Edit to post! Turned out it was just two colds in a row, as I’m now fairly snuffle free. I think that bisoprolol does give a bit of a runny nose, but I’m not blaming the new generic. Good job as my recent trip to the chemist turned up new versions of both this and apixaban.
Original post -
I’ve been on Bisoprolol for over a year now - starting on 2.5mg, but raised to 5mg in March, then for the last month reduced to 3.75mg.
Apart from tired legs on hills and stairs - which could be my AFib - the only other side effect was a mild runny nose. Not full on congestion though.
However, over the last month I have had two ‘colds’, starting with a sore throat when swallowing, then getting very blocked up. I didn’t completely shake off the first and the next started. I’ve tested for ‘the lurgy’ - all negative.
So I’m starting to wonder if it’s the Bisoprolol, although it seems to have taken a long time for the side effect to kick in like this. I guess that’s possible though. The only other thing is a change in the 2.5mg tablet from Sandoz to Milpharm. (1.25mg is still Sandoz). Though when I looked it up, Milpharm has fewer fillers! In fact it is a bit odd as my 2.5mg tablet is smaller than the 1.25mg.
So I’m wondering if anyone else has found a difference in brands of Bisoprolol?
This could prove to be just a couple of colds, though I don’t usually succumb this quickly. If it continues then I will see my GP. It’s a lot less socially acceptable to snuffle and sneeze these days!
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Gumbie_Cat
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My mum has been on Bisoprolol for years and suffers a lot with rhinitis /post nasal drip. After investigation, that was eventually put down to the effects of the Bisoprolol . The cardiologist was reluctant to change anything given her heart failure and af diagnosis, so she lives with it and takes antihistamines if things get too out of hand.
As for fillers, I’ve certainly experienced problems when the brand of Verapamil I take was changed. It’s now on my notes to only dispense the Teva brand. Whilst there maybe fewer fillers in the Milpharm brand of Bisoprolol, it can still contain ones that don’t agree with you.
This tablet lark can certainly be a nightmare for sure. I’ve had an upper respiratory tract infection which seems to have gone on for much longer than normal for me. I then read that Verapamil can cause URTIs , so I switched back to a beta-blocker two days ago and am magically feeling so much better already! Coincidence or tablet🤷♀️
Thanks TC (that makes me think of Top Cat, likely before your time).
I remember my sister talking about a runny nose from medication, and I remember that she kept cancelling going to things - my other sister thinking it was excuses. Though she didn’t keep hospital appointments and all sorts because of it.
I’m dreading getting into that situation. I will give it a few more days, and if it’s continuing then I will see the GP!
I’m sorry to hear about your sister’s situation and can certainly see you don’t want this thing affecting your quality of life to that degree. I hope it resolves soon , or you’re able to get some useful advice from the GP otherwise.
Thanks! It could also just be a couple of common-or-garden colds in a row. I had a long time - about ten years - where I never caught colds, despite coughs and sneezes all around me. A false sense of security.
Then being around our five year old grandtwins a lot, I’m probably experiencing a whole lot of different viruses.
Trust yourself and if You feel it’s because of the meds then it probably is. We’re all great with the ‘sense making’ and lose more and more trust is ourselves. I developed a constant running nose from the BISOPROLOL and then after 4 months a horrible cold burning pain in both feet. It’s been suggested - oh it’s you’re age (Iwas 63), it’s a peripheral neuropathy (here have these anti depressants etc)…..I know it’s from the drug! So I’ve come off the Biso and its all stopped, slowly, but surely. I still get colder hands and feet than I ever used to but I believe that too will rectify itself. These heart drugs are toxic for some of us! Don’t even get me started on Verapamil!!
I shall certainly seek help if it continues. I do need something to keep the heart rate down as I’m in permanent AFib. It is still at the stage where it could be correlation rather than causation.
It is horrible having to rely on the drugs - even though I’m glad they’re available! Dronedarone affected my liver enzymes, and I called it ‘The Drone’ because of how I felt. Flecainide - just didn’t do anything for me at all! I have been feeling reasonably settled on Bisoprolol up to now, so I’m crossing fingers that it settles.
These drugs weren’t tested on women - my brother tolerates them well. Each and every one of them poisons me. What can I say. They work for some people and not for others. Thankfully my heart is in NSR now since my CV in February and long may it last. 👌🏾
I’m very sorry to hear of the recent loss of your sisters Gumbie. What an awful shock that must have been for you. I can quite see why you want to do what you can to keep yourself as well as possible in the circumstances.
Thanks Threecats! One of them had something completely unrelated to her AFib. She kept healthy for over 10 years after her stroke (and AFib diagnosis), and then sadly had a brain tumour.
Just before that diagnosis, my other sister had taken a fall downstairs. My brother did lots of arranging, but we had to travel and stay in hotels during lockdown to move her to a flat. She had been gradually getting worse, being less mobile and taking falls. She had also had a stroke about 12 years before - luckily mild - but I think it did affect her more than we realised. Anyway her INR went through the roof, then she was moved to a NOAC, but had started losing trust in her care. A couple more months, another fall and they found a microbleed on her brain. (I still wonder if that was from the uncontrolled INR.) I think she stopped her anticoagulants, from something she said on the phone, and within two weeks had a massive stroke from which she never recovered.
