Bisoprolol side effects

[PapaDon]

Just been put on 10mg per day, AF history, pacemaker fitted 1 year ago. Can anyone advise on main side effects please.

[Hidden]

Inside the packet is a sheet of paper, as far as I know this lists all types of side effects, common through to rare. Failing that Google NHS, then Bisoprolol, then side effects.

[bantam12]

Tiredness seems to be a common one, I take mine at night so my days aren't messed up. I also have a pacemaker but only need 2.5 Bisoprolol, not sure I could manage a 10mg dose !

[fallingtopieces]

Sluggishness and strange dreams, sometimes scary.

[Coco51]

Fatigue and lack of energy, especially when getting up from sitting. The pacemaker has made it much, much better. But I am only on 1.25. 10 would be a lot for me.

[angell1950]

Hi Don I’ve been on bisoprolol for quite a few years now. It makes me lethargic, I’ve put in a shed load of weight that I can’t shift and many days I have no get up an go- I think it’s got up and gone. 😊

[CDreamer]

Brain fog, weight gain, extreme breathlessness on any exercise, fatigue, slow HR and exacerbation of an underlying condition which at that time, was unknown.

[Bmwpaul1971 in reply to CDreamer]

Spot on! Everything I had before I switched.

[Japaholic]

10mg Bisoprolol made me impotent, after my ablation I am down to 2.5mg.

No impotence now, but still get breathless sometimes. Specifically when exercising or hiking steep hills.

[Hidden]

Exhaustion, lethargy, breathlessness, weight gain, brain fog, cold extremities, swollen ankles/feet..........

Glad I'm off it

[Dancing_Heart in reply to Hidden]

Did you get put on something else instead?

[Hidden in reply to Dancing_Heart]

No I'm drug free at the moment

[Bertiedette]

Weight gain lethargy, can’t do hills, strange dreams and Breathlessness.Not nice but I keep returning to it .Tried many others but the only to keep h/r down to around 80.

[Silvasava]

I'm on 10mg too, hoping for a cardioversion sometime. Meanwhile, breathlessness on any exertion, lethargy, brain fog, cold feet and some ankle swelling and a drippy nose! No weight gain or wierd dreams though!

[IndiraK]

Hi, for the sake of balance I’ll throw my two penneth in. I’m only on 1.25mg but to start with I had strange dreams and felt like I was walking through treacle, especially on an incline. When getting up from bed I felt really dizzy and had to sit for a bit first. However, all that went fairly quickly. I think my body just had to adapt to the effects. Another member of my family has been on the same dose for over 10 years with no side effects. All the best to you. 🙂

[Ppiman]

Most people have no or few side effects on beta-blockers, so, rather than read the label, refer to the Internet, or listen to others, I would genuinely just follow your GP's advice and see how you go with it, giving it a few weeks for your system to adjust to it. The main effect will be to lower your heart rate, and this might take a while for your body to adjust to.

I took 10mg for quite a while last year for atrial flutter and eventually reduced the dosage, after my ablation, to 1.25mg, then back up to 5mg as fibrillation started, then down to nil, and all is still well., nearly a year on.

Keep in mid that the effects of bisoprolol are not linear, so whilst 10mg is a "high" dose, 2.5mg isn't a quarter as "strong". You might well find that a lower dose will work well for you but that is for your doctor to work out.

Steve

[CDreamer in reply to Ppiman]

I would take issue with your statement - Most people have no or few side effects on beta-blockers as exemplified by the above replies and numerous other threads on Bisoprolol. The difference is whether or not the medication is worse than the disease and if medication for AF is purely for QOL - why suffer symptoms of medication IF you are symptomatic?

If it works for you - then great - unfortunately none of us know in advance. Personally I always read the full leaflet and then look at the risk:benefits of the medications advised and make my own mind up.

[Ppiman in reply to CDreamer]

I take your point and could have worded it differently; but my view is that a doctor who prescribes you a medicine is to be trusted and if you are prescribed any medication, then you are better to rely on your GP than to read a legally required listing of side effects most of which are unlikely to happen to you.

Beta blockers are never prescribed lightly, but have been around for very many years now. Their overall safety is very high indeed. Here is a quotation from a doctor who wrote a comprehensive review, "28 of the 33 classically-described side-effects are not significantly more common on beta-blockers than placebo."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Here is a summary that includes a good explanation of the side effect profile of bisoprolol:

rxlist.com/zebeta-side-effe...

Steve

[Jennyquilt0]

Been on 5mgs am and pm So 10 mg per day for about 5years no side effects doesn’t always pay to go looking for them

[Morzine]

Hi papa don,

I’ve been on it two years now. It’s keeps the pulse a bit lower so that’s good. Initially though I wasn’t at all keen on it as I had a few side effects but I stuck with it because folk in this site said the side effects would settle down....and they did.

I felt tired as if I was in third gear all the time. I think it defiantly upset my vision for about two months .

My cardio lowered the dose a bit when I felt I was sooooo tired out..,,..

Now I just take it no problems. Itnink it May slow me down a bit as I certainly have t my old pre afib energy.....but that could be my heart couldn’t it or age....who knows......

All in all I’d say I tolerate it very well and I’m happy it keeps the pulse and aids blood pressure....( doc told me that when I asked what it did)

Sue

[Belle11]

When I was in persistent AF 10mg brought my heart rate down from 120 ish to 80/90s, but since my cardioversion put me back in sinus rhythm 4 months ago my heart rate has been low - from 44 up to 50s, even after reducing to 8.75mg. More of my tiredness seems to have been from being in AF, I have a lot more energy, but I am still quite slowed down, and ankles swell a bit. But if it's helping keep me out of AF I can live with it.

[LaceyLady]

Vivid dreams, headaches, disturbed sleep. Weak points like shoulder issue and elbow worse. Currently having trouble with low HR rate on sitting and sleeping and was on 1.25 cut in half to see if it’s better, but going to have to talk to Consultant. It makes me breathless, coughing.

[Jajarunner]

I was breathless walking up slight inclines and when running felt like I was suffocating (though I was unfit as well!). Cycli g, rowing and walking g on the flat was okay.

Made me very pale and very tired too. EP said I could come off it "but you might go back into afib" and since, for me, that means hospitilisation and weeks of not being able to move properly while waiting for cardioversion, I didn't dare!

I'm now on amiadarone which is much better EXCEPT it has about a quadzillion very serious side-effects!!!!! I originally had a different betablocker, carvedilol, but I have been taken off that now too.

Both betas I was on smallest dose.

But everyone is different, I have a friend on atenolol and she notices no side effects at all. I'm very intolerant to all the cardiac meds.

I hope you get on better than i did.

[Prince123456]

Hi Don I originally started taking 2.5 mg for

Ventricular tachycardia 12 months ago I’m now on the maximum dose of 20mg a day.

They personally make me feel like crap very lethargic and poor concentration levels (Brain Fog) I don’t feel any different now taking 20mg than what I did taking 2.5mg. I’m going to ask my cardiologist if I can change to another med when I manage to get another appointment. If not I will be coming off anyway self choice I can’t carry on feeling like this.

[tunybgur]

Beta blockers such as bisoprolol are designed to reduce the strain on your heart by slowing it down, unfortunately the side effect is often to rob you of energy. For this reason you should endeavour to minimise the dosage, after all, quality of life is just as important as life, or should be.

[cycleman73]

I would steer clear of Bisoprolol at all cost !!!!

[toydollglasses in reply to cycleman73]

Why?