Has anyone found that they suffer from anxiety attacks after stopping Bisoprolol?I was taking Bisoprolol 1.25 each day for over a year.
I stopped a month ago, the first two weeks were fine, but now every night I am so anxious and nervy I cannot sleep. I don't seem to be able to think of anything except my heart and when the next Afib attack will be
During the day I feel very well.
I have tried all the usual relaxing exercises but cannot get beyond the panic.
Be so interested to hear if anyone else has suffered similar night-time attacks and even more interested to hear if anyone has found a solution!
Thanks
Written by
Summerlily
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Whilst the dose of bisoprolol is extremely low, it is one of those drugs which can result in re- bound problems if just stopped. Have a chat with your doctor about gradual reduction over a period of days or weeks.
My question is why are you stopping it if you still have AF events?
I am taking Flecainide, the Bisoprolol was making my blood pressure and pulse too low.I am almost sure I have Vagal Afib, so should not take Bisoprolol anyway, apparently!
Quite right - but then looking purely through the lens of a cardiologist and heart point of view - it is recommended that beta-blocker be given alongside Flecainide to prevent other arrythmias. You might go discuss other beta blocker options if you want to stay on Flecainide.
I had to stop both very suddenly for other reasons and I have to say that it wasn’t pretty and not an experience I ever want to repeat.
I would guess that it is not the absence of Bisoprolol but your anxiety that it is not there to control your rate. Bisoprolol is only mildly anti-arrhythmic, so don't worry about the rate. It has some calming effect, so maybe a natural aid to sleep would help. Good luck .
I think it may have been the relief of being off daily medication, but I found the opposite was true. Stopping bisoprolol (over time with a controlled reduction and on advice from the cardiologist) reduced my general heart anxiety and allowed me to start living a little more. However, this doesn't seem to be your experience - so what may be of more use to you is that I did notice a slight increase in arrhythmia events in the first 4-6 weeks which have gradually now subsided. So there was a period of readjustment where things appeared to get a little worse. In the middle of that, a couple of weeks in, I was a little uncertain as to whether I should still be taking it and/or if stopping was a mistake, but these feelings subsided as did the arrhythmia events. What I really like it is that rather than relying on bisoprolol to control the arrhythmia, it is now down to me. If i start feeling episodes coming on, it is usually because I've been stressed, had bad sleep or (heaven forbid) had a couple of drinks. In which case I get stricter and more careful in the diet and lifestyle routines rather than reaching for the medicine cabinet.
Hi Summerlily, it's no fun to get these symptoms. I was on 10mg bisoprolol for 3 years, and have gradually cut down to 5mg since the summer. On 10mg I was a bit of a zombie, with no motivation to get up and do anything - not enough stress hormones for normal life!
As my dose has been cut down, I haven't had night-time problems, but I've found myself really anxious on motorways, particularly as a passenger - verging on panicky, which I wasn't before I started on the drug. I've been down to 5mg for nearly a month now, and felt more relaxed on the most recent motorway journey, so I'm hoping it's getting better.
It could be your anxiety about having AF attacks, or it could be withdrawal symptom that you're getting, as your body acclimatises to stress hormones not being damped down.
Yes it’s a really difficult drug to withdraw from and one that seems to affect women far more than men - only my opinion but I came across this a lot when I was practising Psychotherapy.
You need to titrate down very, very slowly in tiny increments over a very long period of time. It is NOT your anxiety it is chemical withdrawal and not nearly enough information or research on this.
Thus, beta-blocker withdrawal symptoms are reproducible and are indicative of a transient sympathetic hyperresponse. The increased activity is not likely to be caused by increased production of circulating catecholamines, but rather by increased sensitivity of the beta-receptor.
Basically it means your Fight/Flight response has gone into overdrive. Look at things which help vagal response - breath work, meditation, cold water showers/swimming etc. Also look at complimentary medicine such as sacrocranial massage which has shown to be very affective for PTSD, massage, Acupunture, Bown Technique, Tai Chi, Yoga as practices - finding what works for you can take time but know you are certainly not alone in having great problems withdrawing and know that most doctors and many males will dismiss your experience and your concerns.
Nothing directly linked to AF - linked more to anxiety, trauma - which is often an underlying trigger. I was thinking more to help you cope with withdrawal from Bisoprolol.
I wonder whether it is the bisoprolol "withdrawal" rather than the higher "normal" heart rate that this has allowed to happen. This and extra ectopic ("missed") beats perhaps can be hard to deal with and, as you are finding, at times, nigh on impossible.
The dose of bisoprolol is not relevant to its effect in my experience. I have had to take up to 10mg yet find that 1.25mg drops my rate to below 50bpm at times and the effect lasts well over a day.
I feel sure that time will help you but you might do well in the meantime to seek extra reassurance from your GP or a specialist that your heart is acting entirely normally and that all is well.
when I first started with AF I was prescribed Bisopropol 1.25mgs. It made my heart rate too low so cardiologist said I should stop taking it…..I asked if I should reduce it slowly. No need cos it’s only a low dose. Within a few days I had horrendous anxiety ‘feelings’ ……they occurred on and off for a few days. I should have listened to people on this site and weaned off the bisopropol! Good luck and best wishes to you.
Any of the beta blockers (they end in -olol) stop the effects of adrenaline which include raising one’s anxiety level. Personally I prefer the “mellowing” effect even though the lowered heart rate and Afib-prevention are the goals of the drug. My EP prefers me off flecainide but NOT the beta blocker (metoprolol). Flecainide is starting to cause LBBB (left bundle branch block) according to an ECG so off it I come.
But I doubt I’ll ever want off the beta blocker because of the mellowing effect. Yea for lowered anxiety!
Yes it definitely sounds like withdrawal to me. I wish I had known after being on it for 11 months after open heart surgery. 1.25 is the lowest dose but many of us need to wean off that amount as well. I was forced into withdrawal from the beta blockers and anxiety meds at the same time and collapsed in the street and now I'm on more medications that you also become physically dependent on as my CNS got damaged from the wrong medication. Look up bisoprolol buddies, it might be helpful.
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