I’ve just had an angiogram and my extreme breathlessness after walking up stairs, even slight inclines, is not due to angina or even microvascular angina as that was checked too! My heart is fine which is great news but frustrating as after a year of symptoms I still don’t know what the problem is!
However I have to come off heart meds - Bisoprolol and Isosorbide Nitrate pills. Indeed the Bisoprolol might have been the cause of breathlessness, consultant says. . I understand you shouldn’t come off Bisoprolol suddenly but I wasn’t really given any guidance on this. Anyone had experience of coming off it - good and bad? Thank you all.
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MrsTree
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If your consultant Cardiologist said for you to stop the Bisoprolol I really would have thought that he would have provided you with not only the reason why but how to do it.
I am really surprised that you were not offered an alternative to try first and that he authorised coming off it cold turkey like that, no wonder that you may be feeling some side effects.
It maybe worth phoning 111 and explaining your symptoms { this is presuming that your DRs don’t have surgery over the weekend } and follow their guide lines
Thank you. He advised coming off it because of these symptoms of breathlessness which I’ve had for a year and for which my heart is not the reason. So the symptoms are not new. And hopefully, if the Biprosolol is the cause - or part of it - then I might improve. I just wanted to know if there was away to come off gently, if that was better. I’m probably going to try taking it every other day for a week and then seeing if I can halve the pill every other day for a week - though it’s v tiny! I’m on 2.5.
I think that you have the right idea in cutting them down slowly, maybe someone else will be alone soon to share their wisdom on your post.
Like many I am on the drug and have been lucky that I have suffered no or extremely little side effects.
I really feel sorry for the way your feeling and I hope that gets better soon. I also feel its a shame that you have to withdraw from the drug as it really is a good one and is responsible for many improved lives.
Thank you Blue. I have been advised to stop it because my breathlessness is not due to my heart - so it is quite useless for me, though important for those with heart conditions.
Hi, Just for interest, I’ve been on Bisoprolol since 2004 when I had a mini stroke (TIA) I haven’t had any real side affects with the tablet over the years. In 2016 I had a HA and 2 stents fitted. While in hospital they took me off that medication and after being discharged and with the prescription still covering that tablet I started automatically taking it again but on a reduced dose. To my surprise about a year ago my GP asked me why I was still taking Bisoprolol so since then I have been making attempts to come off it. It has been difficult after so long taking the medication even being only on the lowest dose1.25mg the effects after only a couple of days off gives me the shakes. I’m persisting and hope to be clear soon. My case must be unusual because of the timescale and hope yours is much easier.
Have a look at your Bisoprolol pills. I had some 2.5 mg, they had a line across one side and in the leaflet it said to halve them, out them on a flat surface line side down, then press on top of the tablet. They should split neatly in half.
I agree and it is sad to hear but with so little in our arsenal of help { especially weekends } we have to use anything that is there, { good or bad } hope your keeping well.
999 is the only option. I had a femoral hernia beginning of December, husband phoned 111🙄 I in abject pain was asked a stupid list of inane questions, she wouldn’t listen that I told her I had a hernia, now, I’m a qualified complementary therapist with some medical knowledge equal to some nurses. They would not listen and forced yet more questions 🤷🏼♀️ Too much pain to suffer it.
What a terrible and frightening situation to have been in, thank goodness that your training helped you through, it does make you wonder what would have happened to someone that wasn’t in your position.
Congratulations on passing your Complementary Therapist qualification, for me it is something that should work more hand in hand with standard practices, thank God that it now is slowly being recognised by the old dinosaurs in the NHS/ medical profession.
Thank you fir your good wishes, no mean feat as I’m not an academic, lot of it in Latin too 🙄 Yes complementary means as well as, I think we’re a bit more acceptable today. My young osteopath is amazingly qualified, more than a dr friend of his and I’m taking his advice and treatment at the moment for a clavicle and shoulder injury.
I have been very lucky in having a lot of complementary therapy performed on me and being very open to it.
The whole experience was one of quite a spiritual feeling as well as a simple completeness, quite difficult for a layman to put into words without it sounding a bit Mumbo jumbo which is far from what it is.
