Has anyone else put on a fair bit of weight around their middle within three months of being on Bisoprolol lowest dose.(1.25mg) reduced to (0.62mg) as the side effects are too much to cope with on my 5ft 2 /7 stone frame.. not used to any extra weight,🤨 apart from being pregnant twice.( Highest weight ever was 8 stone 3 /9 months pregnant).. im struggling with this and statins 20 mg I am cutting them into 4(5mg)and i have recently started with heartburn/ acid reflux at night ... is there anyone out there who also struggles with tablets and have they been offered an alternative.
I am always in the rare side effects... my last suspected HA in 2012 was due to my Balance disorder tablets 1:10,000 ratio.. I just don't feel like me anymore once I take the tablets in a morning I am becoming more and more anxious and nervous of doing things and this is Not me. Up until the day before i was rushed to BVH(May2019)on the verge of a HA.I was at Uni(nearly at the end of a MA). I am waffling again... ha ha🤣
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Brandibell
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I know I am struggling to get in some of my jeans. My stomach was flat. It is like once I take my tablet I can watch my stomach rise throughout the day. Almost like a Phantom pregnancy.. Lol .
this is interesting brandibell. i was put on 2.5mg bisoprolol back in april but was only on it for about 5 weeks before being taken off it. but like you i woke up one morning and felt like someone had pulled a rubber ring over my head and dumped it on tummy area. i actually posted on here asking if anyone had experienced this. my weight crept up on a daily basis and continues yet although not as much. but i can’t get rid of the tyre. i was sent for an ultrasound but nothing showed except my hernia which i knew about. if you find a solution i’d love to hear it❤️shiona
I will gladly let you know as I am going to my GP next week. I am guessing it can only be beta blockers which the majority of us are on.. as my stomach in a morning granted I have gained a bit through being too frightened to exercise but the minute I take Bisoprolol I just expand throughout the day.... it is horrible... glad I am not on my own.. it is not even jiggly it's like a tyre.
Not to be the doomsayer, but please mention ovarian cancer to your gp. This gives very few symptoms but a big tummy is one of them, particularly if everywhere else is more or less the same.
I've been on beta blockers for a year and my weight has increased dramatically too....It just makes me feel so down.its mostly around my middle too and even though I never had a flat stomach before it's so bloated.almost all of my clothes dont fit or like you Jean's are tight....I really struggle to pinpoint why .I haven't been very mobile as I've had problematic symptoms ever since I had an icd fitted last august.confidence has plummeted and I now have high cholesterol, so I fully understand how you are feeling. I hope you get to the bottom of it .
I will as its another thing i don't need, i will let you know the reply?..I am going to back to my GP next week as the tablets are making me worse not better. My MH is suffering at the minute and I am not afraid to admit it and not just the weight gain that would be vain, the whole shebang and lack of aftercare.. it needs looking into... Keep your chin up we will be supermodels by Christmas. Ha ha😂
I’ve been asking this question for months now. My GP decided it’s probably lack of exercise as I used to be very active. She’s referred me to the local authority weight loss team who referred me to Slimming World. What a waste of time. I go to the gym at least twice a week. I’m careful with my diet (I don’t eat meat any more). I’m buying bigger clothes and I’m fed up. You’re right it’s just as if someone’s put a tyre over my head. It’s horrible! I don’t think Slimming World will tell me anything different but I said I’d try it if they ever contact me. I’m having an echo in a couple of weeks then back to GP.
Hi Brandibell I am on lowest dose of bisoprolol and my waist measurement is huge. I hadn’t put the two together before as I presumed it was middle age spread.
Planning a slow manageable campaign of weightloss as I can’t bear this. My height is 5 3 and I need to lose around a stone
I take 5mg of Bisoprolol each morning and another 5mg each evening, no sign of any weight gain. I was taking 1.25 mg once a day until diagnosed with heart failure last November and had been since 2013. I weigh 14 stone. I hope this information is of help to you.
I’m also on 3.5 of Bisoprolol (as well as the other lovely drugs). I’ve steadil lost weight since my HA in April, and while tummy is the stubborn area it sloooowly shrinking.
