Beta blocker/Bisoprolol withdrawal and breathlessness
Posted , 116 users are following.
Hi. I am 43 yrs old and have been on beta blockers (initially metoprolol and then bisoprolol) for svt the last ten years. I had an ablation which went wrong and I ended up on higher doses of beta blocker after that (8yrs ago). They added in flecainide a year ago as they wanted to drop my bisoprolol down becacause I was still having daily runs and my BP was a bit on the low side. I have managed to drop the dose down to 1.25 bd over the last few months. Then 4 weeks ago, I started to have awful episodes of ?different kind of arrhythmia where i would feel very faint and shaky and it would last for a few minutes. Because they then wondered if I was having a ventricular arrhythmia, they stopped the flecainide and halved my bisprolol. However a week ago I had a couple of prolonged svt episodes so they stopped my beta blocker altogether and started me onto something new dronaderone (like amiodarone with less side effects). I was relieved at the thought of finally being off the beta blocker once and for all but all week I have steadily been feeling worse and worse. I know that there is likely to be a withdrawl period but it's been a week now and I can honestly say that I'm more breathless today than I've ever been. Even just sitting at rest. I can't talk or eat without stopping for breath all the time and I have never felt so unwell in all my life. I am aware that I can get marked postural tachycardia and if I so much as walk slowly to another room my rate climbs from 75 to 120 in seconds. Has anyone else experienced such marked side effects after stopping bisoprolol or another beta blocker? I would really appreciate any thoughts. R
5 likes, 426 replies
stan71696 rachel1511
Posted
This discussion has been super helpful. I've been taking 2.5 mg Bisoprolol daily for about 9 months and started getting off about 3 weeks ago. My doctor told me I didn't need to taper much because my dosage was so low. He said 3 days at 1.25 mg should be enough. I was mostly OK after during the first week of withdrawal but then symptoms described in this thread had hit me hard - rapid heartbeat, feeling lack of air, some nausea, chest tighness, palpitations. Fortunately I read this discussion before and knew what to expect. Still one particularly bad night I considered going to emergency.
3 weeks after getting off I feel much better. Palpitations are mostly gone and I have way more energy toward end of each day. However when I try to go running, my heart rate is still quite a rollercoster and that causes a lot of anxiety. This isn't something completely new. I've had these sudden sharp increases and drops of HR by 30-40 bpm when running before. That was one of the reason I was put on Bisoprolol in the first place. When I was on Bisoprolol I still had these occasional spikes but they didn't completely prevent me from running. Now 3 weeks after getting off, running is nearly impossible. HR might go up from 110-120 to 150-160 instantly on almost no effort and then drop down as sharply when I stop running, then go up again, and down again. It is very frustrating. I wonder if there are any runners or people who excercise reading this discussion and if you've experienced something like this and if that is supposed to get better with more time off beta blocker.
bob52204 stan71696
Posted
Hi, Stan
About running, when I have quit BBs, I had a too high heart rate much longer, so I didn't even think about running.
I was happy just to be able to walk every day.
And each new day I would try to walk longer and longer and after a few weeks: faster and faster.
Imo, you are not done yet with a withdrawal and docs say to avoid a strenous physical activity during a withdrawal because you can get a heart attack.
Imo, maybe you should start with walking.
Go out and walk 30, 45, 60 minutes each day.
If you will be fine, try to walk more and more and faster and faster. After a few weeks, when you will be completely fine after 60 minutes of fast walking, you can try to run again.
Beta Blockers mess with our heart, brain, lungs, blood circulation, levels of oxygen and food in our organs and over the whole body.
Your heart is still in a mess, blood vessels alos, lungs are working at 50-80% probably due to Months on Beta blockers, your organs have been getting lower levels of blood and oxygen for Months.
It will take a few Months until your body will be normal again.
So, imo, please, slow down your excercise.
Try to walk a lot, and do some stretching excercises at home for the beginning.
And if you are so desperate about running, then start with: 30 minutes of walking and 2 minutes of running on a day 1.
Then 30 minutes of walking and 5 minutes ot running after a few days etc.
Don't run right away, give your body a chance to readjust (to walking, for the beginning).
Even though you think that you are fine, your blood vessels are still under the effects of Beta blockers and your body surely hasn't relearned yet how to live and run under these new circumstances.
So, do it slowly and give it some time.
