Side-effects of medication

[Dickyticker26]

I have since last August been on Bisoprolol (beta blocker) and Apixaban (blood thinner) with no problem over side effects, though I do recognise many of those mentioned in the notes with the prescriptions

These include tiredness/shortness of breath/nausea/loss of appetite/blurred vision/dizziness and ringing in the ears

However these conditions are only slight and not long-lasting and bearable

Since mid-December I have had added, following further tests, Clopidogrel (anti-clotting) Astorvastatin (for cholesterol} and Relosorb (nitrates to open blood vessels)

These presented no problems at first but since Christmas I have been experiencing diarrhoea and really need to find an answer

At first I put it down to chocolate which I had used instead of caffeine

But a week off chocolate has made no change

I also started on multivits since Christmas and can drop these to see if it makes a difference

Otherwise I could stop taking the new medications one by one for a week at a time to see if it identifies the problem

I think the answer may well be to make an appointment at the surgery for their advice

All the medications were prescribed by the hospital

I could ask at the chemists but unfortunately I find the white-coated pharmacists extremely rude and unhelpful and feel that it would be a waste of time

I would be grateful for any comments and suggestions

[Calliope153]

I had aspirin, Clopidogrel, Ramipril. Atarvastatin, Bisoporol and a GTN spray plus the stomach protector one - I experienced a lot of side effects including stomach problems. I strongly urge you to see your GP without delay. My GP was sympathetic and reduced dosages on each one but one at a time. I wasted a lot of time trying to weather everything and work out myself which one(s) were causing the problems. Go as soon as you can get an appointment but give up the multivitamin - it doesn;t help to add things into the mix!!! Good luck - it does get sorted in the end. Forgot to add there are a lot of false starts when you think things have improved and then they start again. Don;t get too fed up - with your GP overseeing the stops and starts you can spot the offending medication...

[Dickyticker26 in reply to Calliope153]

Thanks for your response

I appreciate your suggestion about giving up the multivits-I wouldn't have really thought of it myself

So I have stopped taking them and hoping for a result

I also plan to make an appointment with the gp

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

I find my pharmacist excellent. He is an independent and I think they work harder at customer relationships as their livelihood depends on it. I walked away from the main chain years ago!

[Dickyticker26 in reply to MichaelJH]

I appreciate what you say and take the point about a better service in the private sector

Recently I looked up the cost of an angiogram done privately It was £750 including a report

A MIDCAB bypass would be £17,500

Also I feel that the farmacists at LLoyds in Sainsbury's show a good attitude and do not wear white coats and largely work behind a screen

[Andyman]

Seek advice as soon as you can? As for the chemist you can ask advice at any you don't have to go to the one use use. Personally I would go see my GP.

[Dickyticker26 in reply to Andyman]

Yes thanks and I propose to see the gp

[AFTadcaster]

Hi Rainmaker26

Like you, after the hospital felt I had had a mini stroke in August last year as a result of AF I was put on Bisoprolol & Apixiban. All was well for a month or so but the advice from drs was to exercise as much as possible as well because I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation hence the reason for bisoprolol. I have also suffered with Raynauds Disease since coming to live in UK from Africa in 1973. As the weather got colder the Raynauds got worse to the point that I could not stay outside for more that 5 minutes. Also I got to the point if I sat down that was it, I’d be asleep for anything up to 2 hours. I’m 69 and still work 4 days a week full time and I was wanting to sleep at work and as for being motivated to get up and go for a walk or do any kind of exercise was just not there. So I went back to my GP and explained all of the above and she seemed to have some interlink with a cardiologist on the Internet and I was telling her what bisoprolol was doing for me she was typing it and at the end said that the cardiologist recommended I changed bisoprolol - 5mg to a drug called Adizem - 120mg prolonged release capsules. They contain Diltiazem Hydrochloride. When I collected my prescription from my local chemist there was a new pharmacist. He looked about 12 ! But then maybe that’s because I’m so old! However, as he handed me my drugs he asked the usual question confirm address and name/dob and he also asked if I had had these drugs before and when I said no and told him the above story he was so helpful and he explained to me the difference between the 2 drugs and that the Adizem was an excellent drug and would certainly sort out the Raynauds problem and the sleep problem and he was absolutely right. I have been able to walk at least a mile a day and the Raynauds not happening so long as I’m wrapped up properly. I would suggest you talk to a chemist if I were you because my young chap said that drs don’t always know if certain drugs don’t get along together and cause unexpected side effects but a chemist does. I also suffer from BAM which manifests like constant diarrhoea because it stands for bile malabsorption in the gut so I also have to take medication for that called colestrymene. I also have to ensure that I take these drugs at different times because the colestrymene absorbs everything and so would stop the heart medication from getting into my blood stream so I take heart medicine early morning and second apixiban early evening and the colestrymene before I go to bed so that nothing clashes but it was only talking to a chemist that I learned to do all that. The dr didn’t know to tell me to space out the medication.

Sorry for long winded reply. Hope it helps. Bisoprolol, according to my young chemist is the first go to drugs drs prescribe for fast heart rate but it is not right for everybody

[Dickyticker26 in reply to AFTadcaster]

Again you seem to be lucky with your chemist Perhaps youth helps Ours has been there for years and does a Basil Fawlty act!

