After suffering chest pains that now appear to be completely un heart related I spent a couple of nights in hospital with 1 night in cardio care whilst they did tests ... they came back with a heart flutter that I've had for years (when I deep sleep on my back) and have decided to medicate me on this as the consultant said ... most people have these episodes but look where we are now.. I was originally placed on 2.5mg bisoprolol and 1.25mg ramipril ... after 2 days of taking these I started having really badly headaches and a feeling like internal vibrations.. shortness of breath and quite literally a feeling of despair... I didn't even feel like myself any more.. I discussed this with my doctor who agreed to change the ramipril and put me onto 5mg amlodipine... and lowered my dose on bisoprolol to 1.25mg... whilst this has helped and I no longer feel like a zombie I still feel lethargic and get headaches and a buzzing sensation around my body ... I spoke to my doctor about coming off bisoprolol and she advised against it but said as the dose is so low it wouldn't be an issue... lest to say I tried yesterday and by 10.30 last night I had taken the tablet... I was still buzzing with a systolic rate at 106 at 8am this morning.... I'm desperate to get off this vile drug but feel trapped on it.. I just don't know what to do next...
Feeling trapped: After suffering chest... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Feeling trapped
I, like many others, could not tolerate Bisoprolol and I have seen more than one post on this forum with a post similar to yours saying that even at 1.25mg they have symptoms.
No one here is qualified to offer you medical advice, however, in my personal experience and view - Bisoprolol has side affects at any dose and so say many here.
The usual advice is to stick with it for several weeks to see if the affects dissipate, sometimes they do but I would talk to your doctor again, if I were you, and then again and again - be very persistent if the side affects continue.
There are several other beta blockers you could try. I take Metoprolol, but as CDreamer had said it sometimes takes the body a little time to get used to any drug.
I hate taking drugs too, but after 15 years of stopping and starting them, feel I'm actually better taking.
What if you didn't sleep on your back? Would you not need to take pills then?
Jean
I believe so... it's not something that has concerned me before ... I went to the hospital with pain in the centre of my chest which I still have and came away with beta blockers... to say I am down is an understatement... and all I got from the hospital is that my heart is fine it's all in my head.... then they give me an ecg while I hay on my back and say ohh ...there it is... I feel like I'm in this on my own
I know that's how it feels, but you're not on your own now - you have us here on this forum! When I was first told I had a problem with my heart I went into headless chicken mode, thinking this condition was serious stuff and maybe I'd die! No-one thinks to sit you down and tell you that it's generally not life threatening. Stop worrying (easy to say I know), as any anxiety can worsen your heart situation and you don't want that
Trust me you will get used to having this flutter, though you'll always wish it hadn't come into your life. Of all the illnesses we could have been dealt with, be grateful that you don't have cancer, motor neuron disease, Parkinsons etc.
I'm guessing that you're fairly young as you haven't been prescribed an anticoagulant (tablet to prevent blood clots forming)?
Jean
I'm 50... generally quite fit and active .. play rugby and mountain bike .. was very overweight and suffered from obstructive sleep apnea a few years ago but lost weight and exercised and managed to overcome it...I really believe I am better off without the tablets.. but am struggling to get off this bisoprolol.. didnt even have high blood pressure when I went into hospital 3 weeks ago.. and now .. I dispair
Hi slane 69,
It took a couple of months for me with bisoprol to settle down. I kept at it purely cos the kind folk on here told me it took time, sometimes a long time.....so it could just be time you need for it to settle in. I had headaches, and it made me feel like I was in second gear instead of fifth.....most odd to feel that way.....Oh and my vision too..but I am in France and felt rather deeply lost with all this and did what the cardio said .
I’m told it’s to keep the BP controlled.....it certainly keeps my pulse lower. But that’s me and I know it isn’t for everyone I ve heard.
I know from myself, anything to do with heart, certainly turns your world upside down , you aren’t alone, you have everyone here.
You said your BP is up and a good idea might be, I think , to take it every day morning and night.....note it all down so when u go to doctor you have a record.
Each morning take it three times with five min intervals.....then evening do the same.
I have to do that here for my doc.....and do it for say three days.....
Try and relax, easier said than done I inow,
I have heard on here that a lot of people have changed to nebivolol and have been very happy with it.....
from google
"Nebivolol has 321-fold higher affinity for human cardiac beta1-receptors versus beta-2-receptors making it more selective for beta1-receptors than any other agent in its class [12]. Nebivolol is 3.5 times more beta-1-adrenoreceptor selective than bisoprolol [13]."
