MorningAfter having had clearance from the Cardiologist to reduce my Bisoprolol from 5mg x 2 / day to as low as I want I have been working with my GP to that end. The Cardiologist did say it would be a trade off between reduce the meds and an increase in palpations to a level I am prepared to tolerate.
Over a 5 month period we have reduced it to 1.25mg x 2 / day and yesterday nil!.
I have had minor palpitations but nothing more than normal.
Since last Weds / Thursday I have been struggling with a bad cold which carried on over the weekend and into yesterday. Similarly I also woke up at 2:30 am and after an hour of trying to get back off I eventually got up at 3:30am before going to work at 6:30 am.
When I came home from work and had my tea I checked my BP/ HR and it was 137/85 with a HR of 93. Later in the evening before going to bed around 9:30pm it was 137/88 with a HR of 88. I am unsure as to whether the increased HR was due to the cutback in Bisoprolol, lack of sleep, or the cold that I still have (or a mix of all three). To confirm my resting HR is normally 72 to 75
This morning I woke up at 4:45 am and checked my pulse to see if it had come down however it felt erratic. I then used my BP monitor just to check my HR and it was at 78 but the flutter symbol was on my BP monitor for my HR. I did this 3 times over a 15 min period with the same results although my BP went up due to me starting to panic. Please note that at this point I was led down in bed.
I went down stairs, immediately took a Flecainide and rightly or wrongly a Bisoprolol 1.25mg. This was just after 5 am.
By 5:07am my readings were HR69; at 5:15am HR68; 5:38am; HR64 and at 6:15am it is HR63 with no signs at all on the BP machine of a flutter / irregular heartbeat and ironically I have not felt any palpations all morning. The irregular HR this morning has spooked me to say the least. Plus my resting HR has dropped from 90 to 64 in less than 12 hours.
Not to sure whether we have taken a step to far or to quick coming off the Bisoprolol, or these are withdrawal symptoms that are naturally made worse by lack of sleep and the cold I have. That said it's the flutters first thing this morning that's put me in a bit of a spin even though they stopped once I got up (does Flecainide work in less than 10 mins?)
I cannot emphasise enough how normal (less fatigued) I have felt as the Bisoprolol has been reduced both mentally and physically but this episode this morning is certainly worrying (for me) and impacted on my confidence to "do things".
I am going to try and get hold of the GP to discuss but was wondering if anyone else has experienced similar events or could offer an explanation.
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Massa
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In my own experience, After a good heart stress test at the hospital in August the cardiologist suggested I could come off Bisoprolol. My GP finally agreed that I could stop them in November and I was delighted because I felt pretty groggy with zero energy, cold hands/feet but most annoying awful acid reflux. So I stopped what little dose I was on (1.25mg per day) 2 weeks ago.
At first I felt fabulous and was just about jumping for joy! I have much more energy and my HR improved from around 43 to between 55 to 60, however I noticed my BP had jumped considerably from being pretty low (between 110/60 to 120/70) until yesterday it peaked at 160/75. I could hear the blood rushing in my head and palpitations which I had not had before. More interestingly, and similar to your experience, I felt really down and rather anxious.
To say this freaked me out is an understatement - probably not helping the situation at all. However last night I could not sleep and felt panicky with all the odd sensations that that brings on, I finally took one of the Bisoprolol pills that I was so pleased to get off
The effect was not instantaneous but within an hour I was feeling better and much more “normal” and managed to sleep. This morning my BP is back at 111/71 and HR 55.
I recount all this to suggest that for me at least these pills seem to have some serious effects even on low doses. I am going away for 10 days so won’t get to speak to anyone at the GP surgery before then so my plan is to continue to take them for the next couple of weeks, as had been prescribed, then do battle with the GP clinical pharmacist again to see what his advice is.
I am very concerned to find a way to wean myself off the pills but don’t feel confident at present to carry on dealing with the withdrawal effects. Perhaps I need to come off a bit more slowly and taper the doses - that will need to be discussed with someone who has more knowledge than me
Hope your experience improves - seems this may be a rather more common issue than I thought
I think that if you come off bisoprolol your pulse and blood pressure willboth go up. You are also likely to experience greater anxiety in the short term. In your position I would avoid checking my pulse and BP so frequently. The fluctuations in the readings are likely to stoke up your anxiety which may exacerbate your condition.
