Hi,
I’m new to this group and would appreciate any advice /experience on taking beta blockers and blood pressure tablets.
I’m currently on 5mg of Bisoprolol and 7.5mg of Amlodipine. I feel sluggish, have heavy legs and my vision is distorted at times. I was previously on 7.5mg of Bisoprolol and 10mg of Amlodipine and although it has helped reduce the side effects, they are still there and both drugs can cause them.
Hello 
I am on half the dose of Bisoprolol you are on and I feel sluggish as you say which is one of the side effects with them so I can only imagine how you must be feeling
I have not had any issues with my eyes though not relating to the medication have you spoken to your Doctor about this as if it is affecting you eyes I would do
Let us know how you get on x
Hi Bekind28,
Thanks for sharing. I have spoken to my GP about my eyesight and she is of the opinion that it happens when my blood pressure is being reduced by the medication. She has said she can change my Amlodipine to an alternative blood pressure tablet, but feels that it is the Bisoprodol that is the culprit here. The Cardiologist is reluctant to change it or reduce it further at the moment. My BP has to be kept strictly below 130 due to a Thoratic Anuresm I have following emergency surgery in June due to a dissected abdominal aorta.
I will push for a reduction at my visit next week or a change…….. Thanks, hope your sluggishness reduces.
Hello
I have to be honest I think the Bisoprolol is the culprit to I have been on it 3 years still sluggish but I had a triple Bypass and that is the one med my Surgeon did not want to change despite how it makes me feel so it must be a good med even though making us feel tired but I keep taking mine and still feel the same but I think I just have started to accept it now
Hope you get it sorted and let us know if you do x
I think there is a certain level that individuals can tolerate with bp meds, even after allowing the body to adjust.
In the space of 18 months my meds were slowly increased from Losartan 50mg to Losartan 100mg + 10mg Amlodipine all because my GP was obsessed with hitting numbers. My body couldn't handle the maximum dose of these 2 meds (I felt nausea, dizzy, sluggish etc.) so have decided to reduce my meds and to monitor my blood pressure. Currently 125/75 and feel much better with half the dose of amlodipine. Maybe your meds are still too high or the wrong combination.
Richard,
Thank you for sharing your experience, that’s exactly how I feel along with extreme fatigue!
I monitor my blood pressure twice per day and it is currently 126/75. I’m hoping that they will reduce the Bisoprolol again as I do feel it’s too high a dose but they feel it is too soon after surgery. It’s very frustrating as although I appreciate that they need to control my BP below 130 I need to function….
Well done on taking the steps to reduce it successfully, maybe once I have more confidence/ information I can push for changes, it’s all very new to me.
Try not to get wrapped up on the figures, I did for quite a while yet the medical world who would always like things lower settled on high figures functioning over perfect figures.
Currently 140/95 - all agree lower would be better but I can still work properly like this. (I do about 7000 steps measured on a pedometer and work 12 hour shifts as a base line).
Good luck my only advice is change hospitals/consultants if your not happy, I did and a different approach from the same NHS was an eye opener.
Thanks for the advice, very practical and sensible! I have received conflicting advice, the surgeon / consultant that operated on me stated that if my blood pressure went above 130 the persistent thoracic aneurism I have could rupture or tear and an emergency op to fit a graft has a 20/30 survival rate. As you can appreciate this terrified me! They also stated I could not let my heart rate go above 110bpm! My GP is more pragmatic and a cardiologist has said that my heart rate can go up but blood pressure not to go above 140. I’m ignoring the heart rate advice and listening to my body.
I’m trying not to get obsessed by figures, I monitor my boood pressure twice per day but it’s hard not to. I’m still waiting on a referral to the cardio rehab team which I’m hoping will help me with this. In the meantime I joined this group to seek advice. Thank you fir sharing, I currently walk 10,000 steps per day and hike at weekends. I hope to return to work in November which is an active job.
I'm on 7.5mgs bisoprolol which makes me really tired but one of the main problems is also sweating or 'glowing'😆! Increased hot flushes are horrible. Does anyone else get that? Particularly with any sort of exercise.
Billyjean,
I’m not surprised your tired, I was the same when I was on 7.5mg but glad to say I don’t suffer from sweats or glowing and the reduction to 5mg helped reduce the tiredness.
