bisoprolol

[seaphin]

i have been on bisoprolol 5mg, i was gaining weight and started showing a skin rash, the Dr has lowered me to 2.5mg, my question is, will i get withdrawl symptons, i ask because i feel edgy and had a few palpitations, is this normal

[mjames1]

It's possible. As your doctor if you can taper. For example, alternate two days 5mg with one day 2.5mg. When that feels good, then maybe alternate every other day. If that works, then 2.5 daily.

Jim

[CDreamer]

Some people do get withdrawal symptoms because Biso is an adrenaline blocker. Reduce dose very, very slowly.

[Ppiman]

From what I understand, bisoprolol has a long half-life so reducing the dose is far less likely to cause any issues. You will have a somewhat faster heart on the lower dose, I suppose (not necessarily, though as the dose / effect is not linear with this drug, I have read).

Weight gain on betablockers has been studied, I gather. The evidence I have read shows it highly unlikely that the drug itself is the cause since it has no effect on the metabolism. What is more likely is a consequence of the AF, of the anxiety this induces, of the lower heart rate the drug causes often leading to reduced activity and increased calorie intake.

Steve

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

Someone posted on here that they interfere with the conversion of T4 to T3. That would certainly have an effect on the metabolism!

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

I've lost the link to the large study I read about this, but, yes, if there is an impact on the thyroid gland then the metabolism could be affected and that would cause weight gain.

Steve

[RG72]

I have been flipping back and forth on my dosage (not sure if my doc likes to keep me on my toes?) over 8 months but I’ve always had 3 or 4 days of ‘getting used to’ the new dose, whether increasing or decreasing. Typically this involves headaches, slow headedness, fatigue. Everyone responds differently and has different needs but my last switch was down from 5 to 2.5 and ectopics increased (from very few to just a few more) for a couple of days and then disappeared completely.