Coming off bisoprolol and withdrawal - hypertension and tachycardia (high blood pressure and fast heartbeats)

[Mmissah]

Hi everyone. I'm 20 years old and have been on bisoprolol since october 2021 due to high blood pressure/tachycardia. I went to my doctor because of my breathlessness and anxiety that I've been suffering from since January 2021. I'm overweight as well. After an EKG for my heart, a few xrays and a DT-scan of my lungs and a few allergy tests, my doctor suspected that my breathlessness (dyspnoea) was caused by my overthinking, anxiety and my high blood pressure/tachycardia. I still suffer from anxiety and breathlessness, but much less before. Since october 2021, I've been taking 2.5mg bisoprolol daily. Now, I've decided to stop as the medications side effects are too unpleasant (worsening of my nasal congestion, diarrhea and constipation as well as poorer sleep quality). For about 8-10 days I took 1.25mg bisoprolol daily to come off the medication, which is half my original dose or a half of the pill simply put. And now I've started taking half a pill every other day to finally come off it. Yesterday I started feeling a bit more anxious and couldn't sleep and I also started having mild pains in the left side of my chest, shoulder and back (from the nipple area and up and the back and shoulder all on the left side). I'm afraid the withdrawals have started and that my blood pressure will be worse than before. I'm thinking continuing with taking half a pill of bisoprolol every other day up until 8th or 11th July (today is 3rd), and then stopping it completely. But I'm dreading the withdrawals and what may happen along with it. Anyone with experience that may tell me about their experiences with the withdrawal and any long lasting effects after that? I don't want to take this medication any more, and I really want to actually start exercising and changing my diet, although it's a bit late for it now but I'm still going to do it. How do you go about it? Any longlasting effects? When were the withdrawals over? Did the blood pressure return to baseline after withdrawal or did it remain high? Please, any comments or reply will be of great help and aid to me.

[Mmissah]

I also feel like my heart rate has been going up a bit since I started weaning off of the medication, and I feel the need to breathe deeply a bit more often.

[Blackcatsooty]

Dear Mmissah

I take 1.25 bisoprolol and I am not at all sure of the negative effects..

What you can do is to

1. Get. Good sleep. Work away at this and you will benefit.

2. Get your weight to a good level . No matter how many months this takes, it will ultimately pay dividends.

3. Relax to get your mood in line.

4. Exercise each day.

Regarding medication, you really must follow your medics advice.

You have so many good years ahead. Follow the four suggestions and things will improve for you.

It is not too late.

I will not insult your intelligence with crass comments..

Good luck

Sooty the black cat.

[Mmissah in reply to Blackcatsooty]

Thank you for your response. Yes, those suggestions will indeed be helpful. I'll let you know how it goes with the medications and coming off of them.

[Hidden]

Hello

I have had 3 heart attacks as well as Bypasses and this is one of the meds I am on at 2.5mg

It helps with blood pressure as well as slowing your heart rate down

However after over a year I have suspected this is affecting my breathing so asked what could be done

The last two days after speaking with my Doctor I have gone on 1.25mg to see if it makes a difference

I do suffer with anxiety by nature and it is only day 2 but I feel awful with anxiety , headache but this in my case maybe mind over matter as I know I have dropped the dose

I do understand you want to come of it and I know you also know you need to make lifestyle changes but all I can say is decrease this but every step of the way do it with your Doctors advice and not of your own way of coming of it they should have set a plan how to safely reduce and eventually come of the med

Also if you do not have one getting a little blood pressure machine would be a good idea as these have been helping your blood pressure which helps your heart by doing so you need to be checking your blood pressure is stable and because you are coming of them it is not going to high , I am checking mine twice a day

If you are doing all these things and everything is good then it could be that you will have to ride this through like I may have to but know it will get better x

[Mmissah in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I got the OK from my doctor to wean off of it so I'll start there. Thank you again. And if anyone else with more advice and experiences regarding bisoprolol, coming off of it and it's withdrawals and high blood pressure, you're all more than welcome to send me a message or reply to my post as it will be of great aid to me. Thank you again!

