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Scared :(

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marcy49900
marcy49900

Hi everyone... I'm new here today and fairly new to cardiovascular problems. I few months ago i started having irregular heart beats.  So after a visit to the ER and a referral to a cardioligist...  had some tests and was recently put on Bisoprolol 2.5 mg per day.  I should have started it a  month ago but im terrified of all the side effects i have found online about it. And i was so happy to find this discussion Forum...  however im even more terrified to take the Bisoprolol as it seems like there is not much good being said about it.  Sounds extremely bad to take sad  .  My cardioligist was first going to let me take 3 months for lifestyle changes...quitting smoking...walking etc.  ... but then somehow we agreed i will start the Bisoprolol.  My life was extremely stressful for the past 2 years prior to this arrythmia with episodes of bradycardia ... im fearing whats ahead once on this medication.  Im already tired all the time... and feel kinda depressed at my newest diagnosis.  ( im also diabetic type 2 ...  high blood pressure and high cholesterol... which are all in the normal ranges with my medications ) .   Any advice please?   Should i not even start it? Im afraid of the heart rate going to low... mine ranges up and down at times...  high 40's when its low.

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  • tonyrands
    tonyrands marcy49900

    Posted

    Hi, I hope my response will help a little. I have af and have been on bisoprolol for some time. I have had no adverse symptoms at all, but then I am not on any other medication, other than warfarin to prevent clotting. You haven't mentioned this at all, but I believe with any arrhythmia it is safest to take an anti clotting drug.

    However you appear to be on other medications which could interact with bisoprolol. I wouldn't know about that, but you may find it best to try to get off these if you can. You mention life style changes, possibly these could mean you don't need them to control your diabetes, as I believe type 2 responds to life style changes. In any case the point of bisoprolol is to control the maximum rate the heart can go to svoid possible arrest. I have a slow base heart rate, so am on a low dose to prevent it dropping too low. I hope this helps a liitle. There is a forum on the af society website which may also help.

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 tonyrands

      Posted

      Thank your tonyrands,,,  your post is reassuring with that you had no adverse syptoms at all.   I am on low dose daily aspirin to thin the blood... metformin for diabetes, perindopril erbumine (Coversyl) for blood pressure and Crestor for cholesterol.  All these meds in the last year.... Crestor being the shortest length of time at about 6 months.  It seems really frustrating to me that i got all my other numbers in control and normal range... this  arrythmia started.  blah  sad    Ihave made some lifestyle changes in the last year and have lost 30 pds... but still working on getting more exercize  and trying to cope with stress better.  Cutting fown on caffeine  as well.   Thank you or the info smile

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  • lesley1954
    lesley1954 marcy49900

    Posted

    Hi Marcy. I am on a shed full of medication and I also take bisoprolol for AF. I have multiple problems with my spine, Cervical Spondylosis and Spondylitis, which also affects my lumber spine.

    I am taking over 30 different lots of medication each day, and I have never had any problems with my bisoprolol, I am on 5mg each day.

    All the things that you have heard about this bisoprolol, are all negative. Try to find people who don't have problems with it. I am quite sure there must be a lot of people with positive comments.

    My mum is also taking 5mg daily and she has never had any problems.

    I hope this helps on wether you decide to take it.

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    • bob52204
      bob52204 lesley1954

      Posted

      That is true.

      Beta blockers aren't bad, that's true.

      I have try to find some infos on internet, it seems that 3 out 4 people don't have any problems with beta blockers (and only mild side effects), while 1 out of 4 people have strong side effects and have to quit the drug.

      So, Beta blockers surely aren't that bad.

      They are helping to a lot of people.

      Unless if you are among those 1/4 who have too strong side effects.

      Cheers

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 lesley1954

      Posted

      Thank you Lesley1954 ... again a reassuring post.  Ive had a fear of anything medical for 20 years... so this past year of seeing doctors multiple times and now being on 5 meds once i start the bisoprolol is just kinda scary for me... My daughter says i should not read up on side efffets of my meds and just try them lol  So far i have been good with the other meds.   Thanks again smile

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  • josephine32
    josephine32 marcy49900

    Posted

    Marcy - a trial on Bisoprolol will not harm you.  If you are advised to take it, then do so and if it makes you feel bad, then ask for an alternative.  Many people have been on this drug without any ill effects for years.  This forum is a discussion group for those who have experienced problems with it, so that you are generally not reading about those who are happy with it, but what we do have in common is that we have tried it.  

    However, do voice your concerns to your GP about low heart beat etc, so that he/she is fully aware.

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 josephine32

      Posted

      Thank you Josephine32  yes you are right...  i just got to get my nerve up and just take it.  I do have a blood pressure and heart rate machine i can continue testing with while on the meds right?  An my nurse wants to see me one week after starting it... and the cardioligist in April.
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  • bob52204
    bob52204 marcy49900

    Posted

    Can you get a 2nd opinion from another doctor?

    I started to have some short arrhytmia episodes a few years ago and I was very scared, of course.

