I have been put on Bisoprolol for SVT. Started it 12 days ago at 2.5mg a day, then cardiologist increased it to 5mg a day 4 days ago.
I have never felt so ill in 52 years of having the SVT.
I have had 10 episodes of tachycardia since taking the Bisoprolol.
I cannot sleep, as it is so uncomfortable, like my heart is being squashed and it becomes very erratic.
I have had 2 hours broken sleep for the last 3 nights and I’m exhausted.
I emailed my cardiologist at St Thomas’ hospital a couple of days ago reporting the increase in palpitations and his reply was stick with it and if we need to increase to 7.5mg then 10mg we will do.
It’s making me feel worse.
I feel so anxious and really fed up.
Anyone else had the same experience?
Carol
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Carolx
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It sounds so very similar, I had very similar reactions on Bisoprolol but "stuck with it" & slowly felt better & adjusted. I did have a successful ablation in May 2019 but still take the drug & in Sept 2019 had a pacemaker implant. If things really don't improve I would certainly pressure your team for a meds review, but some alternatives also can have side effects. The main ones I had were, poor sleep,nightmares, tiredness, which have all improved but still appear from time to time on 5mg daily.
Yes, and I simply refused to take them and told them so. I am in control of what I put in my system and 1.25mg is too high I am on a quarter. I too suffer SVT. It is a drug that costs about 80p a tablet so it is easier/cheaper for them to stick us on tablets then to get to the route cause and and fix it or try to.
I totally agree with it makes the beats worse, my eptopics skip left right and centre. I couldn't sleep off them either, it also caused major anxiety something i have never had.
You do what's best for you if 2.5mg keeps you steady then stick with it. Anything is better than nothing where cardiologists are concerned. It is all about them saving their own skin and trying to prevent a medical negligence claim. Bisoprolol is for hearts only. X Take care.
I do feel your response is very personal to you and very negative. Cardiologists have spent years learning their skills and some are better than others of course, they are only human. They also have a range of treatments to offer a range of different patients. I do feel your attitude of slagging off your cardiologist is your experience and the majority of us try to work with our cardiologists and GP”S.
Hi I am 50 next week and gave been having palpatations for about 5 yrs and had 24 hr ecg at doc and they said it was normal some ppl feel them some don't, so everytime I had them I thought they were 'normal'. Last August in the really hot weather I went to docs as felt all achey. He sent me to hospital as heart was racing and he couldn't take my BP. Since then I have bouts of svt. My bpm go to around 196. They give me 6mil of adenosine which brings it back down again thank god. They are saying the think it's stress related. I gave had echocardiogram and 24hr BP and ecg monitors. Heart structure us normal but I have ectopic (which I have only recently started to actually feel). He said these are normal for middle aged ppl. And my mitral valve doesn't close properly which again he says is normal. I was off work from jan to May and my last palpatations svt was in Jan until I went back to wrk. I was stressed one day 3 weeks ago and ended up with palpatations again and again last night I was in hospital having adenosine again. I'm wondering us it stress or menopause. I currently rake 1.25mg bisoprolol and have been given amlodipine to taje for BP but it says can cause palpatations. So haven't started them yet
Yes definitely control what you can do as you never know when they are going to happen. I got told if the don't go within 10 mins then go to hospital. But I do also think they are stress related which again could link to menopause... If so I wish it would get it over with haha x
Oh I agree! The things us poor women have to go through 😉
I was also told to try and get to the hospital whilst having an episode.......pretty difficult to drive yourself there and by the time you get there it probably would have stopped.
My longest one was 35 minutes when I was pregnant.
OMG thought I was going to die!
Had to call my mum to come round.
Of course they do eventually stop but I’ll never get used to them or not have a moment of panic when I’m having one x
I have had them for 2 days before!! Absolutely tires you out afterwards and makes you ache especially across shoulder blades. I end up driving myself even though I shouldn't. I think ya can also ring 999. Last night I was feeling anxious whilst they were happening too and hot with the mask on... They are horrible I feel it all in my throat. And my boobs is wobbling ten to the dozen! Ya sit there and think why me!!! But then it's surprising how many ppl do suffer with it. Mine have been up to 196 bpm and a lady in next cubicle had same and hers were 257 bpm
I have the same as you, Svt and mitral valve prolapse, I do feel it’s stress related, I haven,t had an attack for 7 months because I came out of a stressful time which was giving me very unpleasant palpitations and racing heart. I don,t like the side effects of Bisoprolol at all.
This is more or less exactly the same as me. I stress at work and it sets me off. I was off work and never had a bout again for 6-7 months. I go back to work been back about 6 weeks and already had adenosine in hosputal twice already. What dose bisoprolol are you on? And what side effects are you experiencing x
The dreaded adenosine, awful feeling! I,m on 1.25 Bisoprolol drops my blood pressure too low and my heartbeat is 52 but has been 44. It makes me feel like a zombie and tired all the time,lightheaded when I stand up,I,m currently reducing it to see what I feel like without.
