, if you are in Britain, if you are treated in hospital even if by 100 doctors, the lead would write to your GP bringing him/her up to date on your new condition and its treatment planned or otherwise. This is exactly what happened to me in the beginning. Even at a later review by the cardiac consultant my GP was advised in writing of the results of the up date.
Your healthcare journey seems to be the reverse of mine ... you started with arthritis and have moved onto AF whereas I started with AF ( and have beaten that little demon into submission ) and have moved onto osteoarthritis. First my right knee ( which was replaced) and now my upper neck and my right shoulder. Damn it. So, how do you deal with the arthritis, particularly pain control. I too am on the arthritis forum here. Any tips would be gratefully received.
Must say the AF was a doddle - the arthritis is proving much more of a challenge.
Hello John and thank you so much for such helpful advice it is greatly appreciated.
I am going to call the hospital and see if there is anyone I can speak to for advice as you suggest but unfortunately I saw several doctors over the 48 hours I was in so I’m a little unsure who was solely responsible for my prescription. However, they may be able to get me to the right doctor so I’m going to ring them now and look into things.
Hi SukySue, i had SVT back in December and was put on 5mg of Bisraprol they made me feel like a zombie, i have reduced to 2.5 MG and finding that better, my heart rate can go as low as 48bpm but usually around the 55bpm, yes weight loss is hard on Bisraprol
Many of the members on this forum just take pills when they have an attack of AF. Are you in it permanently? If not why not ask your GP if you can do that. It's called 'pill in the pocket' or PIP for short. To me your heart rate sounds as though it's too low now, hence why you are feeling so strange. A lower dose of Bisoprolol may suit you better if you're in constant AF.
I know what I'd do, but I'm afraid we can't give you any medical advice.
Jean
Interesting point about starting dose of Bisoprolol. The cardiologist started me on this at 7.5mgs. Couldn’t tolerate that dose and started cutting down myself, before asking GP for a different betablocker. He started me on Nebivolol but at the lowest possible dose. I wonder how much feedback the consultants get on Bisoprolol.
My cardiologist was quite sulky when I said my GP and I had decided it wasn't suitable for me without even trying it. When I went to A&E with very fast AF Bisoprolol was suggested again to which I very politely responded that I didn't feel it was safe for me to take it because of my asthma. I was having bad spasms of coughing at the time so they decided I should stay in to trial Bisoprolol but just as I was admitted I went back into NSR so I was sent home minus Bisoprolol! What I want to know is why it is considered so great?
My own experience with 2 different hospital cardiologists is being started at 5mg. I found the side effects intolerable and told my GP I did not wish to live like that. He immediately suggested a reduction. I suspect hospital cardiologist get little feed back as by the time the drug has built up over a week or so in your system you are no longer in hospital! The second time I was put on Bisoprolol in hospital after going into afib after surgery I had no intention of allowing that build up and reduced the dose the next day after going back into NSR.
I was on 5.0mg Bisoporol & heart rate went as low as 44. My gp said a change of dose/medication had to come from my hosp cardiologist. So it was changed to 2.5mg - which gave me the same symptoms you describe. Then told to split the dose and take one in the am one late evening. Felt better for a while but still sooo tired, heavy feeling in chest area, the fatigue along with heavy feeling in legs was awful.
Cardiologist changed me to Diltiazam which is a calcium blocker & works different way to Bisoporol. Feel better but still having af from time to time, less ectopics & more energy.
As already mentioned it will be up to your gp/cardiologist to alter your med's & I'm sure when you describe how you are feeling they will try you on something better.
Most of us react differently to our meds - let us know how you get on
Thank you so much for all your replies - it’s reassuring to read them. You cannot imagine what a relief it is to hear that it’s not just me who is affected by this medication, I was so worried when I posted my first post earlier today but hearing from others how Bisoprolol has affected them has put my mind at rest a lot. My GP appointment was cancelled this week, so next weeks rescheduled appointment cannot come soon enough.
I was away on holiday when I was admitted to the local hospital in that area with the rapid heart beat problems, so the hospital consultant I was under whilst in hospital told me upon discharge that I had to arrange for my own GP to send me for a follow up echo scan at my own hospital. I’ve fortunately got private health insurance with my job, so I’m arranging to be seen privately for any further investigations required. Hopefully my scan and any further tests will all be arranged pretty quickly once my GP sends the referral letter, so if there are any questions any of you feel I should be asking my consultant then your advice would be much appreciated as I’m still trying to come to terms with all this.
