A quick bit of advice from all you experienced Afibbers.
Af diagnosis one year ago and on 2.5 mg of Bisoprolol ever since. Prior to Af I had perfect BP and heart rate. I have been upped to 1.25 AM and 2,5Pm. I am concerned that my BPM is now always around 55- 60 resting but sometimes around late forties. I dont notice it but should I be concerned. The BP is now always a bit low i.e 100/70
Any observations appreciated
Rod
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Pulse rate is a bit low but if you feel OK, with no dizziness then you should be OK. Blood pressure is notoriously difficult to measure when in AF. The only accurate monitor for an AF patient is the old mercury Sphygmomanometer which are now pretty rare due to the mercury content. Given your apparent low BP and pulse rate, it might be worth asking why your medication needs to be increased...….
If you are feeling okay and not dizzy or lightheaded then you are good. I am on diltiazem and digoxin and my resting heart rate is about 60 and BP of 105/68. I thought that seemed low, but I feel okay.
I am on 1.25/day bisoprolol, 200mg/day amiodorone and about 1mg/day of Coumarin( a 'blood stickiness controller').
My BP was for a while down to about 100/65 and my pulse sometimes below 50. I asked my doctor and she said it was OK, as long I wasn't dizzy.
Sounds rather similar to yours ... it is best just to check with your doctor.
It's most probably the bisoprolol. The lowest dose of 1.25mg was too much for me and brought my heart rate down too low - not sure exactly what as it was before I had my Kardia or blood pressure machine- thank goodness I asked the pharmacist after three days, who took my pulse when I told him I was feeling very tired and he told me to get off it immediately - the doctor hadn't even bothered to arrange a follow up after prescribing the bisoprolol but another one at the surgery agreed I should stop taking it. It is designed to lower heart rate (and not to do anything about the rhythm irregularity which is what AF is!) It's cheap though and cheaper the higher the dose, we discovered. We are all different so have to discover what works for us. I have paroxysmal AF which means it only happens occasionally and has stopped since I got flecainide and started taking it regularly in a way that seems to work though I have still not got quite used to it and it tends to make me tired at times though my heart rate is fine - usually in the 50- 60 range when resting- higher when I'm active. Hope you find what works for you!
I used to have low pulse rate a few years ago when on 5mg bisoprolol usually in the mid to low 50's., however, it did drop at times to low 40's during the night which I think may have triggered PAF attacks. I think it may be worth questioning with your Dr and seeing if they can put a Holter monitor on to see how low it is going during sleep. I know athletes frequently have low pulse rates in the low 50's but they have very efficient hearts, I'm not sure that the average person functions as well in terms of the amount of oxygen they are able to circulate with a pulse much below 50.
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