Tullymore

[Tullymore]

Coming off 2.5 Bisoprolol, anyone had side effects when coming off them?

[Outforawalk]

I dropped from 5 to 2.5 a couple of weeks ago, I felt pretty awful to be honest. I’ve never suffered from anxiety as such, although I’m prone to being a bit of worrier, but felt very strange and a bit like the world was crashing down roundabout me for no good reason. I increased the dose again to 3.75mg earlier this week and feel much better. A dose of another tablet has also been changed so I’ll stick the bisoprolol where it is for now until things settle. Hopefully you can come off it without any problems.

[Tullymore]

Wondered why I felt so anxious and weird. Thanks

[Peony4575 in reply to Tullymore]

Where to start ! Had two failed attempts to get off Bisoprolol and failed. In a nutshell I felt dreadful got all sorts of arrhythmia I didn’t have before and my anxiety was off the scale . Advised by a cardiologist to switch to atenolol which doesn’t cross the blood brain barrier. Am on the last crumb of that in my withdrawal from that and it has been a much more comfortable experience . If you want to reduce either change beta blocker or cut up your tablets and make much small drops and leave a month between drops. Some people can just stop beta blockers and others have a hard time it depends on how you are wired

[Hidden in reply to Peony4575]

I feel it’s how long you,ve been taking Bisoprolol. The first time I,d only been taking them a month and I had no problem, now I,ve been on them 18 months and so far I,ve failed to come off despite trying several times.

[Peony4575 in reply to Hidden]

I really would try and change to atenolol if you can . It’s a walk in the park compared with coming off bisoprolol. I gave it a month on atenolol when was still getting symptoms from bisoprolol withdrawal then dropped a quarter of a 25mg tab a month ( 25mg equates to 2.5mg bisoprolol ) am now on an eighth and have being feeling better the closer I get to zero ( can walk faster etc). I would never have got off the bisoprolol the symptoms were too severe

[Tullymore]

Thanks, I went from 2.5 to 1.5 and have now just stopped. I’m trying to find if my side effects are from Bisoprolol or Rosuvastatin so trying one at a time

[Peony4575 in reply to Tullymore]

Good luck. I haven’t taken a statin so can’t comment other than to say Rosuvastatin is one of two statins that does not cross the blood brain barrier so my money would be on dropping bisoprolol being the cause of anxiety but everyone is different so only one way to find out

[Fynndog in reply to Tullymore]

Hi tullymore. I’m on the same as you. My side effects are diaorrhea stomache ache and bloating. I’m on 2.5mg morning bisoprilol. The did up it to 2.5mg morning and night but I was so breathless and had awful gastric reflux. I dint know if it’s statin or that. I’m also in candesartan at night 5mg. They want to up the candesartan and bisoprilol abd I know it’s supposed to help the heart but I’m afraid for my stomach which is making life quite difficult at present. I had HA 25 sept so all these meds are relatively new. This diaorrhea has only just started about 3 weeks ago. They say speak to you doctor but I have little faith I. Them

[Tullymore in reply to Fynndog]

What statin are you on?

[Fynndog in reply to Tullymore]

Rosuvastatin

[Tullymore in reply to Fynndog]

Same as me. Will try to stop the Statin in Jan for a month which the consultant said was okay

[Peony4575]

What side effects have you been having ?

[Tullymore in reply to Peony4575]

Tiredness in my legs. Muscle pain and stiffness when I stand up. When I walk over 1/2 mile my feet go to sleep. Just trying to eliminate what might be the cause. Consultant said to try coming off Bisoprolol till New Year then try coming off the Statin for a month if nothing improved.

[Peony4575 in reply to Tullymore]

I had symptoms similar to that couldn’t walk any distance but statins famous for causing muscle aches so it’s a tricky one . Let us know how you get on .