Thank you all once again and I will keep you all informed of how I get on etc.
Bisoprolo affects your background. I was on 3mg but told my cardiologist about side effects and he lowered it to 2.5mg. I'm fine now. If your pulse drops below 55 regularly you need to go back to your GP
I felt very ill on Bisoprolol....coupled with Rivaroxaban....I couldn't do anything! So i made an appointment with my GP and told him i wanted to come off it....He put me on Atenalol instead.....problem solved. I hope you get the same result.
Hi Sue. I was on 5mg of bisoprolol and it was horrible. Tired, low heart rate, feeling so I'll. They actually put my dose up to 6.25mg before I told them no more! Similar story, GP wouldn't change the dose so had to wait a further 6 months to see cadiolologist. After insisting I changed he put me on verapamil (calcium channel blocker) and never looked back. Still get some crap side effects and it doesnt control the rate as well but I feel like myself again and my ectopics have all but gone.
I was exactly the same on bisoprolol I switched to nebivolol and the change was amazing x
Oh Jamse, my heart really goes out to you and I can relate to everything you are saying. I’ve only been recently diagnosed with all this so the problems are all very recent in my case but goodness knows how all of you who have been dealing with this for a while must feel is hard to imagine.
I hope you soon start to get it resolved and you start to feel a lot better. x
Oh so you and I are still trying to get our heads around all this Jamse? It’s all a bit scary isn’t it but finding a forum like this certainly helps doesn’t it? xxx
well i have been out all day at a village fete ,,found a pulse meter and out of the sun i was 60bpm
in the sun 80 !
looking forward to an MRI in june the with luck a zap restart
i have a direct phone number for a cardiac nurse team so that helps join up all the different bodies involved (mri gp consultant blood clinic etc)
I think Bisoprolol is used as the first line treatment as it is effective at lowering heart rate and it is the cheapest of the beta blockers. Trouble is if your resting heart rate is usually on the low side, e.g. mine sits around 55 -60, except when in an AF episode, the Bisoprolol will lower it further, making you tired & dizzy. Additionally if your BP is normal or low, except in an episode, it will have a similar effect. My HR dropped to 40ish and my postural BP dropped so I felt dizzy every time I stood up.
We are all different on here and no drug should be seen as a ‘one size fits all’. I’m sure the team caring for you will find the solution for you, but just remember, you are not being a nuisance, you need to feel right and may need to keep going back to them for dose adjustments and/or changes to your medication until you feel ok.
After my initial diagnosis in A&E I had 6 or 7 GP/ Practice Nurse appointments in 3 weeks plus another visit to A&E and I’m someone who goes to the doctor maybe once or twice a year. I decided this was ridiculous and sought the opinion of a Cardiologist privately. He opted for rhythm control with Flecainide as rate control didn’t suit me, and advised me never to take Bisoprolol again.
I hope you will start feeling better once your optimum treatment has been determined.
Thankfully I too have private medical insurance with my job so I will be seeing a private cardiologist for any further treatment or consultations deemed necessary. I just need my GP to refer me to a private specialist now so I’m busy researching which cardiologist is best to choose. I’ve been recommended by a friend to see Dr David O'Brien a top heart specialist as he comes highly recommended, so fingers crossed I’ll be seen pretty quickly once I’m referred.
I was put on Bisoprolol when my heart, already in permanent AF, rose to over 200 bpm when I had a general anaesthetic for an appendictomy. I was put on Bisoprolol, 2. 5mg. My heart rate went down and for 7 weeks all was well. Then the intermittent painful rashes started, roughly for 3 hours on my back, then for three hours on my right arm, then for 3 hours somewhere else, 24 hours a day. It's a known rare side effect of beta blockers. So I was taken off them.
Unfortunately 16 months later I still have the rashes. My GP has put me on antihistamines twice a day which has stopped most of the rashes. The worst are on the back of my neck and shoulders, which I still get every day.
I am very wary about taking any more "new" medication. I have had very bad side effects to 7 medications: 3 antibiotics, 2 bisphosphonates, 1 modern anticoagulant and 1 beta blocker.