    Docs gave me Beta blockers (Bisoprolol), and my life turned to hell on them (I have been taking it for 2 years). Then I tried to wean off (I didn't make it in the first attempt) and made it in the 2nd attempt (I had to wean off for 6 Months slowly).

    So, I am back at the beginning now., living without drugs.

    I still have some episodes, but currently I am trying to live without drugs since in my case a life without drugs and with some short episodes is less painful than living on Beta blockers and being a zombie who can't walk or do anything.

    Plus, a withdrawal is a pure hell and the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life.

    (But, for a lot of people Beta blockers are good, and people don't have any side effects. Each of us is different, remember that.)

    So, if possible, if your arrhytmia is not dangerous and life threatening, please, ask for a 2nd opinion (another doc) or try to live without drugs.

    You can also try drugs, but beware that if you won't like them, even after 1 Month of taking, you will have a minor withdrawal when you'll stop them, and during a withdrawal you will get much stronger episodes of your original arrhytmia.

    Also, Beta blockers are causing bradycardia.

    If you already have episodes of both arrhytmia and bradycardia, it could be tricky.

    Good luck

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    • josephine32
      josephine32 bob52204

      Posted

      Hi Bob

      You do seem to be one of the really unlucky ones to have some of the more extreme side effects from Bisoprolol, and I also found that I had no quality of life owing to the dreadful fatigue where I couldn't even walk a short distance.  If this drug is prescribed to others as we read here, then it is worth a try as they may be one of the lucky ones.  They may also be lucky to have no withdrawal if they stop taking it, as I did.  Although I have a pacemaker, it does not slow down a racing heartbeat (only speed up a slow one) and I know that if that started up, then I would have to take a medication to slow it down - I would obviously choose another alternative to Bisoprolol!  (My husband has been on this drug for at 5 mg for five years now without any ill effects).

      I don't think Bisoprolol would be so widely prescribed if it was professionally known to have the potentially dangerous side effects you describe here, which may well frighten off those who could benefit from it.  We are all on different steps of heart problems and it is impossible to forecast outcomes, but we have to remember that the majority of Bisoprolol takers are out there with no problems whatsoever.

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    • bob52204
      bob52204 josephine32

      Posted

      Oh yes, I agree.

      I didn't want to scare people and maybe I should post less bad things about Bisoprolol.

      I understand, when someone is reading this, it may sound as if every single people on Beta Blockers will feel like a zombie and will experience a horrible withdrawal after that.

      It is not like that, of course.

      I have posted somewhere else today that around of 75% people don't have any problems with Beta blockers.

      Only 25% people have side effects.

      So, of course, if your original disease needs a drug, of course that you should take a drug.

      Because taking a drug and having side effects is way better than to die or have some huge problems for not taking a drug.

      I just wanted to say to Marcy that in some cases people don't actually need drugs.

      When docs gave me BBs, they said: you can take it if you want, or you don't need to take them, it is up to you, how bad do you feel without drugs.

      But again, no one told me about side effects or a possible withdrawal problems. 

      So, if you need drugs, of course that you should take them.

      For example, if I will feel bad in the future or if my condition will get worse, I will also have to go back either to BBs or try some other similar drugs like Calcium channel blockers and similar.

      I don't feel good on them, but being alive and with some side effects is still way better than other options.

      Cheers

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 bob52204

      Posted

      Hi Bob...  well my nurse practionioner was my second opinion i guess....  she had concerns of going on it because of the few episodes of slow heart rate... she sent me back to the cardioligist to discuss it further with him... also advising me that he is the expert and to continue following his advice if he wants to keep me on it... which he did afte going thru all my tests again with me assuring me that the slow heart rate didnt occur often .  I think i will try it for a couple weeks atleast while monitoring my pulse etc at home   Thanks for the info  smile

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 bob52204

      Posted

      thank you for posting the pros and cons in terms of not everyone gets the bad side effects.  My cardioligist did originally tell me i could continue with 3 months of lifestyle changes as mentioned in previous post.. So i have added walking more often with a goal of 5 days a week or greater... also got myself back on vitamins... and taking magnesium and CoQ10 and a B complex stress vitamin... C and D and Omega 3 too.  I moved from a stressful situation as well... and cut down on caffeine.  Only about a week on the supplements... so we shall see if they help at all.
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  • catherine64618
    catherine64618 marcy49900

    Posted

    Hi love

    I'm on that, started on 2.5mg then twice a day and now this week I'm on the maximum dose. 10mg.

    I have no problems which is a miracle as I'm sensitive to medication. I am asthmatic but bisprolol doesn't effect it.

    I do have niggle effects such as going freeeeezing cold for 2 hrs after taking them. I was breathless the first 3 days starting them initially but not since.

    I have been more lethargic and losing weight is proving a battle but all in all I have nothing too bad to say about it. Xx

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    • marcy49900
      marcy49900 catherine64618

      Posted

      Thank you Catherine for your reply.  Seems like lethargy is a common effect of this med.  I guess that must be caused from the lowering of the heart rate.  I'll be watching my heart rate with my bp monitor ..  at least ill have that as a way of comparing the before and after effects of this med. Thanks again for the reassurance smile

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