If you’re exercising less that will have an impact. I find at 52 there is just no way, however strict I am with food, I can lose the weight without the exercise.
I am 45 and I thought it might be middle aged spread but I read rapid weight gain as a side effect but would not of thought it possible within a month..
Yes I have put in a stone. I had lost three stone and then I started to put on weight. True I cannot do as much exercise as I used to do but as soon as I started beta blockers I put on weight. Very depressing. Also the statins are making my joints ache so much. I feel a complete wreck to say the least and yes it is all around my tummy. Sticks more then my boobs!!
Yep, I'm on 5mg bisoprolol and have put on 2 stone since July 2018 (I'm now 58). All medics tell me to eat less and exercise more, except my cardiologist, who told me I was exercising too much (I'm told I need more stents, but no one seems in a hurry to do anything about it)! Not helpful, as I have not been eating more, and I was exercising more until told to virtually stop.
It appears that medics don't believe there is any connection between beta-blockers and weight gain...
I had an hybrid ablation 13 weeks ago and had gained weight after this. But then I had to take Bisoprolol for 10 weeks to make my heart rest from the operation. I started a WW-diet 8 weeks ago because I really wanted to lose some weight. On the first 7 weeks I lost 4 pounds, terribly! It came down a bit went up again so frustrating. Since a week I stopped the Bisoprolol, continued my diet like before and now I lost 2 pounds in a week. So I really believe it was the Bisoprolol which slowed my weight loss down.
Wonderful as I plan to come off it completely I am on 0.62mg. If I cam reduce it slowly I should not have any side effects and get back to me before Christmas where I can eat again ... Ha ha🤣
Funny how your question came up, while I was having a conversation with my wife about the weight I have been putting on, And how I'm struggling to work out why, Ok yes I gave up smoking almost 12months ago now, after my Heart attack and 7 stents. I expected to gain a bit of weight from the none smoking, But I go cardio keep fit and the gym every week and also changed my diet, I only eat half what I use to eat, but my jeans are shrinking, oh no my waist is getting bigger by the month. I had no idea Bisoprolol is linked to weight gain, maybe its time for a talk with my GP to try something else. I take bicorporal twice a day. 2.5mg each time.
Beta-blockers such as bisoprolol regulate the heart rate to slow it down. Needless to say, without any other modifications to diet and lifestyle, that will likely slow down your metabolism and potentially cause weight gain.
All drugs have side-effects including the statins which can cause a brain fog among other things such as muscle damage.
I was on all of these meds and more following a triple bypass and double angioplasty with 4 stents inserted in the spring of 2015.
The way I dealt with the side-effects was to begin walking daily and gradually building up my conditioning so I could walk one hour each day.
I also completely changed my diet - starting in January of 2016, I eliminated all processed foods, simple carbohydrates, sugars and fried foods. I moved essentially to the Mediterranean Diet which is a plant-based diet with modest amounts of animal protein.
Over the next 10-month period, my weight normalized (I lost 40 lbs.) which allowed me to gradually wean off of all the medications I was taking. I haven't taken any medications since October 2016 and am now in the best shape of my life as I have continued to increase my exercise intensity and frequency as well as maintaining my diet.
You can learn more about the Mediterranean Diet here:
out of sheer curiousity - have you measured your sugar and cholesterol levels recently? How many calories a day do you eat? Do you restrict your eating time during the day - e.g. 8am to 4pm only?
Yes, I run blood-work every 3 months to carefully monitor my biomarkers. My HbA1C is about 4.6%. My ALT and Uric acid (proxies for sugar consumption) are also in the optimal range.
My LDL-C cholesterol levels (2.99 mmol/l) are within the normal guidelines, however my extensive research indicates that standard cholesterol testing which focuses on LDL-C is not necessarily indicative of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
I run a blood test called the NMR Lipoprofile which measures LDL-P (particle number) among other values. Academic studies have demonstrated that LDL-P is a better indicator of CVD risk. Therefore as long as my LDL-P (less than 1,000 particle count) is in the low risk category, I really don't care what the LDL-C value is.