Is ‘glowing’ noted as one of the side effects?
Sadly I think so 😔
Is it worth discussing a change with your GP / Cardiologist?
I will but it will come at a price of more angina unfortunately
It all seems to be a bit of a balancing act, good luck
Thanks. Good luck to you too
Hi, I am on 1.25 mg of Bisoprolol, just make sure any new medication does NOT affect your blood pressure as well. My GP prescribed a drug called TAMSULOSIN (for an enlarged prostate) which had the most awful effect of lowering my BP to such an extent I was getting double vision & dizziness attacks whilst driving. Meds were changed after exhaustive tests & have now stabilised again. Best wishes on your own journey.
Hi Stumpy,
Thanks for responding. They reduced my dosage as my blood pressure was plummeting late afternoon evening to 100/60. It has now stabilised which is great, however I return to work in November and although a phased return, I’m not sure how I will cope given the sluggishness and fatigue I feel. The GP has suggested changing the BP tablets but I’m not sure that’s the best option and not seeing a cardiologist again until December.
Best wishes.
It's probably the Beta blocker Bisoprolol. 5mg is likely to slow you down considerably.
Bisoprolol is a selective beta blocker. It focusses on the heart. An alternative your doctor might consider is Nebivolol which has the same attributed, but is more selective than bisoprolol. I certainly felt less sluggish with nebovolol than with Bisoprolol.
Richard,
Thanks for this information , I will discuss it with my GP next week although she will need permission from the cardiologist fir any change.. I am hoping that they will reduce my current beta blocker to 3.75mg but a change that could potentially reduce the side effects would be ideal, thank you.
Yes I think you wlll my recollection is that a cardiologist might have to approve it possibly because of the cost
Ok, my GP would require their approval as well as she is not a specialist but worth a try!
Hi Nkdwine . I was on 10mg o Bisoprolol and I was seriously sluggish and my resting heart rate was consistently low. I also had the distorted vision, but didn't know why...perhaps it was the Bisoprolol 🤷🏾♀️. It's now been reduced to 7.5mg and the cardiologist won't reduce it any further, but thankfully this seems to have relieved all the side effects for me.
Thanks for this, very helpful. I’m sorry they will not reduce your dosage as it could help based on the advice I’ve received on this forum. Ask for a change as advised by Richard….
They said that the high dose is what has improved my heart, so they don’t want to make any further changes and undo all my progress, which makes sense. I will just suck up the fatigue if it means my heart gets stronger 🤗
That makes sense and good that it has made your heart stronger 😊👍
I just asked the doctor if I could increase my dose of Metoprolol from 75 mg to 100 mg and she approved it. I also take 10 mg of Amlodipine. My BP recently had been a little high (unfortunately it's always high in the doctor's office). I noticed that I was getting readings of 130 / 80 which is not good for me because I have CKD which was most likely caused by hypertension. This is the reason I wanted to increase it. She did say monitor the pressure to make sure my diastolic doesn't drop into the 50s. How do I feel? I feel fine...not really sluggish. I do get really sleepy in the afternoon around 3 pm. When I first started taking Metoprolol about 10 years ago, it made my dizzy and I almost couldn't go for walks, but that has gone away. The Amlodipine makes my feet puff a bit in the afternoon but not really too bad since I have always had skinny feet. I think the bottom line is that your body will eventually adapt to the drugs you are taking and you might not feel so sluggish after you take them for a while.
d
Thank you for sharing this it gives me some hope for the future….