[Hidden in reply to Mmissah]

Hello

Just if you can keep an eye on what your blood pressure is doing

Come back when you have weaned of them and let us know how you got on x

[Heythrop51]

I am always puzzled when I read about people wanting to come off prescribed medication without medical supervision. There are alternative beta blockers to Bisoprolol such as Atenolol. Please don't risk a life changing event by continuing with hypertension and tachycardia.

[sampaloc0624]

I discussed everything and every step with my doctors. Please do so.. keep healthy

[MountainGoat52]

I don't understand why doctors prescribe beta blockers for high blood pressure. My experience is that they slow the heart rate. When I was put on one I actually had issues with an increase in blood pressure as my heart was having to pump more blood per beat to supply what my body required. Initially I was on 3.75mg of Bisoprolol with a heart rate in the 40s, but now I am on 1.25mg which keeps my resting heart rate at around 55. I suffered no issues reducing the dose, only an improvement in my heart rate. My blood pressure is controlled by 25mg Losartan, a medication which I have now been on for over a decade and which suits me very well.

I am wondering whether your doctor has prescribed any other medication to help control your blood pressure. Coming off Bisoprolol will presumably take you back to square one, so what then? I would certainly get in touch with your doctor to discuss where you go from here.

[wischo in reply to MountainGoat52]

You do not need to understand why as GPs are trained in dispensing medication. If you read the post he is suffering from Tachycardia and high blood pressure so even as a layman I can see why his GP would prescribe a beta blocker. Losartan might well drop blood pressure but would do nothing for the high heart rate. Of course beta blockers slow heart rate.

[kalgs]

Talk to your doctor. Beta blockers should be withdrawn carefully. Don’t take medical advise off forums.I’m withdrawing from beta blockers of many weeks by gradually reducing the dose . But that was agreed with my doctor.

Talk to your doctor

[Suzyh]

You should tell your doc and follow his advice

[Mmissah]

Yes, thank you everyone. I did get the OK from my doctor to get off of the medicine, and I was to start exercising and changing my diet and habits slowly to reduce and keep my weight and anxiety in check. The reason I'm on the forum is because it's coming off the drug that Im not looking forward to as it'll be very unpleasant withdrawing from it. So, I was hoping that I would get advice and tips from people with different experiences and stories to hopefully ease the coming times

[anke123]

Hi, I have been on bisoprolol for 6 years , starting on it before I had a stent fitted, first 1.25 had it increased to 2.5 mg. Recently I have had more problems, very tired spells when my BP has dropped to as low as 86/46 and a low heart rate. Saw the GP who reduced the dose to 1.25 last Wednesday, on Saturday got a message from the cardiologist to stop it altogether. So in less than a week I have gone from 2.5 to nothing and I have not had any side effects from it. I do check my BP once or twice a day and it is higher and the heart rate as well and still get tired spells. I am having a echo on Saturday hope it shows up what is causing the problem. Apart from the BP going up and heart rate I have not noticed any other problems. Hope it all goes well for you.

[Gabbygibby]

I was put on 5mg bisoloprol along with 2mg doxazosin for my high blood pressure. I'd already tried 3 other medications which all caused various side effects including dry cough, swollen ankles and sickness. I thought the bisoloprol was causing my hair to thin and fall so my GP advised me to slowly come off the med, taking 2.5mg for a week, then 1.25mg for another week then stopping. I had no withdrawal symptoms at all. However after 2 months my blood pressure began rising again so I decided slightly thinning hair was the least of my worries and restarted my 5mg dose. Blood pressure now in the 125/75 range and I feel fine

[Mmissah in reply to Gabbygibby]

Thank you, I have a few days left before stopping completely, I hope you're doing well. Hopefully I won't have any withdrawal symptoms either, and perhaps lifestyle changes will keep my heart in check so I don't have to turn to medication again.

[Gabbygibby]

I hope all goes well for you.

[Mmissah]

Does anyone know when the bisoprolol side effects wear off when stopping the medication? My worst problem is the nasal congestion, stomach problems and sleep. How long until the side effects go away? Google says it takes up to 3 days for bisoprolol to be completely out of the system, but perhaps the side effects persist for a longer while even though its out of the system?