Good luck
stan71696 bob52204
Posted
Hi Bob,
Thank you for your reply! I've been running at least 10-15 miles per week through entire time I was on Bisoprolol. I am walking a good amount every day, usually at least 10000 steps and it feels like doing other activity is generally OK. Even when I attempt to run if I didn't look at HR monitor I probably wouldn't know there was a problem. According to what my doctors said me structurally my heart and vessels are in great shape. I was running ultra-marathons before I got ill. It seems it is "electrical system" that gets over-excited and fires prematurely, and adrenaline overload is probably the culprit. To make things worse my thyroid system is under-active and that might be another reason for the body to try to compensate lack of energy with releasing more adrenaline. It feels like physically I am capable to run but my nervous system "thinks" otherwise.
But you are completely right that I still should take it slow and increase the load very gradually. I need to calm down my nervous system so that it stops releasing so much adrenaline.
cathrine50028 stan71696
Posted
Hi: Bike riding for me is okay, but weight lifting is not. My palpitations get really bad when I lift. I just started 2.5 mgs. of Apo-bispropolol and don't care if I stay on this drug for the rest of my life (I am 61) although the posts here TERRIFY me and the reason why I didn't take the drug for a year!! My horrible palpitations have gone donw from 10 a day (not including the little ones) to 4 thus far today...and they don't last as long and aren't as bad...however, the anxiety they cause is still there...I find no issue with breathing although my dreams are pretty crazy and vivid. LOL! You say you feel better off the meds. How do you know when to stop...? when you will feel better not taking the med? Will my breathing be affected if I take this drug for a longer period of time? I get so scared reading all these posts...and confused...Thank you!
kim1968 rachel1511
Edited
Hi Rachel,
I stopped my beta blocker about 8 weeks ago. I'm still having bouts of anxiety and hot flashes from time to time and this was not my normal before beta blockers. How long did it take for you to feel normal again? Thank you for your help.
bob52204 kim1968
Posted
I needed 3 Months, but I have weaned off for a few Months before that and I was taking only "dust" for the last 3-4 Months and yet I still had problems for 2-3 Months after quitting those tiny amounts of dust.
So, when you sum everything, it was a 6-7-8-9 Months of a withdrawal and axiety for me (in total).
From what I have read on internet, some people are good after 2 weeks, some need 2 Months, some need 6 Months and some suffer even longer.
But for majority, it gets better and better each new week.
But let's say say that majority of people start to feel better between 2 and 6 Months.
Also, you will have some shorter episodes of tachycardia or anxiety even after 1-2-3 years, but then you will know what is happening and it will be easy to calm down yourself and "kill" the attack right away.
cathrine50028 kim1968
Posted
kim1968 cathrine50028
Posted
Because the beta blocker increased my PACs from 3900 to 10,900 daily. Now that I'm off the beta blocker I'm back in perfect sinus rhythm. My body didn't take the medicines well but now I'm left with a lot of anxiety and panic attacks for no reason.
bob52204 kim1968
Edited
I am 6 Months off Beta blockers now, and anxiety is gone.
Not 100%, but let's say 90%.
I am still slightly more nervous than before Beta blockers and I do get upset or scared easier than before Beta blockers.
But again, even today, anxiety and being scared is 10 times better than 3-4 Months ago, so it will probably slowly go off completely in the next months or years.
About anxiety, you can try low doses of Valium for a short period of time as a part of Beta blockers withdrawal.
Or also, try to find on internet some natural ways to cure the anxiety like some teas, food, meditation and similar.
It may help to some extent.
But the only thing you need to heal the current rebound/withdrawal anxiety is=time.
Good luck
peter01729 rachel1511
Posted
I was put on Bisoprolol at the beginning of this year. Right away I started telling people "it feels as if my lungs arn't working", "I feel like a drunk Zombie", "I have been turned into an old man overnight".
By February 9th I was on verge of collapse at work, the nurse called an ambulance as she could hardly detect my normally strong pulse, even after the nurse had been giving me oxygen, the ambulance crew found my pulse to be 40bpm. My work also told me as a result that they didnt want me back until I was better. I live alone so followed many weeks of depressing isolation.
Now I had been due to give up the Bisoprolol completely cold-turkey on the advice of St THomas' Hospital in a few days anyway as I was to have an EP study with a Catheter ablation if they found the cause.