Bisoprolol definitely can have an impact on brain chemistry in some people - as posts here suggest. In my case, at around the ‘magic’ 120 day point and after already eating far more and feeling very low I began to get very vivid and scary hallucinations which became so bad I couldn’t get any sleep at all. This drug is very definitely not for everyone - there are several other options - ask your doctor to change to another beta blocker
I'm on 5mg and heart rate about 50bpm. Bit wobbly when getting up quickly. I'm a runner and feel lethargic for first few miles but then feel normal. I think it takes a bit of time to get used to it. It does get better. Don't bin the meds it will protect your heart.
Hi - it sounds very much like the symptoms I had with bisoprolol - a drug which I don't tolerate well at all. I'm now down to 1.25mg per day and am still having breathlessness and feeling faint during walking exercise often and losing a lot of sleep due to it. The weight issue, although often disputed by medics is something I have suffered with over the years now being 'twice the woman' I once was and I know of others who have also experienced weight gain and extreme difficulty in losing weight.
Your heart rate is pretty low and I would bring this to the attention of your Dr - was always unsure if the low pulse rate I experienced due to bisoprolol at night (in the low to mid 40's often) actually had led to my PAF starting as it initially was only experienced during the night.
Although I would like to be bisoprolol free it tends to trigger my rather violent PAF attacks when I'm off it. I would say however, that reducing the dose has really helped me as I was on 5mg (supposedly just for blood pressure reasons) for quite a while and the 7.5mg for far too long following my first PAF attack/type II MI, so it may be worth discussing with your Dr whether the dose could be altered or a different drug used.
Best of luck with it - but don't just dump the tablets even if you are moved onto different meds as the only time I've been advised just to stop bisoprolol without gradually reducing the dose has resulted in a big PAF attack!!
The weight gain risk absolutely terrifies me as I’ve worked so hard to lose what I have so far and I still have a lot to lose. The last thing I want is to gain any weight and for health reasons I need to continue getting my weight down! If Bisoprolol is going to cause me to stop losing weight and in fact continue to put weight back on then it’s not going to do me any favours whatsoever and this will only make my health problems worse not better.
I’m counting the days now until I see my GP for a private referral as all this worry is just stressing me out.
Try not to worry - hopefully the GP will sort you out. I've only been off Bisoprolol for very limited time - a couple of 2 week episodes before PAF kicked in but I did notice I began to be able to lose weight more normally even in that short time so its not the end of the world. Hope things sort out for you quickly.
My heart rate stayed mostly high for 48 hours after being admitted into hospital but it wasn’t something I’d ever suffered from before. Whilst in hospital my heart rate varied between 42bpm up to around 148bpm but most of the time it was high and despite medication it stayed that way. The medication (Bisoprolol) kept being increased over the 2 day period I was in hospital until it settled down and they would not allow me home from hospital until it remained stable under 100bpm. During the second night in hospital and being wired up to the ECG machine throughout the night my heart rate settled down and I was discharged with medication the next day which I was told I’d need to take the medication prescribed for the rest of my life. The medication was 7.5mg of Bisoprolol to be taken every morning and a 60mg blood thinner called Edoxopan again which I take one tablet daily. I was already on other medication prior to my hospital stay and this is medication I’ve been on for quite a few years for high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and anxiety.
Besides the new medication (Bisoprolol and Edoxopan) I’m taking:
1. Amlodipine 5mg tablets 1 tablet ONCE daily
2. Aspirin 75mg dispersible tablets 1 tablet ONCE daily
3. Atorvastatin 80mg tablets 1 tablet in the evening
4. Bendroflumethiazide 2.5mg tablets 1 tablet ONCE daily
But is it still irregular? As someone else suggested sometimes people get on better with rhythm control rather than rate control whch is what beta blockers do.
I had the same problem as some of the above... after being diagnosed this April with Afib I was put on bisoprolol 5 mg...nausea, feeling like I was wading through jello, no energy, heavy chest and heavy feeling in legs. I couldn't stand it and this was my third medication I couldn't take. I cut myself back to 2.5 mg. and am doing better although I am going to get a second opinion. My Heart Specialist does not like questions and he is very authoritarian so there is that...it is important to find someone you can work with and find the right medication.
I think you will find if you change to Nebivolol you will feel much better. I have more energy although my hr rarely goes over 50 unless having an AFib episode.
