Please can I ask if anyone has struggled with insomnia since taking Bisoprolol? I have been taking it for 3 years now and my sleep hasn’t been brilliant, I have young children so have attributed lack of sleep to them (10m and 3 years when I 1st went on it) but I have come to realise it isn’t them at all. They sleep through and my sleep is getting worse. I have no trouble falling asleep but I can’t stay asleep, waking every 1-2hrs until the morning. My dream are really vivid and sometimes are nightmares.
I have left a message with for the cardiologist today as I am on the brink! But I just wondered what was the outcome for anyone who experienced the same?
thanks in advance!
Written by
Picky1703
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
yes I have trouble falling asleep - my dose is quite low 2.5 which I split am and pm .... I am going to ask my GP tp prescribe an alternative to see what happens
I have had trouble staying asleep for more than 2/3 hours for years but about three months ago I was put on Bisoprolol (5mg) and it's definitely got worse. I get vivid dreams too. Most nights I sleep for maybe three hours then doze for three hours or so through a series of dreams.
Sometimes I think I'm awake but then realise I can't be, I'm dreaming. This morning I dreamt I was playing football and I kicked the wall......
It's all rather odd and rather tiring.
I don't know if that's down to the Bisoprolol though or because I'm a bit stressed over my health these days. Maybe it's a combination of both.
I'd be interested to hear what your cardiologist says.
Oh gosh it’s hard, the dreams are so vivid aren’t they, I don’t feel like I have been asleep even when I am.
It has such a knock on affect to every other part of your life. I did read online (a random NHS report) that a short course of melatonin can help put you back on track because the beta blockers stop the production of it but it’s only been in the last 15 years so I aren’t sure how progressive my cardiologist!
good morning picky yes unfortunately I am exactly the same as you, I have been on bisoprol years, but they have gradually been increased over the years , they put me up to 10mg but I asked to be reduced to 5 mg but I’m lucky to sleep beyond 2 am and the nightmare s are really bad.
Ah that’s awful, I bet you are dreading bedtime. Surely there must be an alternative? I can’t work full time, be a good mum and maintain a healthy marriage on zero sleep.
I am picking up virus after virus that’s just flooring me because I am so run down.
Has your cardiologist tried you on anything else? I’m a little worried it’s going to be a ‘you have to get on with it approach’
thankfully haven’t had the nightmares but I also have sleep issues now. Didn’t link to my Bisoprolol but perhaps it could be as I used to sleep easily.
I have been a bad sleeper for decades. I can go to sleep easily every night, but once I wake up, I struggle to get back to sleep!
This has got worse since OHS. I put it down to the "water tablets" as toilet visits needed 2-4 times nightly.
Since stopping most of the water tablets I was on, my sleep pattern is still very poor.
I had never considered Bisoprolol could be the cause! Got me thinking now!
Luckily I don't get nightmares or bad dreams often. I did in first few weeks after surgery though...and as others say it was hard to determine if asleep or awake. Went through some really severe PTSD initially!
Yes. They disrupt your melatonin production. If you've not settled after 3 years I imagine you're not going to and seeking an alternative is a good plan.
Hi, I take Bisoprolol, I don't have a good nights sleep. I started taking Sleep Aid (Herbal) It does help. Try deep breathing before you go to sleep. Have you thought about yoga classes. There's nothing worse than not getting a good night sleep.
Aah did it, thank you, I will have a look at that. I have been thinking about Yoga actually, I keep saying when I aren’t so tired but not sure that will ever be the case!
Ive been having baths with magnesium salts in before bed and listening to sleep stories but getting to sleep isn’t so much an issue, it’s staying asleep unfortunately.
Can't think straight. Tiredness overtakes. Exercise in bed. lie on your back. Scrunch your feet up, relax, scrunch you calf muscles then relax, hands then eyes. I think you might just go to sleep. Don't oversleep.🙂
My husband as well. Falls asleep easily but wakes up after a couple hours. Some nights he gets back to sleep and others not so much. Please let us know what your cardiologist says. His and his GP don’t have much to say 😕
Oh my goodness, okay I will, I think that’s what I am most worried about that they just say it’s one of those things. I can’t function so they have to think of something!
Hi all,I'm on bisoprolol too, I haven't slept properly for years, often I don't sleep at all, I can be trying to sleep for for ridiculous amount of time upto 10 hours off and on... It's exhausting I dread trying to sleep, even when I sleep it's about 2 or 3 hours. I have awful nightmares too, always angry, under extreme stress in the dreams and they seem real to me, so I wake up with bad headaches, this is most nights. I take statins too, I have cad and angina stable and unstable. Sometimes I think what would it be like to be off some of these drugs with the bad side effects, I mean, would I have a life then, would I sleep, try to control things with natural remedies, I do not see my doc or cardiologist anymore, say for about 3 years, I just carry on, tbh I can't be arsed with it all, iv got my gtn and been overnight in hosp a few times , it does feel like your just holding on, treading water, very tired to do anything much, the last conversation with the cardiologist was, as he stood up to show me out was, "right then, ok everythings golng alright, you have your medications," so that's that, so iv no idea if I'm worse or the same and that's it.... Don't even know what I expected, it started when I was mid fifties out of the blue, been rubbish since.
Aww Arty56, that’s awful. Could you ask to see your cardiologist again or ask to see a different one? It doesn’t sound like they are very supportive.
My dreams are very similar, everything would feel better with some sleep I am sure.
Having read everyone’s comments and reading similar threads on here I think I am going to ask if it’s possible to wean off them all together and see if I can manage.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Bisoprolol 
Coming off bisoprolol
Bisoprolol 
bisoprolol and mood
Bisoprolol withdrawal vent!