Its simplicity, to me the client, hides the history and the complexity of the knowledge that lays behind and during the therapy as its performed, be that acupuncture/ hot stones/ manipulation/ aromatherapy, to list a few that I have had
I have only ever received positive outcomes and they worked brilliantly with my standard medical procedures.
Hi I know this is a heart forum so I hope nobody minds me jumping in, I have been diagnosed with a femoral hernia but I have not had a clinic appointment yet, can I ask what happened to make it so painful and did they operate. I don't know anything about them. Thanks char
I HAD ONE December 21!! You have to have an operation, end of! If the bowel gets trapped it can go gangrenous. They wanted to shove a plastic mesh in me NO!! There’s lists on vaginal mesh, and it’s not good. I would NOT ALLOW them to put it in me! Told consultant just stitch it up well. I’d had a inguinal hernia 30+ years ago same same no medication, no problems. Mesh has caused more problems than it solves and it can’t be removed.
Hernias CANNOT be left and watched, dangerous. Do not believe that!
Thank you so much for your reply, I didn't realise it was so serious, when the surgeon phoned he mentioned mesh! I thought it had been banned in the UK because of the problems it caused when used for bladder repairs, I have just been getting niggly pains and then got an MRI last month and that was the diagnosis, I have had a heart transplant and I am a bit scared to go under the knife again, char
Only option is surgery. Mine was like a tennis ball! Both ambulance men tried to push it back, another paramedic tried and drs in hospital 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ I wondered if they’d got it back I’d have been sent home 😡They ARE emergencies, they WILL get trapped. I refused pint blank to sanction mesh, there NO removing it. I said ‘what happens if I’m allergic to it’🤷🏼♀️ NO ANSWER! I’d got a hypoallergenic partial knee replacement! Femoral is more of an emergency that inguinal
Really good news the angiogram did not show anything serious I am pleased for you
I really do not know what is a matter with these professionals I know they are busy but they seem to just say stop something and forget to tell us the rest
But I would phone your Doctor or you could phone a pharmacist and get their advice
Hi MrsTree, great news about your angiogram result but very bad that your consultant didn’t provide you with an explanation of how to come off the Bisoprolol. As others have said, hopefully your pharmacist or GP will be able to advise you. From my own experience I would suggest you do it very gradually, as the Bisoprolol has effectively been putting the brakes on your heart rate, so stopping quickly could cause it to go into overdrive until it readjusts. For myself, I’ve cut the tablets into quarters and took 3/4 of a tablet for two weeks , then a 1/2 etc. Once I’m down to 1/4 tablet and am stable on that, then I’ll go to alternate days for a fortnight before stopping. Like you, after many months on Bisoprolol my breathlessness was becoming an increasing problem but is slowly improving as I reduce the drug. A shame because I’ve no doubt it’s good at what it does but it seems some of us just can’t tolerate it.
That is interesting, I was taking 2.5 mg and the GP told me to go on 1.25 as my BP was going down some days to 86/46 with pulse of 43. As I was waiting for an echocardiogram I emailed the out patients department and a few days later I got a message left on my phone from the consultant to stop taking it altogether. I have been on it 6 years. So in 5 days I went from 2.5 to nothing and my heart rate at times has been very irregular and other times racing.Now waiting to get the results from the echocardiogram but that can be 6 to 8 weeks.
Yes, as can be seen from these replies, for some, suddenly stopping isn’t a problem but for others more sensitive to the drug, even stopping what is considered a small dose, is problematic. Unfortunately, most medics dismiss either 1.25mg or 2.5mg doses too small to cause a problem if stopped and don’t allow for the fact that we are all so different. I do hope your heart settles soon.
Good morning Mrs Tree, I was advised to stop taking Bisopropal by my EP. Had no problems at all. I've been back on it since, but have stopped again as my heart rate went too low. Hope all goes well for you. Sheena x
My cardiologist told me to stop taking it and I was delighted as it was leaving me like a zombie. Only afterwards did I wonder about whether just stopping was ok, but I did and was fine. I was only on 1.25 a day though. It took about 3 days for me to feel better.
