Delay taking Bisoprolol after a long haul flight

[imarcq]

I've been on Bisoprolol 2.5mg for about two years because of palpitations, ectopic beats. Generally works well, but struggles in hot weather.

I just did a 24 hour long haul flight from Sydney to London for a month holiday.

I normally take at 9am. But because of travelling I delayed my dose by a couple of hours as the time zone in UK meant I had to take at midnight! By 2am I woke with return of bad symptoms. Took the Bisoprolol and it calmed it down in about 30-60 mins. So I'm guessing the time zone delay and post flight body stresses combined together.

However now I'm here for a month I need to get my dose back to 9am UK time. How do you safely adjust for this? I was shocked that just a couple of hours variation causes a return of quite significant symptoms.

[Anothernewbie]

If two hours causes problems, have you tried an hour a day?

[devonian186]

If bisoprolol means you struggle in hot weather then coming to a cooler country should help.

The body undertakes a lot of stress during a long flight and the time change and change in your routine means it might be useful to get your blood pressure checked as that is one of the main reasons for taking this particular medication. Any large high street chemist is likely to have an appropriate machine.

I wouldn't expect a change of a couple of hours in taking the medication to have a huge impact. It is likely much more humid here than in Sydney which means the heart has to work harder and together with the stress on your body through the journey it might mean you just need to take it easy for a few days.

Assuming all is normal with BP the trained pharmacist behind the counter might be able to give you some insights.

[nextadventure]

It's easiest to continue taking the bisoprolol at 24 hourly intervals while you are travelling (set an alarm for 24 hours ahead repeatedly until you get home), then gradually adjust the timing back once you are home. At that stage, change by very few hours at a time, erring on the side of less than 24 hours between doses, until you are back to 9am (because you are on a relatively low dose and obviously sensitive to reductions in medication). Of course, you may decide to take your dose longer term at a slightly different time in the morning, if it suits you better - in which case, this would be a good opportunity to make the change. Enjoy your flight home!

[TedSpaniel]

I delayed taking mine going to California in August. I went straight to taking it as normal in the morning breakfast time. First day I felt absolutely terrible but it settled within 24 hrs. Coming back again I went straight to breakfast time, jet lag was the worse ever, took literally days to settle. We did speak to the pharmacist before going and he was on about taking at U.K. time, but that would have mentioned staggering meds through out the day which was too much. May of been silly but I was ok.

[fishonabike]

you could find a pharmacy and ask the pharmacist's advice

[Redbass]

Hello , I cant be much help but I completly understand your worry . I went to China and just adjusted as best I could with recommendation from Consultant who didnt seem too worried .I take bisoprolol in the morning and the blood thinner at night. I guess that Sydney is twice as far...Are you on a blood thinner too? Can you just keep going with having it every 24 hrs or so ..what ever time that maybe?

Hope you can have a wonderful time.

[Spanielrunner]

There is a 9 hour time difference between Sydney and the UK. If you usually take your meds at 9am UK time take your meds in Sydney at 6pm- just allow for the time difference wherever you are. Then when you get home there’s no time shuffle. That’s what I would do anyway.

[Jedi14]

Were you carrying the GTN spray with you and were there any problems at airports?