for quite a while now I'm quite breathless when I'm walking or if I have to bend to pick something off the floor. I suffered a ha October last year and had 2 stents.
I'm having a blood test next week to do with my heart and had a chest xray today. Was told by pharmacist it could be due to bisoprolol or ticagrelor. It is causingme undue worry and I'm becoming a prisoner in my home as I'm scared of walking out.
I had been on Clopidogrel since 2017 after a stroke and bypass operation and never had a problem.
Last October I had 2 stents fitted and they changed my Clopidogrel to Ticagrelor and Aspirin, it was awful!! It should have been for 12 months but I only managed 6 and after consulting with my GP I went back on Clopidogrel .
With Ticagrelor I found myself panting for breath for no reason, often waking myself up at night with a totally dry mouth as I had obviously been gasping for breath.
The final straw was that I was in Boots and had to bend down to reach for make up remover pads and struggled to catch my breath, I was worried someone would think I was in distress.
I phoned the GP but had to wait a week for a phone consultation but went back on the Clopidogrel and by the time the GP phoned back the breathlessness had stopped and I felt so much better.
So for me it was the Ticagrelor it is a known side effect, I take 9 different pills daily and I am lucky in that I don't have any obvious side effects, Ticagrelor has been the only one.
I had exactly the same problem with TIcagrelor. IT felt as if I had asthma. I had to have it changed. NO problems with clopidogrel at all.
It was awful, I told the cardiac nurse several times about how bad the breathlessness was and she kept saying that it would get better. After 6 months I think I gave it a good shot back on Clopidogrel and feeling okay.
MY GP refused to change it so, as I was due to seethe cardiologist in 4 days I just stopped it. Cardio went mad that I'd stopped it but immediately c hanged it
WOW!! I did some reading before stopping the Ticagrelor and read that there is no evidence that the benefits are worse at 6 months as 12 months even though it tends to be prescribed for 12 months so I was ready for a 'discussion' with my GP.I had some Clopidogrel left over from last year pre stents so as soon as I stopped the Ticagrelor I started back on the Clopidogrel. When the GP phoned back she didn't hesitate to change me back to Clopidogrel and said 6 months was fine I didn't have to plead my case (thankfully).
Ah well the problem for me was that I'd had a heart attack and two stents; it was well within the 6 months and the reason I was seeing the cardio was for another angiogram to have a look at another 2 blockages. I needed the anti platelets before he could do the angiogram so he had to give me a big loading dose by injection. I didn't have a clue what all the tablets did or I might have hung on until I saw him. He was quite ok about changing it though and it was stopped after 6 months when I g ot a peptic ulcer. ( Aspirin caused rather than clopi but they left me on aspirin because they said they knew far more about any side effects. I still ended up having to go on enteric coated aspirin. My stomach just can't tolerate them.
Hello 
I am sorry to hear you are not having it so good at the moment but they are now doing tests to see what is causing this which having had two stents already you know how good they are and the two medications you mention I was on ticagrelor for over a year and when my Consultant said I could come of it she also said I would maybe find my breathing would get better and it did slightly so even the Consultants seem to know ticagrelor for some can make their breathing a little worse
Bisoprolol is another one not for everyone but there are quite a few that have posted on here how it affects their breathing I believe it could be doing this to me and am in the process of changing to something different so the pharmacist who are good does know how these medications can affect you
I know till you get your results back you will feel worried we all do but sounds like you will not be waiting to long and I can totally understand why you would feel afraid to go out
Have you got any friends or family who you can share how you feel with and maybe make arrangements to go out with so you don't get trapped indoors as well as helping to keep that confidence that is been affected at the moment , you don't have to do anything to over the top but getting out can be a good distraction
I hope you get these results back soon it could be just something simple like tweaking your meds but whatever it is they will work their magic and you will soon be feeling great again
Please if you have the time let us know how you get on x
I think there are a considerable number of factors. Some days are better than others even in normal times and this becomes amplified after surgery or an illness. To this you can add heat and humidity. There were loads of people in the garden centre a couple of days ago complaining of being breathless and weary when the temperature and humidity was high .
We then come on to medication and some seem to affect some people more than others.
To this can be added our overall health condition relating to amount of exercise and our weight and age.
Will you let us knw if anything comes out of your tests next week as presumably you will ask the question?
Dear CEDAR0902
The dreaded breathless, its the pain of so many of our lives, until it can be sorted and sorted it can be, they just have to find out what your trigger is and gear your medication and diagnosis to it.
Please try and not stress about it until you have spoken to your Drs, you may find that your pharmacist can throw some light on it for you, although they wont have the authority to change your medication.
Also try to walk even if its just a little bit to keep everything going and not become house bound, which will play on your mind more, walk flat areas and then make a note of how your breathlessness is so you have something to tell the Dr/Heart team when you see them, go with someone and talk as you walk.
Take care when you bend down { and stand up } bend with your knees and not your waist, almost squatting.
It is one of the most horrible things that a lot of suffer with at one time or another, but a lot can be done for it, start with simple deep breathing to try and clear your mind of the worry.
You are in my thoughts and you are never alone.
Take care
I also had H/A last year, stents fitted been breathless since.3 months ago isorbordide reduced to 60mg once daily,an feeling a little better as in not quite as breathless,I do find walking any distance,going upstairs or bending still gives me problems,so I'm hoping a medication change could solve it.It's very stressful so I do hope you get sorted out and feel better.
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