It was only about 4 months after all that, when my AFib was finally diagnosed via my Apple Watch - I was more than relieved to get the anticoagulant! The sister with the brain tumour had an op while all this was happening, but sadly passed away a few months later. She had her family around her, and a lot of help from MacMillan etc.
It was harder with the sister who lived on her own. Trying to arrange more help, from a distance, for someone determinedly independent. Sometimes I wonder if she could even open some of the packets of medications etc. (One hand had become very weak. I tend to feel both guilty that maybe I could have helped more, but also worried at any similar symptoms!
Good grief Gumbie, what an awful lot you’ve had to cope with there! I’m not surprised your poor ticker has reacted the way it has. I can also see why you were so keen to start anticoagulation, I would have been, too, in that situation.
I know from my husband’s passing that it takes a long time to come to terms with these things and stop feeling guilty about whether there was more one could have done but it sounds to me like you did as much as you possibly could in very difficult circumstances.
Lots of help from my husband, and in general I’ve been lucky in many ways through life. But these things do knock you back. Getting older, and losing those we love, is certainly not easy. It’s set me off worrying more than I used to, but maybe I should stop that and live for the day, not worry too much about the future.
There may be another explanation entirely. It may well be viral infections, or possibly an allergy or autoimmune response. I found that wearing disposable surgical masks at times during the pandemic made me prone to a runny nose. It was only after not using one for a while and then having to use one for a hospital appointment that the runny nose started up again. I’m not saying it’s the cause in your situation, just that all sorts of odd and unexpected reactions happen without there being an obvious cause at the time.
We've both had long-colds as we call them, being a cold that never fully develops. It's not covid and the main symptoms are very mild and akin to those you have. I wouldn't connect it with my own bisoprolol (1.25mg). I also have congestion but that's me.
I have been reading that covid is still very much to be avoided and it's worrying that shops don't care any longer. I was in a busy post office yesterday picking up two parcels and felt quite uncomfortable.
Too many people coughing and spluttering when I went for blood tests at my local hospital last week, and one was right behind me. The waiting area was crowded too. Annoying, because it is a hospital after all.
Yes, I’m thinking that I just got myself worried at the co-incidence, and the thought of perma-cold. It’s difficult with these colds that we just used to ‘get on with’, as I don’t want people to worry when I snuffle! Yet, I can hardly cut myself off for weeks when I know it’s not Covid - if the tests are correct!
Bisoprolol makes my nose run like a tap (one nostril at a time), particularly when I’m very active. All year round, any weather. It drives me mad. On a side note - I find central heating can make me feel like I have a mild cold. That feeling of a slight sore throat & stuffy nose.
The cardiologist told me when I was diagnosed with AF to ask for Cardicor, and I have found that it suits me better than the generic ones, I can't remember which makes and what they did as it is so long ago now, one disolved before I swallowed it and the other just wasn't right Sandoz and Tevi were the makes I tried. I was glad to go back to Cardicor despite having to pay towards the cost as it is the most expensive As for the runny nose etc, I've been blaming it on Warfarin! I am now on a low dose (2.5mg) of bisoporolo and feel a lot better than when I was taking higher doses.
Cardicor is made by Merck. I take it - my dose is 1.25mg and here in South Africa the lowest tablet available is 2.5mg. These are a silly heart shape and difficult to split! I did ask my Medical Aid Society if there was any make that was not heart shaped on their formulary, but was told there wasn't, so I suggested to the young woman that she give her boyfriend a packet as a Valentine's Day present !!!!!
That’s really annoying. I’ve got both 1.25mg and 2.5mg. The Milpharm 2.5mg are tiny wee things, but do look very easy to split in half if necessary. They are half the depth of the 1.25 Sandoz one. I guess it shows how much of our tablets are fillers really.
This is what has happened to me. I had been on Sandoz Bisoprolol for ten years and Boots provided a different one which is provided by Almus in August. In early September I started with a runny nose with minor nose bleed. The runny nose has continued although I've never had this in my life. After reading your email I went to see the pharmacist at Boots who agreed that this change could have been the cause and that I should ask my GP to request Cardicor but this is more expensive. Incidentally the new Bisoprolol provided by Boots is cheaper than the Sandoz one. Also I called into a different pharmacy who do provide Sandoz so will get my prescriptions sent there. Your email was an awakening for me as I never realised why this constant nose running had started. Thank you for making that connection.
That’s really interesting! I still haven’t decided if it’s just a cold, and will give it a few more days. The annoying thing is that they dispensed too many of the 2.5mg packs, and I don’t want to cost the NHS money. Don’t want to look like Rudolph either though!
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As for the runny nose etc, I've been blaming it on Warfarin! I am now on a low dose (2.5mg) of bisoporolo and feel a lot better than when I was taking higher doses. 
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