Hello. I was advised to come off Bisoprolol 2.5 mg last year after 6 years, as I was feeling exhausted all the time. No advice given, just came off it. Never felt better- so much more energy. Good luck 😊
Have you had your thyroid function checked. I developed Hashimotos thyroiditis in my late 30s and slowly ground to a halt. Symptoms included fatigue and extreme breathlessness on exertion.
You have had some good advice about seeking professional advice about how to reduce your bisoprolol. The guidelines here are that we don’t ‘Recommend that anyone stops taking medication without talking to a healthcare professional first’.
I have a history of heart problems and have an artificial aorta value. I am pretty healthy generally but do suffer from breathlessness , particularly going upstairs or on any kind of incline. I’m now wondering if bisoprolol is the cause of this. What does anyone think?
I think if you have heart problems - which I now find I don’t- then it’s likely the heart is the cause. But Bisoprolol could exacerbate it I guess. But I’m not medically trained and I think your doctor would be the one to ask.
Hi, you haven't mentioned what dose you are on? If it is a low dose, many say just stop. If it is a high dose then many say reduce bit by bit by either cutting the pills in half, or missing a day, then missing 2 days and so on. There were some interesting comments yesterday about how long bisoprolol stays in your blood stream, might be worth checking those out.
Hi, I’d been incorrectly diagnosed from 2006 to 2019 in which time I’d been on bisoprolol among other drugs and my cardiologist just stopped it immediately. I had no side effects.
Has anyone ever considered other causes for your breathlessness? For example respiratory based? A few years back I told my GP I occasionally ran out of puff and was sent to the asthma nurse who ran some tests and then said in addition to some reduction of lung capacity which was asthma related, I probably had a 'touch' of COPD, which was a great surprise, since although I was a smoker for only 12 years, I had given up more than 45 years previous.
Yes, as I was reading all the responses I kept wondering why nobody was investigating the cause of your breathlessness. Do you check your oxygen levels? I do have heart failure but less than a year ago, my respiratory function took a dive and on exertion my oxygen can drop to the mid-60’s. I am now on home oxygen but if it something similar happening to you, causing the breathlessness, you may also need supplementary oxygen to protect your heart.
Thank you. Haven’t checked it for a while myself though it was done in hospital and has not been a problem. Yes - I think everyone assumed breathlessness was due to heart because of my strong family history of heart disease. But now it needs checking out as I’ve wasted a year trying to get my heart investigated properly!
Hi MrsTree. I would reduce it slowly a little less every day you can buy a pill cutter for this ( I was given one free of charge at pharmacists with my prescriptions which included cutting a pill in half. As to the breathlessness I was having the same problem, when it became much worse I went to see my GP who phoned for an ambulance. Although I do have angina and other problems the worsening breathlessness was caused by Hyperthyroidism which in turn was caused by Graves’ disease..
I came off Bisoprolol after 3 months because I was having the same problems as you. I was just taking 1.25 per day, but I stopped suddenly and I immediately felt a lot better. And I lost 2kg of fluids in one week.
Talking to a doctor or a pharmacist is the best idea, but for what it's worth, here's my experience:
After 21 months on bisoprolol, my cardiologist told me I could now stop it. I asked about weaning off, but she said that since it was the smallest strength, 1.25mg, I should have no difficulty just stopping it. She did say that if I felt more comfortable taking it on alternate days for a couple of weeks, that was fine by her. I've done a week of alternate days and feel fine and am not sure if I'll reduce it any further or just stop now.
HiMy experience while on Bisoprolol 2.5mg was that I ended up having a lot of
Breathlessness. Doctor took me off Bisoprolol ( was on it for 3 years) , I stopped it immediately and breathlessness went within a few days, no side effects at all.
I have been OK ever since.
This was despite other doctors saying Bisoprolol wasn't the cause of my Breathlessness.
