Fatigue and meds

Hi all, referring to my previous post on fatigue and meds...Update, talked with gp last night, he was very informative. Due to my being on 1.25mg of Bisoprolol which is a low dose, suggested I don't take it for a couple of weeks to eliminate it. If that doesn't help, start taking again and call GP about possibly reducing my Atorvastatin from 80mg to 40mg. Let's see....😬

[Hidden]

Hello

Talking to the Doctor and getting a plan can make us feel better in itself knowing we are not going to be just left like we feel and they will try and find which med possibly could be causing it and adjust it or try us on a different one

I take Bisoprolol a higher dose and have to say I get tired in the day but I know that one is needed for me so I stick with it as a few other meds have been tweaked and I want to see how I go on with that first

Also the Atorvastatin I had to come down to 40mg from 80mg but that was due to muscle pain

I hope you soon find out which med is causing to make you feel like you do and you can get them tweaked so you feel better than you do now x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Bekind28, so long as I'm not sacrificing the benefits of bisoprolol in my particular case and it's worth it, the fatigue and sleep loss is awful and it may be the best thing to do. X

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I agree sometimes these meds give awful side effects but you then sometimes have to weigh up the pros and cons but there are other one's to try if needed and your Doctor will not tell you that you can stop something if they were not sure it was ok x

[ChoochSiesta in reply to Hidden]

I am in this quandary. I get tired during the day. I am on 5 different meds. But...... isn't having heart problems enough to make anyone tired anyway?

[Hidden in reply to ChoochSiesta]

Hi ChoochsSiesta, all I've been told from a medical point is you should feel better on meds, no mention of fatigue, but saying that, side effects are mentioned in the drug pamphlets depending on the individual. It's just finding that happy medium for you personally, and that is what I'm pursuing. Either change the doses or change the meds. It'll take some time though. Or live with it 😕

[Kelling in reply to Hidden]

Or, with the greatest respects - change your way of life

[ChoochSiesta in reply to Kelling]

Eh??

[Kelling in reply to ChoochSiesta]

What I mean by that is we have had a huge warning to our system and our complete way of life. It is unreasonable to think that purely changing medication will bring one back to how we were. I fully appreciate that changes to the medication initially given in a "one prescription or cocktail fits all" and changes to the medications can have enormous changes. One of the many changes the hospital, the specialist and doctors ask us to be our part of the bargain is changes in diet, in exercise and even our outlook - i.e. think lucky and you will be lucky.

So I hear the argument about medication changes, but are we also undertaking the changes for our part of the bargain?

Perhaps we also acknowledge that instead of living our lives on full ahead, our warning must also indicate that if we get tired, then our body must also be tired, or perhaps we have been overdoing it. After all, many Europeans acknowledge that tiredness in the afternoon is almost a right of passage and winter or summer, they have a few hours off in the afternoon.

Even doctors acknowledge that although 8 hours sleep is best practise, how one gets it, is almost another matter.

That's what my brief post was about.

😇

[Hidden in reply to Kelling]

Thanks for your informative reply Kelling, I just hope that this fatigue and bad sleep will stop, right now meds are under the spotlight as I feel they are my only option. I am a positive thinker, reasonably fit yet this extreme tiredness is a bit of a grind. Time will tell. 👍

[Kelling in reply to Hidden]

My bypass is now 2.5 years old and the tiredness has been with me ever since. I can work through the afternoon but by 9pm feel like a wet rag, so I acknowledge what my body tells me and I have a rest, usually between 2 to 4 hours and after that can be normal until about 1am. If I need a full day, I make sure I am in bed by 10pm but even ten wake after 2 hours for the toilet and again four hours after that. After that I can sleep like a log.

I have been prescribed sleeping pills and do sleep deeply but there again, have to do the toilet break about 2 to 4 hours after going to sleep, regardless of intake of fluids! I like the way I get to sleep but have to suffer a woolly head the next morning so now only take them in desperation.

So the bottom line for me is I acknowledge the tiredness and accept this is my lot. I don't cat nap in a rocking chair and lead a full and active life but the boilers need stoking in the afternoon - I begin to watch the TV and drift off or just lie there and rest. Its not a cross to bear now, just a new way of life that I embrace - after all, had I not had the bypass............................................................Bong!

[Hidden in reply to Kelling]

Hi Kelling, hope you're well. I have since my HA kept to a good diet and exercise regime accordingly (although covid I caught in hospital sliced 11/2 stone off me) there isn't much more I can think of, what do you suggest?