Your post is 4 months old and reading it you are a mirror image of my symptoms ,even the mitral valve. I,m on Bisoprolol 1.25, I,m never sure if it’s them or my heart problem makes me feel so awful. I,m older than you ,my symptoms have progressed as I got older but the Svt is definitely stress related. I have had a few at night that have woke me up from sleep though.
I have a raised patch under my left breast where I had a pad which I forgot to take off after an admission to A and E. it’s been there a year and still hasn’t gone.
hi carol i was on 2.5mg bisporol and ramipril then they stated i had bracycardia and completley stopped bisporol and ramipril. it was horrendous. they have now had to put me back on 1,25 bisporol. I am waiting to see cardiologist i feel a bit better whilst taking it. I take my in the morning but like so many others struggle at night cant sleep also menapausal. Sometimes i feel like its trial and error trying to get meds right, but its so frightening i totally understand where you are coming from, I would definately contact your cardiologist to seek advice maybe higher dose isnt suiting you. The current situation we are all in makes it all feel worse. I hope you manage to get the help you need. Take care x
you can do it carol the MRI if you close you eyes and put headphones on you will get through it. im not joking i was so frightened after i had a stroke but it is the only way to get the best diagnosis, i had diazepam to reax me before i did it and i glad i did. i am very claustropphobic also but please just ask for some diazepam to calm you beffore and you will be ok. I also want to be feeling normal but what is normal carol. There are a lot of peope who have lost their lives ad i try to keep telling myself how lucky i am to still be here 5 years later after my severe heart attack. I used to be a very outgoing person very good job lots of peope around me, now theres no one only all of us can truly understand what we are goingg through. We need to set up a group where we can all meet up and help one another through everything. Please dont be scared about MRI scan just ask like i said for a small course of diazepam to help you get through it. Take care X
I was supposed to have a MRI on Tuesday at St Thomas’ hospital.
I was so nervous I hardly slept Monday night. I had a terrible nightmare where I couldn’t get out of my bedroom, there was no handle on my door 🤦♀️
I literally jumped out the bed.
When I did actually wake up around 6am my stomach was in knots and my heart rate so erratic.
I am ashamed to say I emailed them and cancelled it. I just couldn’t see the point of wasting everyone’s time.
I was only informed on Monday of the MRI so I did contact my GP for an anti anxiety tablet. She said she was very reluctant as she didn’t know how it would interact with the Bisoprolol and I’d need a trial run first, there just wasn’t time.
I was so disappointed in myself. I worked myself up so much I was literally having a panic attack.
Cardiologist was so understanding and said we’ll try and explore other options, maybe at Kings College Hospital.
I just cannot bear the thought of it.
An hour in a tunnel 😩
Many would not understand and think I’m being very stupid but I can’t help how I feel.
If I had more time I would have definitely tried the diazepam x
please carol do never be dissapointed in yourself anxiety is terrible. its the unknown please ask for diazepam they are the only thing that helped me . Please do not feel bad about yourself its understandable its frightening you have all of us for support. I believe in angels my dog was called angel i got coronavirus in march within three days she died in my arms. Each dday i see white feathers . white butterflies have been coming everyday ive collected all the white feathers. Some people will think im crazy but im a believer. Please have your MRI they need to do it. When i was 28 i got cervical cancer annd im still here through the heart attack and everything, You can do this please for your sake. Take care you are not alone XX
I just developed AF and I’ve been put on them 1.25mgs and blood thinners. I feel dreadful.
Heart jittery and pain behind shoulder. My pulse is so low. Irregular heart beat showing up on bP monitor loads now.
I feel awful. I was on amolodipine And was taking hrt tabs. just for two months, when my heart went into AF. I don’t want to be on thinners either. It only happened a week ago so I’m going to have to wait I guess to cardiology
I've just stopped the Bisoprolol (just over a day ago). Have had 2 really bad nights with palpitations. Went to ED last night to get checked and they just found sinus tachycardia.
I am puzzled about why Bisoprolol didn't help. This could well be a rebound effect from stopping the meds, but lack of sleep is dreadful. I agree that anxiety plays a part, but very hard not to worry about this group of symptoms!
I want to try and stick through a period of time without the beta-blocker, before I go for another GP review. You are still the only other person I've found where the Bisoprolol made the overnight symptoms worse, so I'm keen to know how you are tracking!
Seems like this is an effect of stopping the Bisoprolol.
I'm reluctant to restart it, because it seemed to cause some problematic side-effects.
Not sure how I'd feel if they suggested a different beta-blocker.
(in my case, it was prescribed to supplement my other anti-hypertensive Losartan) High BP is my primary problem. I've always had a bit of stress-induced/'white coat' syndrome with my high BP. At the time, it seemed logical that beta-blocker would help, but my experience has been far from good.
I have a pacemaker for heart block. In March this year I started having erratic fast heart rates. I'm taking bisoprolol. Been on it for 1 week. Still getting rapid beats but not lasting as long. Waiting to see a cardiologist. Soon hopefully. It's scary. Not sure what's happening to me at the moment.
I'm taking this medication for arrhythmia. . When I started the doctor at the hospital said for me to take it at night and like you I never got a nights sleep. When I went to my GP he practically shouted at me NEVER take this at night. I swopped to taking it at breakfast time and at least now I get a sleep.
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