Bisoprolol and ramipril

[Eva14]

Was on ramipril for a while. A week ago 2.5mg I'd bisoprolol was added. While my tachycardia settled lovely, I started getting horrendous tightness in the chest. Can't take deep breath, pains in the chest, darts. Very tired, dizzy. If I do some even light activity, my chest gets extremely tight. All the tests are perfect. Doctor thinks it's in my head. Went to the hospital, they couldn't find anything,, told me to use brown paper bag(tried, no good). My complaints are getting worse, I don't know what to do. Another sleeplessness night ahead. As I can't breathe properly, especially at night. Please help

[CDreamer]

Many people can not tolerate Bisoprolol. Keep going back to your doctor - it’s not in your head. Just put Bisoprolol into the search box on this forum to see just how many post about it.

I now have a red alert on my medical file so no one ever can prescribe it for me again.

If you have asthma some people find it can exacerbate symptoms whilst others tolerate it. Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which meds work for us until we try.

[Hidden]

Hi

I am reducing Bisoprolol I have had so many side effects and tiredness, sleep depravation,tight chest and soreness as well. The longer I have been taking it the more breathless and less exercise I am able to do. Coming off Bisoprolol is even worse I have been withdrawing for three months and still not half way to coming off it completely. Side effects are even worse. Some people have no problems but if you are having problems go back to you doctor there are other medications he can give you with less side effects. I have not had a normal life for six months and still have at lease a further six months before I shall be off this nightmare drug. The longer you are on this drug the longer the withdrawal problems. Doctor don’t believe there are any withdrawal symptoms but believe me there are and they are horrendous.

See another doctor if you GP says you are anxious that is also another side effect.

[Neilor73]

I couldn't tolerate Bisoprolol. I was allergic to it. It made me feel awful. Although, I thought it was the afib and stayed with it as the Dr's told me it wasn't a known reaction (I couldn't walk 100 metres, only ate breakfast because I had to have food with the other medicine). It took me bringing blood up for the Dr's to review the medicine.

[Eva14]

Thank you so much, everybody. I'm glad, that it's not me going mad. Was so delighted with BP balanced and palpitations gone. But feel worse otherwise. Was nearly convinced, that I'm going to... Lying down now, nearly passing out, feel like a brick sitting in my lungs. Will contact the doctor tomorrow. Will explode if he is going to say "it's panic attack".

[Neilor73]

They changed Bisoporol to Metoprolol for me and, whilst I don't feel 100%, I feel 80%. The comparison with Bisoporol is amazing - when I was on that I felt 2% at best and everyday was just hard. Although, when it got sorted I saw a consultant rather than a junior doctor and he also diagnosed I was retaining water which no one else had noticed even though I said my legs were swelling. He put me on a diuretic and I lost a stone in water overnight. I do think that was also part of the issue with not sleeping and breathlessness.

[Hidden]

As has been said, Bisoprolol cannot be tolerated by some but there are alternatives. Many here have made favourable comments about Nebivolol which is also a betablocker. I take Diltiazem which is a calcium channel blocker and that works well for me.

[7164]

It’s not in your head.

Bisop was doing very similar to me

Go back to your GP

Rod

[Eva14]

I really appreciate all your comments. All of you made me feel better mentally. I wish good health to all of you. X

[Eva14]

Was talking to my gp. He doesn't think it's tablets. Does f know what causes the way I feel. Refused to cha he education, told me to reduce to 1.25. Will try that. If doesn't work, may as well give up. I'm 50 yo, guess they'll blame my age)))

[CDreamer in reply to Eva14]

Can you see a different GP?

[Eva14 in reply to CDreamer]

Different GP is tricky. In our small town they are refusing new patients. Also, Ireland is in the lick down. Can't even see the GP. I think I'll go to the hospital and demand to be seen. They can call the police, I am not leaving)))

[CDreamer in reply to Eva14]

That sounds rather drastic, especially in these times. Before you resort to those measures maybe try ringing the Atrial Fibrillation Association for advice. I don’t know if their remit covers Ireland but they have been very helpful to members with this sort of issue & GPs. Not good for the heart all this stress. Good luck.