My Heart rate was 150 with my flutter..I reckon it had been like that for 7 to 10 days ! It is like a wound and you feel beat up for a couple of weeks. They put me on 50mg metoprolol beta blocker twice a day... I felt all your side effects...wiped out ..headache etc etc Zombified ! ... Asked doc if I could go to 25mg twice a day and he said ok..Doing well now... CAUTION... I tried going to zero over 3 days and got 170 pressure followed by 150 heart rate flutter.... ..so dont do it ! Even climbing down from25mg should take weeks,,, ps today I am 128/78 pulse 62
The medication makes me cry over the drop of a hat!! I feel very 😢 sad ... then l feel very happy at other times. It seems that the medications for afib play with one’s emotions. Try to fight it. I don’t have the weight issue. I’m very tall and thin. Listen to your inner voice. It knows best. I take sotalol ... Force yourself to exercise daily no matter what ... exercise triggers happiness ...
Hi Sue....I had very similar symptoms as yourself over 5 weeks ago now and was also diagnosed with AF and had a cardioversion after 48 hours ....the following day released from Hospital and put on Bisoprolol 2.5mg.....2 weeks later same symptoms the same as yourself stopped me from returning to work so i contacted m GP ...who checked my pulse ...it was at 48 ...so she reduced y dose to 1.25mg...i called my cardiologist and he said it was fine but not worried about by heartrate being that low.2 days later i still had dizzy spells especially when getting up from being on my knees or from a sitting position the same as you....called the cardiologist again and he advised me to take the 1.25mg dose last thing at night and drink at least 3 litres water per day ....that way it should not have its strongest effect and it worked an absolute treat and keeping hrdrated will stop any low blood pressure issues....i was back to work in 2 days after that change .
If your pulse is 44 YES its too low and you need to call Dr now and tell them. Sounds like meds need to be lowered. It you can't reach him I would go to ER.
I could not tolerate 1.25mg daily of bisprolol. I went to sleep 40 minutes after taking one. Woke up with pain in my arms and chest feeling awful. I also had no exercise tolerance i could not run. I stopped them after a week. I then tried Atenolol another beta blocker. This was better than bisop but I had similar symptoms except the arm & chest pain. I lasted two weeks on those. My GP then decided I could not tolerate beta blockers and put me on Verapamil a calcium channel blocker and I was fine with that. Later I also tried diltiazem another CCB which I has issues with, but nothing like the ones with the beta blockers. A lot of people have problems with bisoprolol. There are several other beta blockers that can be used that some people like. I have not tried those.
I am on the same and unless I really exercise to get things moving (I am also hypo-thyroid), I am tired, too. I just found out that the meds slow your heart rate down which can lead to low blood pressure (which might explain the dizzy feeling when bending over and standing up) as well as low energy. I work 7 days a week and can't afford to slow down so just slog through it. I just had a 48-hr monitor and am hoping to get off some of these meds as I had a single incident possibly initiated by an acute emotional trauma about 2 years ago. I am learning we are all different so share concerns, side effects and desires to your doctor and be strong. My doctor seems more concerned about covering himself by keeping me on a bunch of meds instead of really listening to me but I got his ear a couple of weeks ago.
Hi SukySue, I am on Bisoprolol and have all the side-effects you do, and have also had rather bad episodes of depression on 7.5mg. I am now on 5mg and although the depression isn't so bad I steel feel weak and wobbly. Your heart-rate sounds too low to me, should be at least above 60bpm. Have a chat with your GP.
I Take 10mg. Of Bisoprolol. It Makes Me Feel Sick & Weak ! I Told My Cardio Doc About These Terrible Side Effects & He Pointed At My Lower BP Level And Said, > THIS Is What Matters & NOT The Side Effects" ! [???]... HELLO ?...So Much For The Flyers Telling You To Report Your Side Effects To Your Doctor !* [ this is the same doc that gave me every test there is and says everything is great ! when i asked well why an i on 3 different bp meds ? he shrugged his shoulders and said, so you don't have stroke ! ] Great Diagnosis Right ?
I Am Getting Where I Don't Trust Doctors Anymore. They ALL Work Around The Problem But Never Seem To Diagnose ANYTHING !*
They Just Wanna Shove A Pill Down Your Throat & Keep You Coming In & PAYING !*
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) and have moved onto osteoarthritis. First my right knee ( which was replaced) and now my upper neck and my right shoulder. Damn it. So, how do you deal with the arthritis, particularly pain control. I too am on the arthritis forum here. Any tips would be gratefully received.
Poor sleep. Should I change Bisoprolol time?
Bisoprolol 1.25 dosage. Coming off it? 
Can I take an extra Bisoprolol 
Permanent AF?
