I was diagnosed par AFib in April this year and given apixiban and Bisoprolol. After taking these I became quite weak and tired all the time. Eventually I felt as though I was going to faint and was taken back to hospital where I was told that it was the Bisoprolol doing it and to stop taking them. I was told that I would need to speak to my consultant and will be given pill in the pocket. This was in June. I did get a fib but it went after a while. However I woke one morning with my heart pounding and it didn’t slow down for hours. I then got a pain in the left arm, and when this didn’t go I took a Bisoprolol as a pill in the pocket as I has some left. An ambulance was sent for and I went in to hospital, where I was told my BP was extremely low. I was admitted and treat as though I had had a heart attack. Consultant assured me I had not and told me I am allergic to Bisoprolol. I was then put on Tildiem 60 mg modified release. I have been taking them for a month now, but have no energy at all. Has anyone else had this and will the tiredness go?
Will this tiredness ever go - Atrial Fibrillati...
Will this tiredness ever go
Sorŕy you are feeling like this. I can only say that I felt terrible after taking Tildiem ....cant remember exactly now as it was some years ago! However suffice to say that I stopped taking them .
I would see your GP and explain how you feel and seek alternative ďrug.
( My husband has been taking this for years and no ill effects !)
Are you still in AF? Cos that makes you tired. I was for 6 months till I had my first cardioversion.
❤️
I’m not in AF at the moment. It comes and goes, but haven’t gone into AF since taking the Tildiem. Just so tired all the time. When I spoke to my doctor on phone he said that I may need to get used to them, but not sure if I will.
60mg a day? I take 180 daily of Zemtard (diltiazem) with no problem and the max is 540 so I suspect it is the AF causing tiredness. You could be having it at night, or you might have sleep apnoea - do you snore? Also it lowers blood pressure so try to drink more (water!).
Thanks for your reply. I am on 60mg twice per day. My husband tells me I do snore. I’m not aware of having AF during the night. I do take Apixiban as well. Maybe I should just give it a bit longer to settle in.
When I had a monitor I was disappointed that I hadn’t had an episode of AF but the report said I had ‘frequent episodes’ - so either while asleep or didn’t feel them during the day.
I’m not in AF at the moment. The medication I’m on seems to be stopping that. Not sure if I need to give the medication longer to see if it’s just me getting used to it.
I am not medically trained but Tildiem is diltiazem. I was on Tildiem then owing to an availability issue was switched to other brands. They were the same . I was was quite tired on it and also had brain fog , poor memory , exercise intolerance and a bit of breathlessness. However I was on 200mg, and always felt it was too much. I was on 120mg for a month and that was a bit better , but owing to a problem I won't go into , I was put back on 200mg. 60mg seems like a small dose to me but people are different in their sensitivities . I was on flecainide when took Tildiem, but when I described my symptoms the cardiologist suggested it would be the Tildiem causing the issues. I could live with it but not only did I not get better, I am sure the side effects got worse over the time I was taking it. I stopped taking it 3 months after my ablation, and 4 to 6 weeks later I felt a whole lot better, at which time I realised how bad I had got. But I was on 200mg.
Pre Tildiem and flecainide I was taking verapamil i think 120mg, it is another calcium channel blocker. Iwas not on fIecainide rhythm control then. I had no side effects on this, but it did not stop me going into high rate when I got afib either. Not saying it did nothing but the dose I was on did not keep the rate below 130 after my afib had developed. Having said that i am not sure the Tildiem did either as i saw 140bpm on the only time ibwentbinto afib whilst taking it. I suspect the flecainide was the drug that kept me out if afib
Speak to your cardiologist
Thanks for your reply. I take 60mg twice a day as well as Apixiban. Not sure what is doing what. I felt a lot worse on Bisoprolol. I think I may need to give it a bit longer to settle in, if not back to doctors I go. It’s just so very difficult to speak to a doctor recently.