It might well be costochondritis. This causes pain in the sternum. Try pressing on the painful area and if you can intensify the pain it most likely is. This is a nasty ( but harmless on the whole) infammation of the cartilage in the ribcage. The real problem is that it often mimics heart pain. I have suffered with this on and off for many years but it is anxiety making! Now I am going to stick my neck out. If you have been assured that this pain is not heart related and you have had the flutter for many years without ( from what you write) being overly bothered by it then you need to think very carefully about whether you want to go down the drug route especially beta blockers. Doctors dish out drugs. It is the first resort for most of them. Most of these drugs do not cure us . They simply suppress symptoms - if we take them for life. But many of them come with nasty side effects that are actually worse than the symptoms of the condition we are living with. I could not tolerate 2.5 mg of Bisoproplol the first time I was put on it. I felt like a zombie and told my GP that if I had to live the rest of my life feeling like that I did not wish to live. He reduced the dose to 1.25 and naughtily I reduced it further to .65mg. My cardiologist said I could stop it after a few months. After going into afib in hospital after major bowel surgery the hospital consultant again put me on Bisoprolol- at a dose of 5mg! This time I did not wait. As soon as I was back in NSR I reduced the dose. I got my own cardiologist to change me over to Nebivolol and feel better on that. But I am gradually reducing the dose and eventually hope to stop because my afib episodes are infrequent and I do not want to be on another drug I take for the rest of my life. It's bad enough having to take the Apixaban. You are on your own in that it's your body only you can decide in the end what you want to put into it. But there are lots of good people here who have gone through similar problems with Bisoprolol and can give you the benefit of their experience.
I dont get the ectopic beats while I'm sat up .. only usually when lay flat on my back / sleeping ... the consultant said when I saw him in hospital that many people have what I have and dont have any problems if left untreated.. but to look where we are now .. with me sat in a hospital bed .. unfortunately I just went with it... even when the heart scan showed my heart was fine ... but I still had the pain in my chest.. I wish I'd not gone to the hospital at all..
Nobody can force you to take the drugs. Going to the hospital has it's good side. The examinations have shown there is nothing wrong with your heart. If I were you I would pay attention to the first part of the consultant's spiel and regard the second part as knee jerkery. Many people still get side effects with 1.25 mg of Bisoprolol. You have to decide whether you are going to continue with it and put up with that or ditch it. If you decide on the latter you should do it slowly - sometimes people can get symptoms of too much adrenaline if beta blockers are stopped suddenly. You talk about systolic rate -are you referring to blood pressure or heartbeat? If the latter then that is too high for a resting rate.
Sorry .. 180 / 111 is the blood pressure ... my pulse rarely gets about 75
I can see why the docs would want to bring that down but there are lots of other drugs to do that. Here in Europe beta blockers are used far less than ACE inhibitors or the "sartans" to bring down blood pressure.
Sorry... my blood pressure is around the 130/80 and pulse is usually around 50 ... it spikes up to 180 / 111 when I try to stop the bisoprolol... I purchased a pill cutter today so from friday will try to half my dose as opposed to stopping it .. I'm determined to come off this drug ...
I have had muliple bouts of chostochronditis as well. The first one sent me to the hospital emergency room sure that it was a heart attack.
While they were doing an echocardiogram I nearly jumped off the table when the technician pressed the wand on my chest. She continued only for a couple more minutes before stopping the procedure. The doctor came in, pressed on my sternum, and I yelped. He looked at the Echo, EKG strip and smiled.
I was immediately discharged with instructions to take Tylenol for the pain, to stop fretting that it was my heart, and to always press on my sternum whenever I have chest pain in the future before pushing the panic button.
It has been good advice because it has come back several times over the years.
It is horrible. I get the pain in the sides of my ribs as well but that does not bother me as much. The erosion of rib cartilage is common in floxies. The first time it struck me my GP was mystified as I was 47 and the erosion due to old age supposedly a long time in the future. I also get terrible pain sometimes when bending over to do my shoe laces in the front ribs as if something has torn and the ribs have crossed
Hi Not sure why your Hart rate is 106, not really high, I get rates above 160 at times, but then it settles down. The doctor is right the Bisoprolol is there to help reduce heart rate. I'm on 3.75 to try and keep my rate down to about 60 with no problems most times. Not sure about the other medication it may be your thinking about things too much and getting uptight, simple to say, but try not worring so much. The more you get uptight the more your heart rate goes up.
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