This drug seems to come up on here a lot and clearly causes issues for some of us and no doubt helps others as well.
good evening I talked to two cardiologists about how to stop bisoprolol and they both told me the same thing i.e. I was taking 2.5 a day and they told me to reduce it to 1/4 for a week and then finally and I did that I just had a few elevated pulses for three days , but each of us has our own condition, so it is good to get an opinion from a doctor to be sure
About 20 months ago I started with breathless , raised BP and high heart rate after doing minimal daily tasks( eg brushing hair/teeth, making sauces at stove), and had ultrasound of heart ( ok), gradually put on 4 BP lowering drugs eventually including bisoprolol (1.25)…without improvement to breathing. Had chest X-ray, and referred to Long Covid respiratory physio then LC clinic.; I had had mild-moderate covid Oct. 2020 and still have loss of smell. Despite months of doing physio breathing exercises concentrating on diaphragm I am still breathless. Have you considered Long Covid causing your problems even if Covid itself wasn’t much more than ‘a week of flu’? It was interesting seeing some have had breathlessness with bisoprolol, and it might be worth me trying to reduce/stop it, just to make sure it isn’t contributing to my problems as didn’t do great deal for BP?
Mrs. Tree, My father became extremely breathless after being put on Bisoprolol. He had low blood pressure to start with and I argued with the hospital doctor that he should not be taking this medicine…..only to be rebuffed and told that I would be responsible for his death if I prevented him taking it, (which I did anyway)! Who would responsibly prescribe a blood pressure lowering drug to a 95 year old who already suffered from Hypotension (low BP)? Unless they wanted to bump him off early!
He could not catch his breath whilst taking Bisoprolol, he gasped with his mouth open and whispered to me that if this is what life has brought him he hoped he would pass away soon. So very sad.
I got him out of the hospital the following morning and I stopped the Bisoprolol. Within 24 hrs there was a notable difference to his breathing. Within 36-48 hours he was no longer breathing through his mouth. On the 3rd day he was back to normal. He lived for almost another 3 years without any further symptoms of breathlessness.
I mustqualify that I am not a doctor. I did however the know my fathers health conditions like I know my own because he was living with my husband and I for months at a time and I would accompany him to all appointments. I will also add that I’m sure Bisoprolol has its place in the medicine cupboard for many people who need it for their particular condition, it’s just that in my fathers case it was misdiagnosed for him. I am only stating the side effects that it can have if taken by the wrong person. Mrs Tree, your consultant said your breathlessness may be caused by Bisoprolol too. You will know if it is has been the cause if your breathlessness subsides soon. Only time will tell,
I ask why are many of us put on drugs by medics who do not know know our full health history, at least in the case of my father anyway, or bother to investigate it? No one knows their own body like one knows their own and their family members who live with them daily. I was totally ashamed of the system and felt my dad was let down by it. It failed him when he needed help, not death. About 6 weeks after this happened and after I’d got my father home from this particular hospital they shut it down because it was stated that its staff needed further training and there was a general lack of experience on the wards. So my dad apparently was not the only one. It eventually re-opened some months later and I’m informed it now had a very good reputation.
MrsTree, I hope you find answers. Here’s wishing you all the very best, T57 x
Thank you and I’m so sorry for your experience with your father. It is so hard dealing with a situation like that. I am a carer for my partner and sometimes where medication is concerned that’s a huge and difficult responsibility.
I had to come off both tablets you mentioned I landed in hospital with breathing problems and said I’m sure it’s the bishopriol I spoke to consultant and my decision to do so and did not have any problem but I did cut down slowly everyone is different but sometimes you must listen to your own body but breathing and feeling better after stopping
It is still a worry tho at the back of your mind I personally feel almost the same meds are handed to everyone I thank the heart foundation for being there when you have these concerns re meds
2.5 mg as you say is a small dose so really I doubt there will be any ill effects.They can cause low BP which will make you feel as you are and cause lack of energy, a few of the heart drugs effect BP so mixed together can cause issues.
my Heart nurse stops and changed my meds all the time.However I am or was very sensitive to Bisoprolol and had to be monitored when it was increased but not when reduced.