Not medically trained but doubt the apaxiban is the issue, it is unlikely to be affecting lung or heart directly . The diltiazem certainly does affect the heart directly and deliberately that is why it's prescribed! Unfortunately maybe it too much. Which doctor at you seeing, is it a GP or a cardiologist?. I asked as unless you are on a rhythm control drug your GP CAN change your prescrioption. (Mine did),it was only when I got onto rhythm control drugs (eg flecsinide) where the GP cannot change them . Diltiazem is a rate control drug and as such it does mot keep you in rhythm or out of Afib, it just controls your heart rate when you are not in NSR.
I Also think a month is plenty time to assess the drug,/dose- if there is No improvement at all why will it suddenly get better. I stopped on bisoprolol 8 days as my side effects were unpleasant and 2 weeks on Atenolol before requesting to cone off that admit was Better than bisoprolol but still bad.
Tinkering with the dose may still help you.
Best wishes
Bad luck - and I can sympathise completely. I had atrial flutter in the spring of 2019 and went down the usual route, eventually having a successful ablation in June of that year, and I'm now only taking rivaroxaban. I also took bisoprolol and, eventually, digoxin, to reduce my heart rate, and my blood pressure also dropped as did yours.
And yet, I still, now, have such little energy, or stamina at least, that I worry a lot about it at times. It has changed what I can do when thinking of DIY projects or helping my son with his house move, and so on. I also am a very "health-anxious" type, and I also have insomnia and a hiatus hernia with reflux issues, and I'm 67 now, so I tend to put it the stamina problem down to these things, perhaps especially the anxiety which rears its head so easily if I have any chest "sensations".
But I don't know. My heart was said to be fine, and I had a stress MRI to confirm that (it did show "left bundle" heart issues, but I was told that was of no concern at all). That did relieve me a very great deal, to say the least - but, as I say, the lack of stamina remains, and it's clearly now nothing to do with bisoprolol.
Steve
Thanks for your reply. I’m not sure if I’m over reacting as a lot of people on here suffer with tiredness. I will give it a bit longer to see if it all settles down. You just don’t get any information when diagnosed, and just now is a difficult time to talk to a doctor. I’m just so glad this forum is here as it helps putting things into perspective.
I think doctors can be less than informative unless pressed - partly since many people don’t want too much information or forget to ask, given the stressful circumstances. It’s really much better to get information from the doctor, though.
Reading online, I see that by far the most people who take beta blockers settle quickly on them and hardly know they’re taking them. I think your being sensible to give it some time but maybe phone you GP, too?
Steve
You are suffering from side effects. Tell your Dr and don't let them say you aren't. Look up drugs.com or Rxlist.com to see side effects. If you are in the UK you have something over there you can look up. Think someone else from there called it NICE.
Remember people are different. One person may do okay on some med but another may not. The anticoagulants can also cause weakness.
Thanks for your reply. I will look into this. It could be anticoagulants. This is such a good forum, no one seems to judge any one.
Mention your sleep apnea at the same time, your doctor may consider it relevant and may be able to offer you some lifestyle advice. Worth a try.
Horrible time with bisprolol initially had to stop after a fortnight. Tildiem seemed to be fine for me didn't really conquer the AF. Really problematic in UK Jan and Feb but fine when away at that time in sunny holiday destinations. After 2 years indigestion / reflux with Tildiem really became a significant issue and I discussed this 'off-piste' with a retired allergy consultant - his suggestion was to try bisoprolol at 1.25 level. GP agreeable but said I needed to stop TIldiem for a few weeks then start at 1.25. No withdrawal symptoms from Tildiem and reflux gradually disappeared. That dosage of bisoprolol suited me and suppressed the AF only irritating side effect was dry 'tissues' especially in lungs and upper thorax. Pharmacist said to be verey careful mixing Tildiem and bisoprolol because the combination can significantly drop BPressure (had to try that when the heart went into high rate flutter and did see a hugh drop down to 90 over 70 after a few hours)
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