Coming off Bisoprolol - anxiety or withdrawal?

[mummyofspot]

Hello :-). I posted a few months ago about tapering off of Bisoprolol. my brief story, I'm 46 and female. ended up in hospital after SVT (first time I've ever had an episode) and put on Bisoprolol 1.25mg. I've since seen a cardiologist and had tests, 2 week holter, ECG, echo and all show normal functioning heart. Cardiologist actually said heart function was very good for my age. I run 3/4 times per week and don't drink alcohol or smoke and I am a healthy weight. I've been told the palps I've been experiencing are due to perimenopause.

Anyway I've been given the go ahead to taper off of the beta blocker. Cardiologist said half for a week and come off them.

Today I took my first half of the 1.25mg (difficult to cut but I used a pill cutter). I've been ok today and not aware of increase HR yet. But since this afternoon I've been feeling really anxious and a bit breathless and also a headache and slightly dizzy/shaky. I'm sure the anxiety is just the anxiety of coming off them but I'm dreading the nighttime because stupidly I googled beta blocker withdrawal and read horror stories about it taking months to get off them. Any advice, success stories would be really gratefully appreciated. I'm a very very anxious person so I'm working on that too.

Thank you so much. I appreciate any replies

[Thecyclist]

Hi M of S,

Hope all is well.

I think you should be fine and don't overthink it too much. As you know anxiety breeds anxiety, it's a self fulfilling situation, the more you think about the more sensitive you will be to every single heartbeat or palpitation. Don't go to Dr Google, he gives anxiety lovers very poor advice, and nearly always covers worst case scenarios, when in all likely hood you are like any of the other 1000's who come off Bisoprolol with no issues.

As you know 1.25mg is the smallest dose so any withdrawal should be minimal, dropping to half for a week is a good idea though. Googling it will almost certainly be causing your mind to go to the worst case scenario which will of course make any anxiety worse, so it's probably the case and almost certainly worse than dropping Bisoprolol doses.

See how you are tomorrow and if you still feel the same call the cardiologist for some advice.

I do agree on cutting the pills though, absolute nightmare!

Did you have any joy finding help with the anxiety?

All the best!

[mummyofspot in reply to Thecyclist]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me again. You are definitely right about the anxiety breeding anxiety. I slept well last night and feel anxious this morning but HR doesn’t feel too bad at the moment. I’ve almost made my mind up that this is going to be a nightmare instead of actually seeing how it goes. I just want off of these pills so much. I’m working on the anxiety. It’s up and down. I’m getting better at accepting the feelings.

I keep telling myself that so what if my heart beats fast for a while. It’s a healthy heart and it won’t hurt it. I’ve developed massive cardio phobia since the SVT in November, pathetic really as I know I’m lucky that my heart is in good shape. I just can’t get my head round why this would happen out of the blue and live in fear of it happening again.

Sorry I’m rambling again.

Thanks for your support. I appreciate it x

[RufusScamp]

That is a tiny dose (I am on 10 mg), so you should not have many problems, I would have thought. Give it a few days and see how it goes.

[mummyofspot in reply to RufusScamp]

Thank you for replying. You’re right it’s a small dose and I’m praying an withdrawal will be minimal. I need to be positive! Thanks for your reassuring words, I appreciate it x

[firstlight40]

I didn't really notice coming off 1.25mg bisoprolol except I felt a bit less tired and my resting heart rate went up roughly by 3 bpm.

[mummyofspot in reply to firstlight40]

Thank you for replying. That’s reassuring to hear. Did you taper off the 1.25 mg or just stop? X

[firstlight40 in reply to mummyofspot]

I just stopped.

[Qualipop]

I came off bisopralol after my heart attack because they dropped my BP too low. I just stopped- no problems at all. I was on the same dose as you, a very low dose but I Guess it depends how long you've been on them. I'd taken them for around 6 months. Do NOT google; it's guaranteed to cause anxiety which is probably what's causing your shakiness. What you have read will have been problems for people on very high doses but I bet it didn't say that. After my HA I wastold I had two more blockages inthe LAD. Didn't know what LAD meant so I googled it stupid me. Everything I read called it a widow maker and almost caused me to have another HA. There's a heck of a lot of unfounded rubbish on google. Stick to the NHS and BHF websites.

[mummyofspot in reply to Qualipop]

Thanks for your reply, very appreciated. I've been on them 5 months, so not too long. Did your HR increase when you stopped? I've felt ok today. Anxiety seems less and my chest feels lighter. I'm wondering if the bisoprolol was making my anxiety worse. I absolutely need to stop googling. I'm grateful for the replies on this site. Really make me feel calmer. Thank you x

[Qualipop in reply to mummyofspot]

No, my heart rate didn't increase noticeably but hen it's normally fairly high, in the 80s or 90s- higher if I exert myself. It's not something I think about. My BP returned to normal levels.

[mummyofspot in reply to Qualipop]

Thank you x

[Runningman55]

I stopped my 1.25mg with a phased reduction 2 months ago. GP wanted me to take set of blood pressure readings and I dropped them off today. Minimal impact on BP and heart rate, little higher but not much.

[mummyofspot in reply to Runningman55]

Thanks for replying. So reassuring to hear this. How slowly did you taper? I'm doing half for a week and then off them. Did you taper slower than this? x

[Runningman55]

I was slower than that, over a few weeks on advice of cardiologist. I was on them post HA and cabg. Different for different conditions so go with what your gp advises. I noticed little bit of change to sleep pattern, nothing else.