Side effects from Medication

[Usy1981]

Heart attack occurred Feb 2024. Stemi.left artery fully blocked. Stent placed. Lansaprazole Ticagrelor Bisoprolol Ramapril Aspirin Astorvastatin Since leaving hospital side effects dizziness blurry eyes vertigo.

Being going round in circles to identify what causing it. Dr refer back to cardiology. Went on lower dose of Bisoprolol no change. Lower dose of statin 40mg no change.

When I came of ramapril 1.25mg 10th May massive difference dizziness vertigo went and blurry vision remained which has also improved but not completely resolved. However this week 29th May vertigo feeling in my head has started and visual disturbances started again. I have now been told to stop Bisoprolol for a week to see if that helps and then another review will be done next week.

Anyone else had any similar issues or can help resolve this quicker then the Doc or Cardiology Team

Many Thanks

[baly_2023]

Hi there, it's probably the combination of the ramipril and bisoprolol.

A lot of people including me get moments of feeling spaced out, light headed, dizzy when on these.

I take my bisoprolol in the morning and ramipril before I go to bed as it helps reduce the double whammy effect.

I do hate these two medicines as its a horrible feeling when they cause that dizziness but I'm learning to cope with it and hoping in a year or twos time I can reduce the dosage.

[Usy1981 in reply to baly_2023]

Hey Baly thanks for getting back to me I did try this but to no avail. I think the plan is to keep me of ramapril and bisoprolol for a week and see if these helps then find alternative medications. It's just been really difficult to do anything.

[DWizza]

Hi , had issues with my statins causing me all sorts of pains, dizziness, fatigue ….. Artovastatin 80mg was stopped for a month and I felt fantastic. Tried Pravastatin and that started giving similar effects after a week. Now on 10mg Rosuvastatin with a view to increasing if needed (after cholesterol tests) to a tolerable level . Also on bisoprolol 1.25mg , half a 1.25mg tablet Ramipril, clopidogrel , pantaprazole, aspirin.

Also , I was told o was pre diabetic when on artovastatin! That reading is now normal , I was absolutely shocked as was my GP when the pre diabetic result came back. Gp said I would have had to have put on a shed load of weight to become pre diabetic, I had lost weight post quadruple bypass and turned into “food police “ 🤣.. no sugary stuff , (not even ketchup etc) no UPFs, make my own breads ..

[Usy1981 in reply to DWizza]

Thanks DWizza for your reply they have reduced my statin to 40mg but don't believe it is that. I do feel tired alot so this is the culprit. That's crazy how you was told your pre diabetic not really news you want to hear after everything else that is going on with your body.

[Stressd]

That’s the unfortunate problem with suddenly getting a stack of meds to take, you don’t know which one is causing the bad effects.

I haven’t had those issues, only slight and occasional light headedness, which I understand is a bisoprolol side effect. My problem ones were ramipril (the ramipril cough) and any statin (no strength / tiredness).

If I was you I’d stop all of them except bisoprolol, and just take that for 3 weeks. Then if you’re ok, start the next one and take the two for 3 weeks, and so on until you find the culprit. You’ve got your stent, so likely nothing will go wrong in the short term, so you have time to get your meds sorted.

[Usy1981 in reply to Stressd]

Hi Stressd thanks for the reply. I am working now with the cardio pharmacist to find out what is the culprit she believes it ramapril and bisoprolol which I have now stopped so let's see if this improves. But I heard once you stop taking a beta blocker like bisoprolol it causes issues too.

[nicknack999]

the meds really are tricky to get sorted. rampiril and bisoprolol were biggest culprits for me. I split the rampiril doses to 2.5mg in morning and 5mg in evening and moved single dose bisoprolol to evening and now side effects have largely gone. took nearly 5 months to get the meds and side effects sorted. hang in there

[Usy1981 in reply to nicknack999]

NickNack thanks brother been hanging on there it's approaching 4 months now but it's more positive now as the cardio pharmacist is involved now and not the GP. Shes liaising with me and the consultant for now I have stopped bisoprolol for a week with her advice and remain of ramapril too hoping this works and then alternative medications will be given. Furthermore another positive is finding this site and every one seems nice.

[nicknack999 in reply to Usy1981]

yes, people on here are great- and many don't even realise it. they've helped me a lot just reading about their experiences to help me understand mine! best of luck

[cotonh]

In March when my husband was discharged from hospital he was taking Atorvastatin and Bisoprolol. He was up for breakfast, walking short distances and seemed to be improving each day. He was referred to the cardiac nurse who, as we had been told at discharge, has been introducing other medications asprin, dapagliflozin, fusosemide, sodium chloride (one of the few people with low sodium) ramipril and eplerenone. He now suffers with extreme tiredness, low blood pressure, slow heart rate etc. and he has blacked out twice from the low blood pressure causing him to loose confidence in going out. He stopped eplerenone and ramipril but then the dose of bisoprolol was doubled. We had not though the Atorvastatin could be the trouble maker. Will see if we can have a period without that at some point.

It is so hard to stick with it in order to find what particular combination of the '4 pillars' medication is best and what dosage of each is appropriate. See the Pumping Marvellous website for information about 4 pillars if you don't already know. He is waiting for a by-pass operation so we are assuming everything will change after that and we will need to go through this tedious and often not rewarding procedure again. Not an easy time.

Keep us informed with how it goes and what finally works for you.

[Usy1981 in reply to cotonh]

Thanks for the reply sorry your husband has gone through this I hope he finds a solution soon too. Thank you for the information about that website wasn't aware of that so will check it out.

[topbook]

I've experienced the same ever since day one when I had stents implanted after my heart attack. I felt lightheaded and dizzy on and off. This has been on going only getting worse over the 4 months since the procedure. I didn't realised what it was at first until I bought a new blood pressure monitor which flagged up irregular heartbeats. I've stopped and started all the meds along with the doc giving me alternatives trying to find the cause. Rimipril can push up your potassium which can lead to IRHBs but I stopped it for a bit and they still came. I have recently had a 24 hour heartbeat monitor placed and are waiting for the results.

[Usy1981 in reply to topbook]

Thanks for the reply topbook. I dnt think I have regular heartbeats I have a watch with my heartbeat always visible it's always consistent. I do feel mine is medicine related. Not sure if you take ticagrelor but that has these side effects too. Hope they find the solution for you soon it's frustrating

[theolo]

Have you checked your heart rate with a reliable device?

[Usy1981 in reply to theolo]

I do have a polar ignite fitness watch which I believe to be reliable.

[theolo in reply to Usy1981]

I’ve got 2 fitness watches and neither are particularly accurate as regards heart rate, I think they’re only classified as a guide and not to be relied on. I used to be a runner so I knew they weren’t accurate when getting similar readings for fast and medium pace runs

[Usy1981 in reply to theolo]

So what would you suggest I do have the polor arm heart monitor is that better

[theolo]

I would try them both, and if you get the same readings then they’re probably accurate, then take it from there.

[Usy1981]

Theolo tested this with both and basically very similar the readings were.