By the fourth day however, I got such a long session of sustatained Ventriculat Tachycardia, (not sustained SVT but sustained VT), that an ambulance rushed me to St Georges hospital. Unfortunately, they gave me dosages of Bisoprolol four times higher than my normal dose, even the following day when they sent me home, even when I told them I had to have it out of my system for the EP study three days later.
So I then went cold-turkey yet again, but didnt have enough time to get it out of my system so the EP study coudnt bring on my VTs and so they failed to find what is causing my arrhythmias..
Due to my intolerance of Bisoprolol, they now put me on Sotalol, this immediately gave me a terrible cough so after a few sleepless days my GP told me to stop taking this Beta-Blocker, another cold turkey.
My VTs became a daily event as I waited for my Reveal Linq monitor to relay the information my cardiologists required but then I had a 12 hour period of VT that was just getting worst and worst so had to call an ambulance so found myself in St Georges again for five days, this time however, they didnt fill me with more beta-blockers so were able to successfully map and ablate my heart.
I then went home to find the parents I tolerate from a very great distance had prepared a welcome home present by getting the Police to smash my front door in, my Suicide note read "Thanks mum, if only you had shown as much concern when I was a little boy and needed you". Unfortunately I was found though in a state of seizuring and vomiting.
I dont know how much of my decision to escape this horrible life was influenced by the way Bisoprolol still makes me feel like a drunk zombie, as if I am in a dream, or that the stress was out of proportion as a result of beta blocker sudden withdrawel, but I can report that even after a month off them, my lungs still dont work, I have to pause mid sentance to take a few breaths, it is especialy bad when I bend over, my feet and ankles are swollen now even when lying down.
Prior to beta-blockers I was rather healthy.
peter01729
Posted
bob52204 peter01729
Posted
Peter, that's from beta blockers, majority of your problems.
I was taking only 1,25 Mg of Bisoprolol for a year and a half and I needed to wean off for 8 Months to get to 0 Mgs.
And even after that, I felt bad for one more additional Month.
So, I felt bad for 9 Months in a row weaning off from 1,25 to 0,0 Mg.
I am feeling better now.
About feeling breathless, needing a breath, inability to walk, anxiety and everything, that's a withdrawal.
I tried to quit cold turkey in the past and ended at ER twice.
This is why I weaned off in a slow way in my 2nd attempt.
Today, I am back to a level of how I felt before drugs.
I do still have my original disease, but I can live a normal life now, without side effects from a drug and anxiety from a withdrawal is now at 10-20% how it has been a few Months ago.
cathrine50028 rachel1511
Posted
Hi: You say your ablation went wrong...can that actually happen that something goes wrong? I have HORRIBLE palpitations and just started taking 2.5 mg of apo-bispropolol but I am still getting palps....I was supposed to take 5 mg, but I am reading that people tend to have breathing problems and negative side effects with 5 mg's, so I am scared to take a higher dose. Doc mentioned ablation to me. Do you have any advice? I am 61 years old, female. Thank you!
peter01729 cathrine50028
Posted
https://patient.info/doctor/ablation-therapy-for-arrhythmias
peter01729 rachel1511
Edited
Whats mad is the way Doctors refuse to consider that there is any blame to be attached to their wonderful drugs that I suspect they must be getting paid for prescribing.
I saw a cardiologist last Thursday, I told him the problems I was having, that it feels as if my lungs are not working, that I have developed Asthma, that I have to stop speaking in order to take some air, that I have this dry irritating cough, all since the day I strate Beta-blockers and still hear though I have been off then for five weeks now. I also told him about the doizens and dozens of people here on this forum that describe exactly the same thing.
I would describe his responce as controlled anger where he blamed me for blaming the Beta-blockers first when they should be the last thing to consider, (?), He suggested there must be something else wrong with my lungs that I should get my GP to check, he even suggested I might have cancer!
He looked up the half life of Bisoprolol and it was something like 12 hours, I guess he doesnt know how half life measuring works, ie, it doesnt mean its all gone by 24 hours, it means it halves every12 hours,
In the end I did put it to him that if say somebody had such mild asthma that they didnt even know they had it, could Bisoprolol trigger the asthma so that it becomes full blown even when the beta-blockers were gone, he thought about it then said "yes".
bob52204 peter01729
Edited
I wrote before, I had similar problems.
Breathing probloems were my main side effect on Beta blockers (and getting tired after 5 minutes of walking due to inability to breathe).