This is hard for all of us. And I feel for your concerns. I think we all react differently to the medication that we are given. I am on different medication to you and have a different heart issue however iam having similar feelings to you. Sluggish, legs ache just feel not right. But is does become a journey to explain how you feel to normal people. Iam on 25mg of lisinopril. Brought down my blood pressure quite nicely. But I feel that it is too low. ? Trouble is it's never low at the doctors but at home it can go quite low. Then you read or people say that blood pressure medication and heart medication can make you feel lacking of energy. On a bit of a journey as I had a blood test because as I said I don't feel myself. Bloods came back all within limits except the creatinine. So now I have been told to stop the spironolactone and will have another blood test to see if the creatinine comes down. However I had already reduced spironolactone as a few months back my potassium had gone up. The trouble is both lisinopril and spironolactone effects the kidneys. Not in a bad way but they can make them Sluggish. It seems that I have got to find a happy medium to try and get myself to some sort of normal. My gut feeling is I would like to reduce the lisinopril and possibly go back on my spironolactone. But how do I prove it and explain it. But I have to admit the side effects do make it hard. Unfortunately there is no magic pill they all seem to sort one problem out but then the cause another. Sorry not much help but it is a balancing act and a journey to find the right match. But one thing that my tablets can do it make you prone to dehydration so you must keep fluid levels up. Unless you have been told otherwise.
I was taken off the BIsoprolol 2.5 mg after 6 years by my cardiologist due to the extreme fatigue. But I’ve been interested to read about the sweating (never heard of it called glowing) as I always wondered what was causing this? Even now minimal effort makes me sweat profusely. Can any of you expert hearties explain this more?
Thanks
HI
I am on 1.25mg Bisoprolol twice a day and always feel sluggish and hate it! I was on 3.75 and reduced it but they want me to stay on the 2.5mg total. I also get the sweats and feel like I am glowing. I have been on mine for 6 months now and they are still making me feel as I do!
H Zed,
Thanks for responding. It would appear that Bisoprolol is the culprit for sluggishness and fatigue and not the ideal drug for everyone. After 6 months you would think your body would of adapted and as other people have associated sweats / glowing with it perhaps it is time for you to ask for it to be changed?
I had a triple bypass in May, was on 2.5mg Bisoprolol, felt sluggish and persistent cold hands and feet, after 2 month I decided to cut it to 1.25mg, did it for a few weeks after a chat with the cardio nurse and later told my doctor who was OK with it. I don't have angina and my BP is a constant 118/75. I keen to reduce as many of my meds to a minimum. Even with 1.25mg my toes and finger are getting cold but bearable. Just my experience but don't make any changes without talking to your doc. With diet change my cholesterol was down to 2.7 so keen to reduce Statins next.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for sharing, you reminded me that I also suffer from cold feet and hands. I will push to reduce my Bisoprolol as it will evidently help and if not, look to change it to an alternative as suggested..
My cholesterol level is okay and prior to collapsing in May this year and being rushed to hospital, I had no known BP issues. My father died of a dissected abdominal aorta so I am waiting (patiently) for a referral to be tested for genetic connective tissue disease. My BP is to the best of my knowledge, currently the same on average as it was prior to my OP and taking medication. It’s all a bit of a mystery to me….
Prior to my heart attack, I had just had an mot at the Doctors, cholesterol 4.8 and all good, I eat healthy, walk a dog, play football twice a week ( had my HA during a footie game) and don't get anxious, so my heart attack was a complete mystery to me. But guess my recovery has been aided by the later.
Matt,
That is difficult to understand and given you are fit and healthy and took steps to be checked out, very unfair……
If you don’t mind me asking, have you returned to football, walking etc and why are you on statins?
I spent my spare time trail running and going up mountains and my job entailed walking around 10,000 steps per day and I’m keen to return to being active but wonder if I will ever have the energy. I was advised by the surgeon / consultant that I would never be able to run again or go up a mountain and should consider not working but to be perfectly honest I’m not prepared to give it all up, although trail running might not be possible now…
Your fitness and health has no doubt aided your recovery.
I am still on statins (80mg) but plan to challenge my doctor but he asked me to give the bisoprolol change some time before another change.After rehab I felt more confident and started doing the heart foundation aerobics on YouTube 5 days a week, then ramped up to fast walking on a treatmill. My cardo surgeon said before and after my op that there should be no reason I shouldn't return to football and all I did before. Iam very close to starting back to 5 aside football now
Matt,
Very practical approach regarding statins, I hope you can come off them soon and great that you can start playing football again, it gives me hope! I now have an appointment with Cardio Rehab on 31st October, better late than never, I was referred in early June! Hopefully that will help me determine what I can safely do. I have built up my walking and can now walk for 8 miles but hills are an issue, shortness of breath and feel as if I have weights on my legs….
Good luck and thanks for sharing.
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