Hi i was prescibed 1.25 dose of bisoprolol after being admitted to a+e on 7 Feb. I have known Afib, not permanent afib. Over past year i have been told by EP, top thorasic surgeon, and several cardiologists that anti arrthymia meds and rate control meds are not an option open for me to be presribed this medication. Regardless, of being told i could not have this medication, a+e cardiologist prescibed 1.25 dose of bisoprolol which i have beem taking since Jan 7. Since then i have been in almost permanent afib. Have had a few hour of periods were havd been in NSR which does not stay that way for long. In contant tachycardia afib for very long periods along with chest pain. Problem is i suspect bisoprolol might be causing prolonged more permanet afib wbich is why EP and other knowledagble cardiologists were opposed to me taking these type of drugs. Im in a dilemma now...in a+e an sure doc will want to increase bisoprolol because paramedic recorded HR at 185 bpm.Aware nobody can offer any medical advice. Having said that, has anyone had a similar experience on bisoprolol?
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DizzyD
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1.25mg is a very very low dose of bisoprolol. It is supposed to slow your heart down while you are in AF and unlikely to be the cause of your high rate which will be the AF. I can't think why your cardiologist has said you should not take a beta blocker like this as controlling rate is important though I can understand there are some reasons why anti - arrhythmic drugs may be contra indicated. There are other groups of drugs which can be used to slow your heart, such as calcium channel blockers so why not contact your EP and ask for advice.
Thanks Bob have had severe proarrthymia reactions to calcium channel blockers, anti arrthymias etc that actually, prolonged afib etc and made it much worse....these meds were given when i had a 75% blocked coronary artery....and other heart problems. Docs extra cautious now but doc in a+e prescibed 1.25 bisoprol. Know its very low dose but think he was playing it safe. Have had arrthyyhmias along with chest pain constanly few days after starting this low dose.. very rarely, the arrithytmias are afib...rest of the time irregular heart rate, ta chycardia does not record as afib..
I always go with what my EP says and ignore A&E - UNLESS they get a specialist cardiologist consultation. That is what my EP and I agreed we would do as I had a similar situation some time ago. It was ONLY when I had a red alert put on my medical file to NEVER give me Bisoprolol did the message get through.
Bisoprolol is a Marmite type drug and people who do not have reactions to it just don’t seem to understand that many, many people just cannot tolerate this drug.
Thanks you CDreamer. A top renowned surgeon at Liverpool Heart Chest Hospital, plus Professor EP from same hospital informed me, that i should never take anti- arrithytmia or rate control medication of any sort due to severe reactions recorded in my medical records. I mentioed this to a+e cardiologist who prescribe bisop on 7 Feb. He is top cardio consultant at hopital i attended. He was very arrogant and literally would not listen to me when i tried to inform about EP saying i could not take this medication. I was really unwell, exhausted, tired, brain dead, vulnerable after being in a+e for 24 hrs, felt so belittled and intimidated by this doctor, so agreed to take bisoprolol.Hence tben ended back in a+e. Walked out of a+e last nighg before i got to see a doctor. Realised they would want to increase bisoprolol and ignore the issue that i was in a+e due to severe reaction to this drug which was causing drug induced tachycardia/chest pain which was totally imdependent of afib.
No! Never had experience like that before but 1.25 is the lowest dose of Busoprolol and you’d need a larger dose to bring your heart rate down if it gets as fast as yours does when experiencing AF episodes! When it was first given to me when I left the hospital after being diagnosed, it was a 2.5 dose.
1.25mg is a very effective one for many people, it seems, and it will help stop AF by keeping the heart rate lower, but not too low. In my case, I take that dose daily and my pulse drops to just under 50 in the evenings. I can take an extra 1.25mg if needed but more might drop my pulse too far, I expect. In hospital, I was given 5mg without a problem and when i had permanent atrial flutter, I was given 10mg.
Are you sure you heard your specialist correctly? I was told that I cannot take anti-arrhythmic medicines such as sotalol and flecainide owing to a heart timing issue that I have, but that I could take a beta-blocker (such as bisoprolol, as well as digoxin or amiodarone). If I needed a continuous high dose of a beta-blocker, I was told that a pacemaker might eventually be needed to bring my heart rate back up to normal, but, luckily, the hasn't so far been the case.
Unless you have a particular and unusual issue with beta-blocker drugs, I can't imagine that the racing heart you have is caused by other than your arrhythmias (AF or other). I get a mild racing without AF at times, but the daily bisoprolol seems to have controlled that as well as keeping the AF more at bay. I gather mild racing can bring on extra ectopic beats ("palpitations") and these can then precipitate AF, hence the need for the beta-blocker.
My EP proposed pacemaker. I refused...presently waiting for mini maze procedure at Sbeffield Hospital. Defo cannot take any anti arrithytmias or rate control meds including bisoprolol. Stopped taking it now..my choice because now realised it was causing tacbycardia/chest pain whi h was totally independant of afib.
Its not that easy to get to see EP. I saw one privatetly as an one off for some advice re meds i could take for afib. Answer was NONE. I have never seen a EP in NHS only seen a cardiologist. I had extremly symptomatic afid on meds. In past few months i have come to realise afib was so symptomatic because i was having proarrhthymia reactions to every heart med i was prescibed. I was labelled a problem patient becaise i suspected meds were caiusimg more harm than good and doc did not like it when i tried to confront him about it. Cardiologosts at my local hospital finally realised i was having proarrtyhmia reactions to heart mefs after i was coerced, again in a+e, to take flecainide while i had 70% blocked coronary artery. What a disaster that was.
I had a similar problem with cardiologists at my local hospital, had a stand up row in the middle of a ward with one, another refused to treat me. it wasn’t until the team leader was virtually replaced and a specialist EP team established things changed.
I now have a pacemaker which improved my QOL, no heart meds - ever.
It may be a good idea to get another private appointment with an EP in your area - if there is one and ask that EP if you can go onto his NHS list - this is what I had to do. Then some time later this EP became attached to the cardio department at my local hospital. Eventually I would probably have got to see him that way but it would have taken much much longer.
You've been given good information from other people, so I'd just reiterate that you should follow up with your own cardiologist/EP if you have one, and ask to see one if you don't. A & E is not the place to get a long term medication change. Regardless of other people's experiences, if you feel that Bisoprolol may be causing you problems the answer is to try something else and see what happens, for which you need a cardiologist ideally.
As CDreamer said, just going on what I hear on this forum there are plenty of people who can't get on with Bisoprolol although plenty of others can.
I'm sure by now you've had lots of great answers. Bisoprolol and other beta blockers are rate controllers, not anti arrhythmic. It's a pity this wasn't explained to you, it would've saved your stress. Also 1.25 is a very tiny dose, so if your HR is getting up to 185 then I would think you might start to feel better on a higher dose.
I cannot take any anti arrthytmia meds or rate control meds. 1.25 is a low dose but despite this i ended up in a+e with bisoprolol induced tachycardia and chest pain (which was not afib) after taking tbis drug since 7 FebThank you
I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in 2018 and prescribed Sotalol. Following a bypass at the end of 2022 I was told I must switch to Bisoprolol. Like you, I was worried it might result in my moving from paroxysmal to permanent AF. However, the Bisoprolol has been more effective than the Sotalol and I’ve had fewer not more episodes since taking it. The dosage you are on seems quite low and it might be worth discussing other medications which you can use in conjunction with Bisoprolol. It can be said categorically that Bisoprolol does not cause AF.
Thank you i get where you are coming from. Unfortunately, my case is much more complex that yours. All heart meds i was prescibed caused proarrthymia reactions which cardiologist did not pick up on.
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