My problem was that my lungs and brain felt as if they were sleeping and not functioning properly all the time.
I would start walking, my HR would be at 80-90, I would walk at a normal or faster pace and my lungs wouldn't breathe at all.
A feeling as when you are holding your breath.
As if brain and central nervous system isn't sending signals to lungs to breathe, as if something gone wrong in that automatic mechanism due to drugs.
And I would walk and said to myself: wtf is this? I am walking and walking and walking and my heart is beating faster and faster, but my lungs are dead, they take like 3-4 breaths per minute (while something like 12-15 breaths per minute is normal).
I never had problems with "broken breathing system" before Beta blockers.
I have quit BBs, I am 5 Months off now, I am feeling much better, but not at 100% yet. On some days I am completely fine and on some days I still have mild breathing problems (lungs won't breathe) and it is harder to walk on those days.
While on was on BBs, my doc also sent me to 100s of test to determine what is wrong with my lungs.
All tests were negative, everything was normal with my lungs.
When I have quit BBs, problems decreased (suprise, surprise).
In my case, my doc believes me now that Beta blockers don't suit me and that they were causing more damage than good in my case.
But as you can read here, majority of docs don't know too much about side effects and they will often get angry if you'll imply that BBs could have caused your problems.
This is why I am listening now both to docs, but also to other patients who have been through the same, plus my own body.
You will be closer to a truth when you'll mix all of these experiences and opinions, and not ONLY what docs say.
manadana84993 bob52204
Posted
Hi , I was prescribed bisoprolol 2 years ago at the same time as other major event were taking place in my life. I went through all the symptoms you have described. At first I could not see the connection between my symptoms and to the Bisoprolol. When I did, I just stopped taking the medication which, as I have been told, is not a good way to stop. All the negative symptoms got 10 times stronger. By chance I started taking Magnisium glycinate . At first I was taking an overdose of magnisium, 800-900mg. Magnisium relaxes your muscles. It is harmless. The worst that can happen to you if you take too much Magnisium Oxide is that you can get diarrhea. Another Doctor emphasized the risks of stopping the way I had done. She also advised me to take Ubiquinal co enzyme Q10 and L- Carnitine. I had already stopped and Magnisium was helping. I added Co Q10 and L carnitine. My HR became and my breathlessness became manageable. After awhile I cut down magnisium to 600-650. Now I am taking 400. When my Ubiqinal Co Q10 finished and I did not replace it immediately, I felt a difference. So I am continuing with all three. I am not back to the" before ". But I am much better. I exercise. I can walk for an hour and a half without any problem.
I took a risk by quitting bb. I am not a doctor and I am not advising any one to do the same. But a little reasearch research about magnisium glycinate , Co Q10 and L-carnitine may shed light on the subject.
good luck
kimberly40084 bob52204
Posted
I went to the hospital for a panic attack and they put me on a beta blocker 5mg just that day! And after the second day i started getting horrible symptoms! Tight neck and chest! Arms feel swollen, strong headaches, dizziness, feel like my body isnt here, depressed, when will all this go away? :'( I feel like I have no life
bob52204 kimberly40084
Posted
Hi. If you have took only 1 dose of a drug and you are not taking it anymore, you will be fine in 1-2-3 days.
But, since you already had a panic attack (anxiety problems), you currently maybe have a combination of your original anxiety issues with some side effects from a Beta blocker.
Something like:
1. you are already somewhat anxious for some other reason
2. they gave you a Beta blocker to lower anxiety/tachycardia
3. Beta blocker caused some unpleasant side effects
4. due to Beta blocker's side effects, you are now even more scared and concerned and now you have:
1) Your original anxiety
2) then fears beacuse you have suffered a panic attack and going to ER a few days ago
3) plus some additional anxiety due to being scared of side effects of a Beta Blocker.
So, a single dose of a Beta blocker will be out of your body in 2-3 days.
After a few days, if you will still have some issues, those will probably be your original anxiety issues and memories of your recent panic attack.
Good luck
bob52204 manadana84993
Posted
About quitting cold turkey, how long are you off Beta blockers now?
It seems that the worst period of a withdrawal is gone for you and you should be fine now.
sunni72385 bob52204
Posted
I am off now for 3 weeks, had an abLtion which apparently left he couldn't get all my pvcs so now on calcium channel blockers which is causing breathlessness and headaches which I didn't have on beta. Blockers so not sure what to do at this point