Any suggestions for recent onset insomnia after starting 1.25 milligrams bizoprolol during virus induced paroxysmal AF over Christmas? My sleep hygiene is excellent and all the usual advice followed, tried every herbal remedy under the sun but it's only being helped somewhat by over the counter antihistamine short-term sleep aid. I'm pretty certain it's the beta blocker causing the issue but I'm continuing to take it beyond the necessity to control AF (with permission from my doctor come out as it's only usually pill in the pocket) to help with ongoing anxiety. But I read that bisoprolol can interfere with melatonin production. I feel a bit stuck because I have quite a lot of daytime anxiety as going through divorce and house purchase and generalized anxiety, but equally I've managed to do for straight days with no sleep at all! The phenagan is giving me about 5 hours a night. I'm tempted to try and wean off the bizoprol very slowly even though I'm taking the smallest dose and try and transition to daytime relaxants (teas, cbd) etc). Anyone been here done this?
Thank you x
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Beelights
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Hi Beelights. I take Bisoprolol as a PIP only, but it does the opposite for me. I have not heard of insomnia being a side effect of Bisoprolol, but l have heard others mention nightmares and hallucinations. There should be a list of side effects in the leaflet inside the package.
If this has happened since taking Bisoprolol then it could possibly be the culprit. Lots of us are unable to take Bisoprolol because of awful side effects. I would speak to your GP as there are other medications you could try.
I read you are under a lot of stress and wonder if this can be causing some of your problems? I find anxiety always causes me not able to relax properly and not get enough sleep.
I hope you soon get some help and peace. Good luck.
Thank you for your kind reply. Anecdotally there seems to be evidence of insomnia with bizoprolol. I definitely had rebound anxiety when I stopped taking it after only five days. I'm going to do a long slow reduction and see where I get to.
When I first started taking Bisoprolol I was told to take it in the evening. I really struggled to sleep well. After some time I mentioned this to the cardio nurse and he suggested taking it in the morning instead. That definitely helped, so may be worth a try.
If your afib was paroxysmal and caused bh a virus then you may not need to take it all the time. It is a rate reducing drug and does reduce anxiety for some people as well as blood pressure. If you wish to come off it you need to wean off it very slowly to avoid rebound anxiety and palpitations. Some people especially women cannot tolerate even the lowest dose of Bisoprolol. To wean off you will need to cut the pills .
Thank you. I've been on it for about eight weeks on and off and I tapered to three quarters of a tablet for two days and now half a tablet which I think I will do for about four days and then quarter of a tablet for another four days and then alternate days. I'm hoping this will be slow enough. But at half a tablet I can already feel relief from the breathlessness even though I was on just 1.25 milligrams.
Personally I think that might be too fast a taper. I would stay on the half dose for at least 10 days before going lower and again on the quarter dose for 10days. Then go to every other day before stopping completely. If at any time you get withdrawal symptoms lowering the dose try in between doses . This is hard with small pills but can be done. I have seen posts from people who were incredibly sensible to Bisoprolols taking crumbs in the last stages of a taper!
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