Bisoprolol Question: I have been... - British Heart Fou...

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Bisoprolol Question

Prada47 profile image
8 Replies

I have been reading posts that say half the dose of Bisoprolol 1/2 morning and 1/2 night. So my question is, is that the same as taking 10mg in the morning i.e. do you get exactly the same heart reaction by splitting the dose 5mg morning and 5mg Night ?? Not easy to put across anyone know the answer please.

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Prada47 profile image
Prada47
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8 Replies

I was on 5mg once a day taken in the evening, changed to 2.5mg taken twice a day, am & pm.

The only effects I noticed was that I felt a bit less tired generally, my resting HR increased slightly for a while, then returned to pretty much the same as when on one a day.

I also found the the de-limiter effect was less, as in I didn't seem to run out of steam as much when pushing my HR up to 160's.

Not sure if that helps!

Just to add, the max effect must be reduced as the peak effect of one 5mg dose must be greater than 1 dose of 2.5mg taken twice a day, but the min effect will be the same, assuming the half life is >1 day.

MountainGoat52 profile image
MountainGoat52 in reply to

Half life 10 -12 hours so once a day provides cover, but a half dose twice a day must even out the body's response. Exactly how I split my 1.25mg, goodness knows. 😁

skid112 profile image
skid112Heart Star

Good evening sir,

When I was in the UK I asked my GP as I was getting so tired, he said it's not a problem. This after he spent the whole ten minute appointment going through my meds and speaking to another GP.

Spain, on the other hand the doctor was surprised to hear this, but said at the end llamar a ti mismo, literal call yourself but means roughly knock yourself out

GracieOS profile image
GracieOS

I split mine 5mg in the morning 5mg at night. My heart failure nurse advised this to try to manage the tiredness. It helps a bit but tiredness is still an issue and limiting factor for me..

sturon profile image
sturon

I would ask your pharmacist to explain, but splitting a dose is usually to maintain therapeutic levels. A bit like taking antibiotics three or 4 times a day, each dose keeps the therapeutic dosage level. Just ask to speak to the pharmacist at your next visit.

Mart25 profile image
Mart25

Splitting your dose between morning and evening will not be exactly the same as taking it all in the morning.....but it might be better for your heart, and with fewer side effects (which is why some hearties on this forum split their doses). It's worth understanding a bit about what happens in your body when you take 10mg bisoprolol once a day : In the morning your 10mg dose is absorbed in your stomach and gets into the blood to do its job (mainly lowering your heart rate). Your body then slowly metabolises and excretes the bisoprolol so that after 10-12 hours the amount of bisoprolol left in your blood is about 50% of what was there initially. By the next morning (ie another period of 10-12 hours) about 25% of the bisoprolol is left, and you then take the next day's 10mg dose. This means the amount of bisoprolol in your body goes up and then down once a day. If you split the dose to 5mg in the morning and 5mg in the evening, you'll get two smaller "ups and downs" each day so the amount of bisoprolol in your body is more even throughout the day. So, by splitting the dose you should get fewer side effects and a more even effect on your heart thoughout the day. It could be better for you. But everyone is different and there's no way to predict for sure whether you prefer the split dose or not. I hope this helps.

richard_jw profile image
richard_jw

It relates to the half life of the drug involved. So According to the EMC leaflet, "The plasma elimination half-life (10-12 hours) provides 24 hours efficacy following a once daily dosage."

So in english it does not matter much if you take the med once or twice a day. My cardiologist said once a day is OK, but if you feel more comfortable with twice, that's ok

Enonykasper profile image
Enonykasper

I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and visit the royal Brompton I take 3.75 bisoporosol in the morning

And 2.5 in the evening

I had 24.900 extra heart beats and these tablets are to correct my heartbeat and they do by taking this dose

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