[Hidden in reply to ChoochSiesta]

Hello

Have you had your surgery yet ?

If you have or if you are still waiting either way way this would no doubt make you feel tired x

[ChoochSiesta in reply to Hidden]

That's a good point, it's on Monday and I have to say my sleep has been affected by it. However sleepy afternoons are not new for me.

[Hidden in reply to ChoochSiesta]

Hello

I can imagine as it did me it affected my sleep when I was getting nearer surgery and then I was tired all day

I would not think about the meds at the moment

For me when I came home after surgery they changed a few anyway and sent me out with them

After surgery when they talk to you when they are getting ready to discharge you then you can mention how you felt before to them and ask do they think it could have been the meds you were on ?

Not long now till Monday , are you all prepared ?

You will be fine , the waiting I found was the worst but once there everything happened so quickly I did not have much time to think ( which for me is good )

Please let us know how you are and how your recovery goes when you feel up to it x

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

Bisopralol absolutely knocked me out.I didn't even have the energy to get out of the chair. GP took me off it and replaced it with something else.

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

Hello

I know I am so tired all the time but then I do not sleep well at night either

I really do not think the combination of meds is suiting me and it could be that one , I am going to have to talk this through with them

What are you taking now if you don't mind me asking and does it suit you better ? x

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

Nothing. GP tried another which may have been Candesartan but I can't remember for sure then stopped everything. Now I only take aspirin, furosemide a statin and famotidine- thank goodness. After years on furosemide it just had to be reduced to half a tablet .

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

I am on Candesartan but have been on that years so I doubt that will be affecting me but as for the rest one or more is

I will keep going though till they get these meds suiting me better , I know we need them but we have to be feeling well on them at the same time

Seems you have got a combination that suits you now which I am pleased you have x

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

In the first year after my heart attack I ended up having every single tablet changed apart from furosemide which I was already taking. IT started with ticagrelor which made me feel as if I had asthma then atorvastatin changed to simvastatin, one, I can't remember which, gave me horrible hallucinations and has to go even eventually to aspirin which constantly gave me horrific stomach pain and had to be swapped to the enteric coated type. Even the angina spray was swapped for tablets under the tongue. Mind You I've never ever needed them. I can still fall asleep at the drop of a hat; usually right after I've eaten.

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

I am so sensitive to meds with this stomach of mine I would avoid meds because everything seemed to trigger me and the Doctors would make me feel I was making it up so I would just refuse

Obviously after 3 heart attacks and Bypass surgery I know I need to be on meds but I think now is the time to get that disappointing sigh of them and let them no I am not happy on what I am on and they are not suiting me

I have stuck with them all 15 months so they cannot say I have not given it a good go

That must have been a challenge swapping most of them but a worth it if you now are better on what you are on

I have never gone to sleep in the day never good but now I have all on staying awake x

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

Stomach is my biggest problem. I've had a few peptic ulcers in teh past but I also have fibromyalgia which causes bad reactions to all sort of things from meds to perfumes and scents. I can't use bath oils and such; can't breathe with most household cleaners. My chemist is really helpful and tries so hard to only send brands of meds I can tolerate. This week I had to ask no NOT have a certain brand of famotidine, only either of two brands of furosemide and a choice of just 3 brands of simvastatin. I have to have branded oxycdone. The generic makes me ill yet despite it being specifically named on my prescription,t he hospital used a generic when my own bottle was empty. I knew within 10 minutes of taking it. It's probably a preservative or a colouring. Have you asked your chemist to try different brands of the same meds? It can be difficult if they only use one distributor. I Often had to get a replacement prescription and ring round pharmacies to see if they have a suitable brand if mine can't get it .

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

It is becoming a big issue for me to now butI to have Fibro as well as IBS When a brand gets changed med wise if it does not suit me I do ask my Doctor to put the brand down on mt repeats that does but these last 3 weeks my stomach has decided to be the worst ever x

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

Sorry about that. It makes life so difficult especially when you can't pin down just what's causing it

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

Yes and frustrating and with me having anxiety it makes that soar to and of course anxiety affects the stomach so at the moment I feel I just cannot win x

[RufusScamp]

I feel sleepy mid-afternoon, and tries taking Bisoprolol in the evening to see if it helped my sleep. It made no difference to how I felt midday so I went back to the morning. We all react differently,It is good that your GP is being so helpful.