My HDL-C (2.43 mmol/l) and HDL-P (35.5) are both above the top end of the range due to my dietary and lifestyle habits. My triglycerides are 0.43 mmol/l - in the very low and optimal range. Keeping trigs low is the key to good health.
I do not strictly practice TRF (time restricted feeding) although I believe there is great value in that strategy, and I implement it when I can as I have a busy schedule.
My adult son practices it and he went from an obese 240 lbs to a slim and athletic 170 lbs with well defined muscles. I have read extensively on this subject and using a 18:6 ratio (18 hours fasting; 6 hour feeding window) appears to have the optimal benefit for most people (limited medical studies at this point, as this is still a relatively new field and the medical industry is slow to adapt to change).
I do not count calories. I eat as much as I want because I eat mostly calorically sparse foods - vegetables, fruits, legumes, combined with smaller quantities of calorically dense foods - fish, chicken, nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado. Therefore I am never hungry. Avoiding sugar and simple carbohydrates also curbs hunger.
Due to my daily exercise regimen I burn about 3,000 calories per day (I wear a Fitbit HR2 which measures this). Since my weight has stablized I'm assuming that I'm eating about the same amount of calories as I am expending.
There's also great value in intermittent fasting (liquid diet) once per week. Fasting empties your liver of glucose and eliminates the insulin response required when eating. Limiting insulin response is why TRF is so effective.
Canadian nephrologist Dr. Fung has helped cure people with Type 2 diabetes by giving them a fasting regimen.
My exercise foundation is one hour of daily walking at a brisk pace (I average 17,000 steps per day) coupled with a weight-training workout 3 days per week, and a high intensity interval training workout (HIIT) 3 days per week. Yes I still work full-time. Walking daily is non-negotiable, so on occasion I miss some gym workouts.
Sleeping is also critical to good health so I'm working on getting my nightly sleep time up to 8 hours from 6.5 hours. I'm currently at about 7.25 hours and I have already noticed a difference.
I eat mostly home-cooked meals, but when I do eat out I opt for a large arugula (rochette) salad that includes goat cheese and other vegetables, dressed in extra virgin olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice.
I tend to eat vegetarian every other day. So on days that I have animal protein, I opt for grilled salmon or chicken to accompany my salads (when I eat out).
Oh marvellous, NOT 😩 So I can look forward to becoming a beach ball. I’ve been on 2.5 mg bisoprolol since beginning of June with Flecainaide and had noticed tummy being bigger. I’m swimming and vigorous aqua exercise 3 x week.
YES!! I am sorry you've gained, but now at least I don't feel so alone. I think there are a minority few that are extra sensitive to beta blockers and it causes problems, especially weight gain, so therefore the medical world ignores it as a whole.
I've always been told that it's almost impossible to gain weight on beta blockers, but I know my body, and that is the only new med I was taking (activity level and diet not changed) and I started gaining weight like crazy! I was going to my cardiologist once a month at that time, and each time my dress slacks I usually wear to appointments were getting tighter and tighter, almost like I was pregnant. I gained about 8 lbs. per month, for about 9 months, then leveled out, thank goodness.
Since then, 15 years ago, I have been unable to lose but about 30 lbs of that weight. I hate it, it's hard trying to convince all the doctors, and just people out that give you a bad glance, that you are not overeating or a sloth or pig. I've never had a weight problem till then, so I am 100% convinced it was the beta blockers, combined with my hypothyroidism (I take Synthroid for that, but it doesn't seem to help) that caused my extreme weight gain.
I would stop the beta blockers, but they greatly lessened my arrhythmias, and for that I am so thankful, because I had bad problems back then. I would hate to go back into those days, it was really tough going, so I just remain heavier but with a happier heart!
Yes! I was on 2.5mg bisoprolol and then reduced to 1.25
mg per day due to extreme fatigue. Weight gain on tummy has been depressing over the past 3 months - with little change in diet/exercise to explain for it- so must be the beta blockers. Not sure what the answer is. I find being more active makes me feel less blobby, but I have bought new trousers as I am resigned to this being a long-term thing not easily fixed with diet & exercise. I hope you find a way to feel more comfortable.
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