It’s usually the case with heart drugs they cure some things but cause others
Yes I was getting breathless after been prescribed this drug. I stopped taking it and was prescribed a different one. Breathlessness stopped! Also developed an irritating cough with one of the ither drugs which ceased after stopping this
Interesting! Thank you. My breathlessness is if anything worse at the mo despite taking lower dose but I think that may be due to going too much yesterday only 2 days after angiogram.
I had been on 2.5mg of Bisoprolol for over 10 years and never questioned its need until after a recent collapse I started measuring my BP on a 2 to 4 hour interval and noted that my BP was regularly in the 70 - 80/50 range in the early morning shortly after taking my daily meds. I decided taking Bisoprolol was counter productive and stopped it immediately with no adverse impact. I would point out though my BP is in general low. I am also relatively fit comfortably walking 6k in an hour daily. I did liaise with a cardiac nurse while coming off Bisoprolol and discussed the matter with my cardiologist within 10 days who concurred with my actions and advised to stop taking the Bisoprolol. So I believe one can stop taking it quite quickly but one needs to monitor BP closely and liaise with your cardiology team.
Yes I have started taking my BP again this morning and even though I’ve decreased Biprosolol it’s still quite low. I’m currently taking half dose this week and may go down to a quarter next but taking advice from pharmacist today. Can’t get GP appointment yet! Thank you.
Hi, I have just read your post. Can I ask why you were put on the isosorbide? Were you also getting chest pain? Has the cardiologist prescribed you alternative medication?I have experience with both your medications along with a clear angiogram. Were there any other tests done that you have not mentioned?
Yes, I had a HA in 2020 which showed a huge right coronary artery but no obstructed coronary artery disease. The initial diagnosis of the HA was a severe coronary artery spasm and I have recently been given Diltiazem for this. There is now question over whether my HA was perhaps caused by spontaneous dissection of the right coronary artery due to high blood pressure which was sadly left untreated by my GP but there is no confirmation of this.Do you have a similar experience?
I have lived with vasospastic angina for 10 years.I was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack, however because my coronary arteries were unobstructed, I was told it wasn't possible.
However the knowledge has moved on.
Are you aware of Myocardial Infarction non obstructive coronary arteries MINOCA ?
About 10 % of heart attacks are due to MINOCAs. This type of heart attack is more common in younger women.
The possible causes Microvascular dysfunction, vasospastic angina and spontaneous coronary artery dissection SCAD.
I had a angiogram with acetylcholine which confirmed my diagnosis of vasospastic angina.
Have you been offered any testing to accurately diagnose the cause of your MINOCA?
Thank you Milkfairy 🙂I am aware of the International Heart Spasm Alliance through being a member of the Prinzmetal/Coronary Artery Spasm group on FB which helped me a lot through lockdown as I was discharged just beforehand and sadly had no follow up for over a year and when I did it was only because I was extremely poorly after coming off the Bisoprolol and Ramipril (As per instructions)
I was put back on them but I was still breathless and getting chest pains which I was getting no help with (I was told I should expect to be slower!) I decided to seek a private cardiologist who changed my medications and I am now doing really well. If my condition hadn't improved I would have sought more tests but thankfully that is not the case
I did reply to this but somehow it hasn't got to you. As it was a long one I shall just say that if you get no answers with the lung tests please get back to me as there are heart conditions that do not present themselves in regular tests.I will be happy to share my experience with you.
Keep an eye on your heart rate. It may not happen for you but mine went through the roof when I was weaning off Bisoprolol, I was very poorly.All the best
Sorry, only just seen this thread. I've been on bisporolol for several years after surviving an sca and found it fatiguing as well as causing breathlessness. However, since taking my pill in the evening rather than the morning (on the recommendation of a friend) my condition has improved a lot. Checked this with the doctor who said he hadn't heard of that before but as long as I keep taking it the same time each day there shouldn't be any problems. Hope this helps
I’ve been told to stop it as it was possibly causing my breathlessness. An angiogram discovered I don’t have a heart problem! However, I was told taking it in the evening was better. Glad it is for you.
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