[Tullymore in reply to Peony4575]

I will, think it may be both

[Picass]

I was on 1.25 dose and I came off them ok

[Calm2]

Hi, I found all this very interesting. I too have aches in my limbs especially arms and pins and needles in hands. I am on Mirtazapine for anxiety which has made me gain almost 2 st in weight and am in the middle of weaning off of them. I wondered if the meds caused the aches and also the anxiety? Are you replacing the bisoprodol with anything ? I did know Statins were well known for aches and pains which I must keep telling myself as I’m afraid I’m one of those that thinks every twinge, pain or ache is my heart!

[Athena-Heinrich in reply to Calm2]

I was only OK taking 1.25 Bisoprol. On 2.5 after a while I started getting crampish pains in legs walking etc. 1.25 was fine. Taking pills at all makes me anxious ! Definitely wouldnt want to be adding anti anxiety ones - would worry about creating an internal chemical explosion or getting cancer ! When things go wrong inside us its stressful. I find limeflower tea gentle and useful sometimes (1 tsp limeflower in cup boiling water ) .

[Tullymore in reply to Calm2]

He said to come off the Bisoprolol as my heart sounded okay. However it has speeded up although BP has remained the same

[Tullymore]

Consultant said to keep off the Bisoprolol if my BP stayed okay. So I’m watching that.

[Peony4575 in reply to Tullymore]

If you were taking it for BP there are much better drugs out there

[MountainGoat52]

If you get to the stage where you drop off your statin, you might try taking it on alternate days for a start. I'm on 10mg Rosuvastatin on alternate days as part of my preventative regime of medication. Rosuvastatin has a relatively long half time and is often prescribed in this manner.

[Lisell]

I came off 7.5 and it was not a pleasant experience. I was on them for my racing heart but they did nothing for that but my blood pressure had never been so good. I was very panicky, emotional and shaky but did not have any aches or pains. I had fatigue but have that anyway so not sure it was down to coming off the tablets. With me this didn't last too long so hopefully yours will ease soon.

[jerry12953]

Personally, I didn'tt have any problems coming off 2.5mg Bisoprolol but I'd only been taking it for a month. It seemed to be causing me dizziness but i am prone to that anyway.

Judging by the number of people who have problems either taking it, or coming off it, I'm amazed that it can still be prescribed. It seems to be the first medication offered for hypertension. It must be very cheap!

[Sunnysummerdays]

Hi Tullymore,I came off 2.5 mgs after 8 months,was told to just stop taking them because my heart rate was dropping too low. I did have withdrawals of anxiety,high heart rate,angina,and pins and needles,it took about 4 to 6 weeks to leave my system,now I feel much better being off them,not so tired,so give it time,scary withdrawals,but they will pass...hope this helps

[Tullymore in reply to Sunnysummerdays]

Did your heart rate come down after a while?

[Sunnysummerdays in reply to Tullymore]

when I was on beta blockers my heart rate went down to 40 to 43 bpm,once I went off them ,my heart rate went up to 64 - 70 bpm and after afew weeks went down to 52 - 58 bpm,so im happy enough with that, takes afew weeks to settle after going off beta blockers 👍

[Peony4575]

When it’s caused by beta blocker rebound heart rate usually goes back to normal in a few weeks but in others can take months to settle . There seems to be a lot of variation between people, beta blockers, how quickly you stopped it , how long you were on it etc

[Tullymore in reply to Peony4575]

Thanks

[DanniC88]

I was told to stop mine last month for 3 days before doing and exercise treadmill test. Felt ok first day, day 2 a little trembly, by day 3 and end of day 3 had muscular pain across my chest, shoulders and upper back. Told cardiac clinic when i was there on the treadmill but they werent concerned. Back on it as soon as the test was done.

[Helen_BHF]

Friendly reminder to everyone - please make sure you discuss any changes to medication with your GP. While the community is always here for peer support, we'd ask everyone to please avoid stopping their medication without first discussing with a health professional. Thanks all.