[AFTadcaster in reply to Dickyticker26]

Oh dear. Time for some young blood in your chemists. My nephew is a Dr in Australia only just in his 40’s and he has a lot of time for the older generation so when I see a young dr or pharmacist now I listen to what they say mainly because the modern drugs will be what they have been studying so they are fresh whereas older pharmacists/drs, unless they do perpetual continual development courses stick with the old stuff they learned 40 years ago. I used to worry when new young drs joined our gp surgery but not anymore. They do know their stuff.

[Dickyticker26 in reply to AFTadcaster]

Yes thank you I do agree

I feel the same with the surgeons

The younger ones know all about keyhole surgery but when it first came in I believe that those already in practice just had to get on with it and never had the same training

That is why I am hoping that my forthcoming bypass will be done by a young surgeon familiar with and trained in minimally invasive techniques

[BigT2013]

Just a suggestion I can't take statins full stop 🛑 As soon as I take any form of statin it makes me ill 🤒 GP has taken me off them because any sort gives me gastrointestinal issues.

Angiogram shows my arteries are clear so not a major problem.

I would consider the statin being the issue!!!!!! 😮

I also take Bisoprolol but Rivaoxaban with no problems.

[Dickyticker26 in reply to BigT2013]

Thanks for the response

Individually I cannot say which of my 5 medications is causing the problem and you will see from other posts that it might be the multivits

[BigT2013 in reply to Dickyticker26]

Multivits can react with some heart medication.

But It is highly likely to be statins.

I know a number of people who have gastrointestinal issues with statins.

Has your GP shed any light on it? 🤔

[Dickyticker26 in reply to BigT2013]

Yes thanks for this

I will raise it with the GP

Also with a lady at church a retired nurse who told me that her husband has been on statins for 30 years!

[Qualipop]

I agree with the other post- see yoru GP. I too had problems with side effects; the latest being severe constipation which is dangerous as I have a partial blockage. The GP is best placed to work out what's causing it. It took mine several months to get mine sorted.

[Dickyticker26 in reply to Qualipop]

Yes I agree

I had very bad constipation years ago after taking strong painkillers for sciatic pain

In the end I had to come off the tablets and put up with the pain but it got better in the end

[Qualipop in reply to Dickyticker26]

Afraid that's not an option. I've had 18 years now of the worst nerve pain I can imagine even on painkillers. I've tried reducing but it was unbearable. Even the painkillers only make it just bearable and believe me I've tried everything from reiki, acupuncture, CBT, mindfulness. Pain consultant ash nothing more to offer except surgery but says the damage is too severe for it to work so I just have to try to treat the constipation but it's hard getting a balance.

[Dickyticker26]

Thanks for the suggestion

I duly rang 111 and whilst sympathetic and helpful they felt I had to wait till I could make an appointment with the gp-so that will be my next port of call

[Dickyticker26]

That's terrible and I really do feel for you

[donkeybaby]

Hi, I wouldn't just stop taking any medication prescribed by the hospital. I'd go to see my gp if I were you. Hope you get well soon.

[Dickyticker26]

Thanks for responding

I am sure you are right and I will be making that appointment

For the time being I have only stopped taking the multivits and still await seeing if it changes anything

[Dickyticker26]

I still haven't made that appointment with the GP

However I read that garlic can also react badly with medication so I have given up taking garlic tablets as well as the multivits

The diarrhoea definitely seems less prominent now so I will see how it goes

I would prefer to find a solution rather than have the prescription changed

The prescription worked ok to start with and I realise now that the problem started after Christmas when I found the garlic and multivit tablets in the cupboard

I will persevere and report on progress and developments

In the meantime I need to get repeat prescriptions and await an appointment at St George's Tooting about my operation-they seemed to have dropped reference to MIDCAB so perhaps it is to be a multi-bypass

This is worrying as I had got mentally adjusted to the idea of the minimally invasive single bypass with a relatively quick recovery time

Many thanks for all the support

[Dickyticker26]

Yes thanks for the response-I will be careful!

[Dickyticker26]

The latest in my case is that I have an appointment on Saturday 16 Feb at Kingston Hospital Colorectal unit about the diarrhoea though a friend at church says I could get Imodium over the counter and skip the appointment

Also it seems from a helpful response on another post that the GP was not necessarily correct in saying that a bypass would mean the end of medication as the basic cardiovascular disease would remain affecting untreated arteries

So I am hoping for a cure for the diarrhoea problem and a decision on the bypass and again many thanks to all for the interest and support

[Dickyticker26]

An update on this thread though I think I have mentioned it on another

The magic/miraculous solution to the problem was provided by the hospital surgeon who with a dismissive wave of his hand told me to stop taking the additional medication

And it worked overnight!

So I am back on just the bisoporol 7.5 mg (which I think is quite a high dosage) and Apixaban 5 mg twice a day and no toilet problems!

So it was bye-bye to the statins, nitrates and anti-coagulants and just awaiting an appointment for the bypass surgery at St Thomas'