I’ve been taking sotalol for 1 day has 2x40mg and feel terrible. How long do the side effects normally last?

[spaghetti12]

Sotalol side effects

[Paulbounce]

Hi Spag.

That's a low dose - it's what they started me on. It had no real effect so it's being upped to 80 mg 3 times a day. I'm fine with that. Tired at times but I accept it.

Give your body a week or so to adjust. I doubt what you saying is untrue but could it be worry as well causing some of the effects ? 40 mg twice a day is a low dose. However if it continues contact your medic and ask for a change of med's maybe ?

We are all different and med's work for some and not others.

Paul

Edit - it's funny how these things make you feel tired in the day but when you go bed, and want sleep, you'll wide awake !

[spaghetti12 in reply to Paulbounce]

Hi PaulWow last 24 hours have been a blur, was really ill this morning passed out and ended up in A&E blood pressure really low. Turns out I should have been taken off my high blood pressure medicine! I didn’t know because this drug is new to me.

Now staying in hospital for a few days so they can monitor me on the sotalol without the blood pressure medicine this time. 😂.

Thank you with your reply

[Hidden in reply to spaghetti12]

As Paul says this is quite a low dose. I've taken Sotalol for around 3 years (2x 60mg) without any major side effects. I think there is a pretty good chance that once you have sorted out the blood pressure medication the problem will resolve.

[spaghetti12 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Sam . Sotalol does sound good so hope my blood pressure gets sorted. Thank you for your reply

[Paulbounce in reply to spaghetti12]

Sounds a nightmare - good luck Spag and hope it sorts itself out soon !

Paul

[spaghetti12 in reply to Paulbounce]

Thank you

[lovetogarden in reply to spaghetti12]

Oh no! What a shame that happened. Seems like the dr or pharmacy should have caught that drug conflict. Hope it gets sorted out soon.

[spaghetti12 in reply to lovetogarden]

Hi Love.Yeah you would have thought so feeling a lot better now though thanks for your reply

[mav7 in reply to Paulbounce]

Hi Paul

Lulz at feeling tired and then being wide awake when you want to sleep. I share the problem.

My doctor has offered me sotalol. Can you briefly tell your experience, Has it controlled your heart rate and/or put you in NSR ?

Thanks !

[Paulbounce in reply to mav7]

Hi Mav.

It seems to work in keeping my HR down but not in NSR. I think only a CV will do that. I hope a compo of the 2 will work together. I was due to have my CV last weekend but it was cancelled due to covid.

Overall though I have got on ok with it

Have a great evening.

Paul

[mav7 in reply to Paulbounce]

Good luck with your CV. Let us know how it goes.

Thx for the reply !

[Greenhilldrive in reply to mav7]

I have been on Sotalol for the last 2 years 80x2 a day and though it was tough in the beginning, I have gotten used to it. I still get get AF but heart rate is slower so it is not so uncomfortable.

My resting heart rate is now 48 to 55 bpm. This is after I reduce my morning dose of sotalol to 40mg and I take 80mg in the evenings,

Whenever I feel an AF episode coming, which is always in the middle of the night, I immediately take 40mg Sotalol and it makes sleep possible because my heart rate is slow. It is usually about 60 tom70 bpm when in AF.

However, I do feel less energetic than before taking the med but I guess that’s what I have to live with.

[mav7 in reply to Greenhilldrive]

Thanks for the reply !

May I ask is your AF persistent or paroxysmal ?

[spaghetti12 in reply to mav7]

Paroxysmal. Went to doctors today and they seem happy with my dose now so am I, been out of hospital a week not long I know but so far so good

[Greenhilldrive in reply to mav7]

It’s paroxysmal and I had a bout last night, started at about 3am. I took 40mg sotalol and managed to nod off until morning. I got up at 8am, watered the plants and prepared breakfast after which I went back into NSR. I took the usual 40mg sotalol after breakfast and felt really light headed and tired until now. It’s 11am . I checked ekg on the Kardia and heart rate was really low, 44 bpm. Thinking back, maybe I should have not taken the sotalol at the start of the AF episode and just let it run it’s course. Now, I feel very weak and wobbly and will not recover until late afternoon. The thing is, I feel great when AF free, and feel really awful during and after an episode. Sighhhh….I hope no one feels like that.

[mav7 in reply to Greenhilldrive]

Just make sure the doctors are aware so they can insure you are on proper dosage.

[Greenhilldrive in reply to mav7]

Yes mav7, I will heed your very good advice. Thank you so much.