Hi Popepaul, totally get egat you are saying especially my BP but the thing was this morning I checked my pulse with the finger on the wrist upon waking just to see if it had dropped from the 90's from the night before. The irregular beat was palpable so then I hooked up to my BP monitor which confirmed the flutter / irregular HR. Went downt stair popped a Flecainide and with 10 mins dropped into the 60' and normal. My BP was up as your rightly say I had got myself into a state but not sure about the cause of my HR being irregular, albeit 75 to 80, upon waking when I was relaxed
The process of waking up raises yor pulse. Eating a meal/digestion will raise yor pulse. Anxious thoughts can do the same, such thoughts can do this very quickly. You can definitely overthink these things. The removal of bisoprolol will bring about physiological change, it seems that your cardiologist does not think that this will induce structural changes (good news). Try mindfulness, yoga, box breathing etc.
Hello Massa, You are doing very well with the withdrawal. It's very encouraging to read your story and see someone who actually tapered down and has a heart rate below 100BPM.
I have struggled with Sinus Tachycardia and my heart rate is 130BPM. Have been on Propranolol for 2years and just can't come off it.
I believe you are on your recovery Journey and if you give your body enough time, it will adjust to not needing the medication anymore. Good luck to you. I am truly encouraged by your story.
My cardiologist said my heart would go up and down depending on what I'm doing but as long as when I sit down it settles then it's ok,my heart when going up stairs is 115 but settles,you seem to be taking heart rate a lot which will make you more anxious,its not the high number its the length of time it's up,take it gp or cardiologist know you're coming off them
Can you explain the taper into quarters every month ? I’m on 1.25mg bisoprolol and half a 1.25 tablet ramipril and told I could try stopping bisoprolol.
I've recently lost a bit if weight and reduced my Bisoprolol as per my cardiologist's advice but I feel so much better and a lot clearer headed. I have found the Bisoprolol the hardest tablet to get used to and to reduce as I felt I needed them but they made me feel 'different'. Good luck on your journey x
when I came off Bisoprorol my heartbeat was erratic and had chest pain on and off for just over 2 weeks. Bisoprorol caused my pulse to drop so low that it caused me chest pains and a visit to A/E where it was found I had raised troponin level. Bisoprorol doesn’t suit everyone. It is trial and error with medications to find what suits. Hope you get sorted out soon.
Hi Massa, your experiences meant a lot to me. I have just been told to experiment by leaving Biso out of my daily routine. Again I started to feel less tired, but I just didn’t feel quite right.
I have had a few things happening. My BP has at times been higher. My resting has been 114/61 and my heart rate 57/61 ish normally.
But stopping Biso for a day of two I have seen 170/95 Hr 90. Worrying for me.
My highest would be 149/70 normally.
Your experience makes me think my problems have been directly connected with Biso withdrawal.
I’m going to LHCH next week for tests and check over. I will discuss with them there.
Thank you for posting. I feel it’s not just me. I now know what to do. Good luck with yours. David
This is a personally interesting and timely thread. I had MI in January. Thankfully I returned to normal heart function (a huge relief, obviously). However, ever since I've been having (apparent) episodes of Afib which I never had before. These were always kicking off at night, normally in the early hours, and going on for 8-12 hours. Happening about every 2-3 weeks.
In discussion with an electrophysiologist, we discussed whether it was possible that the Biosprolol was possibly the problem: dropping my HR too low at night triggering Afib. It was decided that if it was confirmed as Afib then it could make sense to try coming off them. I then bought a Kardia Mobile ECG which confirmed Afib.
Unfortunately my next appointment is not till end of Feb (I'm really unhappy with 3+ month appt wait), so I decided to come off the Bios anyway. I'd have much rather discussed this with him before doing it. I was only on 1.25mg/day so have stopped it in one go. That was a bit under 2 weeks ago.
My BP is good. But...instead of stopping, I've been having (much) more frequent Afib. But they have been a bit different in terms of when they start and in not lasting as long. Also HR has generally been fluctuating much more - perhaps not surprising, but definitely going higher for less effort than it would have been pre-heart attack.
I'm interested in what has been said about taking it it once/every two days as a drop down regimen. My understanding was that it was out of your system pretty quickly hence since I was on the lowest I just stopped. Also, it was mentioned about doing half or qtr tablets: I would have no idea how you can really do that with Biosprolol as they are like micro dots to start with!
Has anyone else had experience of advice on coming off 1.25mg/day?
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