Asthma & Beta blockers

[Livelovelife56]

Good morning I only seem to post with questions. But you wonderful lot are so knowledgeable and this is still so new to me. ❤️

My son has aortic root dilation & HCM. Yesterday GP confirmed he has mild asthma. Prescribed inhaler 4x a day.

So we were waiting for this so my son's cardiologist could decided what beta blocker to prescribe. (He recently started Losartan 25mg, daily). So my understanding is that some beta blockers can affect asthma in a bad way. Has anyone experience of management of heart conditions and asthma?

Thank you as always 🙂♥️

[Hidden]

hello firstly asking questions is exactly what we’re all here for so ask as many as you want! As well as advice / support.

I have asthma never had an attack but I know and feel it when I haven’t been taking inhalers - tends to be cough and wheezy. So I’m on brown inhaler two puffs morning and night.

Every cardiologist I have seen (four in total) will not entertain the idea of giving me a beta blocker for the symptoms caused by my congenital heart defect which severely limits my medical treatment. Beta blockers are the go to med for my condition.

However that is me.

I would be sure your cardiologist will carefully consider the asthma when prescribing an appropriate beta blocker if they feel the benefits are worth it to the heart. Maybe but just totally guessing they may adjust inhaler prescription to compensate?

it’s unfortunate / complex when one condition has to be balanced with another but they will find the best solution for your son.

Good luck and do let us know what happens, may help others, me too if there is a beta blocker that can be taken with asthma.

❤️

[Livelovelife56 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you xx

[MummaSoap]

Hi LLL

No need to apologise for asking questions at all and I’m pleased to hear that you’ve found the support on the forum helpful 😁

I’m asthmatic (well controlled) and when first diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy I was put on a beta blocker (metoprolol) and I had to use a peak flow before every dose and needed to get a reading above (I believe from memory) 200 and if I couldn’t get a reading above that after 3 attempts I wasn’t to take the dose.

Unfortunately for me I couldn’t tolerate the drug and the decision was made to switch but this was due to my tolerance of the reduction in blood pressure (as they were trying to use it to primarily reduce my heart rate).

Wishing you and your son all the best, I hope the specialist finds something that suits him 🙂

Good luck!

Soap 🧼

[Cliff_G]

Yes, I've been a lifelong asthmatic, usually allergic (cat, dog etc) though usually not needing meds all the time. After my AD I was put on Metoprolol then switched to Bisoprolol, both supposed to be pretty cardio-specific, both were at a pretty low dose. I seemed to be able to cope with mainly brown but occasional blue inhalers. I had had pneumonia and a trachy in hospital, so neither of those helped my asthma. I came off Bisoprolol as I found it too debilitating, but didn't really notice my asthma getting better, and I still get it fairly badly at night, no beta blockers at all.

For me, the lesson from this is, be aware BBs can make asthma worse but with careful use they may be possible. Everyone will have their own specific tolerance.

[Yumz199725]

Hi livelovelife56Asthma heart problems together can be rough and at a young age can make it even harder. My understanding is that beta blockers can aggrivate asthma. I have asthma and I was gona be put on a beta blocker but my consultant put me on a calcium channel blocker instead. So maybe ask the cardiologist about switching on to a calcium channel blocker. Hope this helps. ❤️

[Shar28]

Hello. My husband has DCM and asthma. He’s been on inhalers for years when the DCM was diagnosed. So he started on a low dose of Bisoprolol and was referred for spirometry testing to check the status of his asthma. That actually said no asthma at that time (it cam come & go apparently). He stayed on his inhaler as it helped his chest and hasn't had any problems.

As is often said on here, everyone’s different and its finding what suits each individual that counts.

Best wishes