[Alphakiwi]

Dont want to be an alsrmist but the answer from me for how long do side effects last ? Until you die.

I was taking Amioderone for 10 days and got worse every day. Then that night o was bad so called ambulance. They decided to take me to hospital but before the ambulance moved i flat lined for over a minute and the medic had bash hell out of me to get me back.

Later i was put on sotolol and same effects started so i stopped taking them and advised my doc.

[spaghetti12 in reply to Alphakiwi]

Wow that’s scary hope your feeling better now, I’m new to this so gotta see what works for me. I’m in hospital atm hopefully that can sort me out. Thank you for your reply

[Greenhilldrive in reply to Alphakiwi]

Yes you are right. The side effects never go away, you feel like you’ve changed and you’re tired all the time.

[Windlepoons]

I came off bisoprolol and onto flecanide which both made me feel dreadful. Then onto Sotalol on the same dose as yourself. Felt much better but it wasn't quite doing the job so was then told to take it three times a day. It's working well and so far no side effects that I know of after a couple of years. Good luck and I hope you find it works well for you.

[spaghetti12 in reply to Windlepoons]

The doctor has taken me off the high blood pressure medicine coz they think mixing them made my BP so low, just gunna try sotalol on its own to see how it goes and keep monitoring me. Thank you for your reply.

[Sixtychick]

I have been on same dose of Sotalol, as you are. I was in A&E with SVT, at the time and they decided to change my medication from Atenolol to Sotalol and took me onto a ward to monitor me. It can cause bad side effects in some people, I believe. The dose they put me on to start with, was too high and made me feel very woozy and dizzy, so they lowered it and I’ve been ok since, touch wood.! I’ve had the dose increased by 20 mg in the morning, a few weeks ago and am ok. I found out that a lot of medication can react with Sotalol and I have got a list of medications which react with Sotalol, so always consult this before taking anything new. You can get this list from the N.I.C.E. website.

[spaghetti12 in reply to Sixtychick]

Thanks sixty I’ll check the NICE site out now to see if it reacts to my other medicines

[Sixtychick in reply to spaghetti12]

You can put it onto your phone and you’ll always have it with you.

[spaghetti12 in reply to Sixtychick]

Just done it got it through the App Store. Thank you again

[AussieHeart]

I was put on same dose and like you couldn’t handle it re: fatigue and low BP. Fainting episodes lead to my aFIB dx so interestingly it didn’t happen on it! After 3 weeks we dropped it to 20mg twice a day and I started to improve but my GP stepped in and said Sotalol is among the most “brutal” of beta blockers and got my EP to switch me to Bisoprolol @ 1.25mg which also caused fatigue until I started taking it at night. Because I have paroxysmal aFIB I chose to wean off it altogether and use it as a pill in a pocket after reading beta blockers cause more harmful side effects if you’re arrhythmia symptoms are SVT or ectopics. They haven’t worked out the cause or type of arrhythmia I have yet (being monitored for next three years via inserted loop monitor over the heart) just saying they see ectopics and that I have “aFIB” intermittently! I’m anti pills if they can’t explain exactly why it’s needed. I see my EP in April and believe he’ll tell me then. If it’s to stop progression or clots I’ll go back on the Bisoprolol but I wasn’t put on coagulants as under 60. He says my heart is strong and my mitral valve stenosis is mild so sounds to me like nothing to see or do here for now anyway!

[spaghetti12]

Hi Aussie.I’m in hospital at the moment and they are being really good and monitoring me all the time to see how thing go.

Thank you for your reply

[lovetogarden]

I was on that same dosage for a year or so. I don’t remember side effects from that dose. But after a year of it not really controlling things, my new EP switched me to 80mg twice a day. I felt the fatigue and lethargy on that dose. Persisted w it for a year. Then switched to Tikosyn(dofetilide), same side effects, but better control of tachycardia. Hate all these drugs. Hope you can find a combo that works for you.

[spaghetti12]

Hi all, thank you all for the reply’s, I have found it helpful and informative.

The hospital have sorted out what medicine was reacting with what. I’ve been on 2x40mg of sotalol for 2 days with no side effects (so far). Have an appointment next week to see how thing are going and maybe put me into 2x80mg which seems to be the preferred dose. Hopeful this works and don’t end back in A&E.

once again thank you for all you support and information and I will try to help others in this group. Looking forward to going home to my family. Thank you xx

[lovetogarden in reply to spaghetti12]

Going home from hospital always feels sooooo good! ❤️