[Moo1975]

They kept telling me that it is in your head and you worry too much and you think too much about it. I stayed on it for 9 years and then a brilliant cardiologist listened to me and asked me to try Nebivolol and you still get symptoms but nothing compared to bisoprolol. Made the switch 2 years ago now

[Mugster]

I could tolerate Bisoprolol, although it made me very tired

It was the Ramipril that that put me into severe coughing bouts.So bad I would end up on my knees and pulled muscles in my side's.it took 3 months to recover.

I have heard Ramipril and Coronovirus do not mix

[Hidden]

Are you still on the Ramipril? My wife was prescribed Ramipril 2.5mg a month ago after a stroke and immediately started with a bad cough. Last week she became breathless. At one point it was so bad that I had to call her an ambulance. A chest x-ray and ECG came back ok but her blood pressure was still too high and her heart rate too fast, so her doctor doubled the Ramipril to 5mg and added Bisoprolol at its lowest dose, 1.25mg. Her cough started to get bronchial, she still had shortness of breath and she was in bed all day with fatigue. To top it off, she suddenly developed hives. She came off the Ramipril a couple of days ago. (We have a home BP monitor and her blood pressure immediately improved from 173/104 to 129/87. Go figure!). Her cough and breathlessness have also noticeably improved. She is now considering stopping the Bisoprolol if possible (but only if her heart rate remains stable; it was 113bpm and is now around 93bpm), since it is giving her dizzy spells and anxiety attacks. She is still on Lercanidipine (a calcium channel blocker rather than an ACE Inhibitor like Ramipril), so her BP is under control, and Clopidogrel to thin her blood. My point is - no, you are not imagining things - the side effects of drugs might be uncommon from a doctor's point of view, but they can be horrendous and are very real for affected patients. Tell your doctor you want a change of medication if suitable alternatives are available.

[Eva14 in reply to Hidden]

Still on ramipril and bisoprolol. 2.5 mg each. For the last two days waiting for doctor(cardio) to ring me back, as the secretary keeps promising. Looks like they don't want to be dealing with patients, due to coronavirus. I don't know

[GrannyE]

All I know about Ramipril is that it was not what I needed but a GP kept giving me a higher dose. Apparently it lowers the diastolic bp and does not a lot for the systolic bp. As a consequence I was frequently Hyper and Hypo at the same time! Had dreadful headaches with the high systolic (Max at urgent care over 220) and at times also dizzy with the diastolic too low. I need something to lower my systolic and not the diastolic and have now been put on amlopidine 5mg and feel much better on it.

Good luck.

[cuore]

You do not say whether the beta blocker bisoprolol was added for the hypertension or the tachycardia. So I will assume it was for the tachycardia. In other words your GP was trying to get your heart rate down. It appears that you had a reaction from bisoprolol. The website drugs.com gives side effects for the drugs. For bisoprolol:

drugs.com/sfx/bisoprolol-si...

I had a reaction to a beta blocker, too. Mine was Metoprolol. I refused to take it. So, you might ask your GP to consider a calcium channel blocker instead. If your beta blocker was for the rate, then Nondihyropyridine CCBs are prescribed ( ex. diltiazem or verapamil). If it is for blood pressure, then Dihydropyridne CCBs are prescribed (ex. amlodipine).

When you get a new drug, you may want to go on the drugs.com site and see what the side effect are. You might also do some reading about drug combinations.

The above is with a disclaimer because I am not n MD.

[Eva14]

Thank you so much. I learnt more in this discussion then from any doctor. Yes, it was prescribed for tachycardia. When I was in the hospital. GP convinced that its not the tablets, that causing the way I feel, but not suggesting anything else. Got talking to the doctor, which prescribed those tablets. Over the phone. The reply was :"Your tests were clear. I can't diagnose you over the phone, but we don't take any appointments at the moment. On the lick down, due to coronavirus". Mind you, we have only 5 cases in our county. No other doctors accept new patients, no personal visits. Disaster

[Kimhari]

I have just been changed bisoprolol caused me breathing probs and to be very tired also affected my digestion. Didn't agree with me at all.