[Hidden in reply to RufusScamp]

We are all different and have to adjust accordingly, he was a very good GP but an out of hours one unfortunately, I couldn't get to see my own doc 😕

[SmokeAKipper]

My cardiologist said the statins are a big reason, as statins disrupt the coenzyme Q cycle in the body. He’s suggested I take coenzymeQ which I take at 10 o clock in the morning everyday

[Hidden in reply to SmokeAKipper]

Hi SmokeAKipper, did taking it make a difference? My sleep is really bad, waking up mind buzzing for 2 or 3 hours in the middle of the night now, and daytime fatigue is awful from morning until around 5pm.

[pasigal in reply to Hidden]

Try melatonin. It has worked for me.

[Hidden in reply to pasigal]

Hi pasigal, in what form or strength do you use it and how often? Thanks.

[santino44 in reply to SmokeAKipper]

Hi SmokeAKipperIn your personal opinion does taking Coenzyme Q10 make a difference to your energy levels/fatigue/tiredness compared to before you starting taking Q10 The evidence from research neither support or refute taking Q10 Thanks in advance

[SmokeAKipper]

It made a huge difference what statins do are affect cholesterol and coenzyme Q is part of this chain which statins also affect....I suggest talk to your doctor cardiologist about coenzyneQ supplements....coenzymeQ is part of the normal energy in the body and statins affect these that’s why I take coenzyme Q at 10 in the morning..... my doctor has suggested I try to follow a vegan lifestyle with the purpose after a while I can come off statins as long as I get my cholesterol checked twice a year

[SmokeAKipper]

I’ve found it makes a difference... and this is advise from my Cardiologist....but also you have to change your lifestyle... ie better diet exercise... minimise stresss.... no smoking

[Raffles77]

Hi, I seem to have extreme tiredness, but did so for a year or so before my heart attack which happened when I was 66. Good fortune.

[SmokeAKipper]

I was also on astorvastatin 40 mg changed to rosavastatin much better

[-007-]

Hi there, After my heart attack and subsequent stents I was on 5mg Bisoprolol.

I was fine and had no real issues other than the fact that I had a heart attack and five stents.

Two years later in 2019 I had a quintuple bypass (CABG x5) and they put me on 2.5mg Bisoprolol.

Again no issues other that the fact I had surgery and all that entails.

After, about, a year of being in 2.5mg I started to get more tired than normal. Heart rate was dropping from around 50 bpm to 45 and below. Sometimes I was nearly passing out.

The doctor spoke to a cardiac specialist and the specialist said I could come of the Bisoprolol. So I was told to drop it to 1.25mg.

I got palpitations but nothing to worry about and my heart rate went up to 60bpm resting.

After a few weeks I started to feel less tired so I was told to stop the Bisoprolol all together.

Wow… heart went rate went up to 70 to 75bpm. Palpitations got worse and I would wake it the night feeling like my heart was bouncing around in my chest. I went back on 1.25mg.

A few months later, still feeling tired in the day. I could go back to bed after breakfast. I decided to give it another try and stoped taking it.

A few jittery moments but I felt much better. Woke a few nights where I nearly woke my wife in fright because my heart was pumping so hard.

Now, after several months after coming off them I feel much better.

Don’t sleep in the daytime, sleeping fairly good through the night.

I’m 68 years of age and now all I take for my heart condition is 80mg of Atorvastatin, Lansoprazole and aspirin.

I have read that the Bisoprolol protects the heart if you’ve had a heart attack and I wonder if I should be on something else instead. But the doc said it’s ok to come off them and I have to place my trust in them.

Although, for ten years I was treated for asthma when in fact I had angina and it took a heart attack for that to become apparent.

Right, got to get back to work. I took the bath out yesterday and I’m installing a shower base and refurbishing the bathroom.

Maybe coming off Bisoprolol was a bad idea, I had the excuse I was too tired then 😂😂😂😂

-007- Licensed to Chill😎 (but not when refurbishing the bathroom😳)

[Hidden in reply to -007-]

Enjoy your bathroom endevours 007!

[NotAllWhoWonder]

Cardiologist took me off Bisoprolol yesterday because it dropped my heart rate to around 50 when resting (which is too low if you’re not an Olympic athlete lol). Also suffered with fatigue for the 3.5 years I’ve been on it, so here’s hoping!

[Hidden in reply to NotAllWhoWonder]

I'm only into my second day without after 11/2 years, terrible sleep last night, in bed til around 11 to catch up but no fatigue as yet. Hope it's a cold turkey effect and will improve if I stick to it ☹️