Beta blocker/Bisoprolol withdrawal and breathlessness

I'd love to hear from everyone, but please those who have healed come back and post how you're feeling and how did you know when you started to know you were gonna be alright.

Hi Islybot

I can only speak about what worked for me.

Having a very good "GP- Doctor" with lots of wisdom

A very good cardiologist

Regular excersice, to work stress and anxiety out of my system.

In the begining of my "palpatations-journey" I also saw a psycologist and psychiatrist for a while because I had to sort out what was my heart and what was my head!!!, sometimes I thought it was my heart but it was my head.

I have developed my own "thoughtarrest technique" you can google it, to think straight about what I am thinking about my heart.

I also pray a lot.

Hi

I am healed now. I am 7-8 Months off drugs. Anxiety is fine, I am let's say 95% fine. 

Still not 100% perfect, but I can live almost a completely normal life now, do everything I want.

I have even started to slowly watch horror and sci fi movies again (I wasn't able to watch them during a withdrawal).

But I was weaning off for almost 8 Months slowly, and I felt horrible during those 8 Months, more or less all the time (fast heart rate, being breathless, nausea, lots of anxiety).

When I have quit completely, I felt bad for around additional 2-3 Months and after that it started to get way better.

I have wrote in some other posts, withdrawal didn't kicked me right away.

My advice which can make you mentally stronger, try to write a diary, like this:

Week 4: heart rate while resting 98. Dizziness 8/10. Nausea 7/10. Breathless 10/10. Anxiety 10/10.

Week 5: heart rate while resting 96. Dizziness 6/10. Nausea 6/10. Breathless 8/10. Anxiety 10/10.

Week 6: heart rate while resting 92. Dizziness gone. Nausea gone. Breathless 5/10. Anxiety 9/10.

Week 7: heart rate while resting 88. Dizziness gone. Nausea gone. Breathless 5/10. Anxiety 7/10.

Week 8: heart rate while resting 85. Anxiety 7/10.

Or, you can write:

Day 28: xxx,

Day 29: xxx,

Day 30: xxx.

So, when you will feel bad and sad, you should just take your diary and check your progress. Then you will see that you are much better now than you were in weeks 2 or 3 (for example).

And you will be able to tell to yourself: ok, I see, it is slowly getting better. It was much worse 4 weeks ago.

It is hard to tell whether you will be fine after 8 or after 20 weeks.

Each person is different.

But it will get better and better each new week (even though, some bad days will always pop up even in a week 10 or 20).

Withdrawal often goes up and down for Months.

Bob thank. I created a spreadsheet today to keep track of symptoms.

I like that you said symptoms would go up and down. There have been a few days where I started feeling so much better than Bam... symptoms would rise up again.  Is this how you felt?

At what month did a light bulb go on for you and you started thinkng you were over the hump and you thought you got over the bigges part of it?

The weird thing is I'm just starting to get the fast heart rate when I'm moving from room to room. I wasn't get that at all till just recent.

Yes. Majority of people feel that way (up and down for Months).

I still have some bad days even after 7 Months, but they are mild compared to days in first Months.

For example, HR jumping from 75 to 85 for no reason while resting for 10-30 minutes.

So, it is not a huge jump (from 75 to 85). In the past it was from 75 to 95-100.

But, you still feel that a slight withdrawal is kicking you from time to time.

It is hard to compare when I started to feel better because I was weaning off for 7-8 Months and when I have finally quit, I have been taking only "dust" for the last few weeks.

So, I didn't have a true withdrawal when I have finally quit (except a few weeks with mild elevated HR).

I had a long withdrawal during those 7-8 Months while I was weaning off to 0,00 Mg.

About your case, if you are starting to feel new things about heart rate, it means that Bisoprolol is finally starting to lose it's strength.

We'll see what will happen with your HR. And whether it will stay normal or will you resting HR jump to 90-100-110 and similar.

So, you just started to experience a HR jump.

Plus, you still need to quit a drug completely.

So, it is hard to tell when will you start to feel better since a true withdrawal (0,0 Mg) hasn't even started yet.

But, write things in that diary each day (write all symptoms and try to give them a grade from 1 to 10) and you will be able to see how you body and your state is changing each new week.

Heart rate will jump at first, and when it will start to go down, that will mean that your heart is getting better and that a withdrawal is nearing to an end.

The 2nd strongest side effect is anxiety. When anxiety will start to get better, you will also know that a withdrawal is nearing to an end.

Hi Bob, I wasn't on Bisopropol but another beta blocker (labetalol) .. and I've been off for close to 7 weeks.

Hmm interesting about the drug losing weakness if a new symptom like HR is changing...  Never considered that. 

Also my anxiety, though not turning into panic, has also turned up a notch.  Oh the joys of withdrawal.

There have been some things that have gotten better, like my breathing.  Before it felt like I my lungs stopped working and I had to force a breath in.  Now, sometimes, I just feel like I'm shot of breath.  Which is much better.

At the moment, my biggest complaint is just over all weakness, particularly in the legs.  I feel like I'm walking through mud.

So how long, after you took your last dose did you start to feel better?

 

My understanding  is  that you are still taking ( and have been taking after you quit labetalol) some other bp meds, right? If so, you can expect some other "surprises" from the new meds. If you are taking them, there is really no telling where its the old beta blocker, the new meds or your body is trying to recalibrate.

By the way, my breathing has gotten much better too and it seems like there's better tolerance toward the heat now. So there's light at the end of the tunnel.....

 

Oh, sorry.

I am following a few topics daily and I confused you with another poster who is still weaning off from high doses of Bisoprolol.

So, sorry.

If you are off Beta blockers for 7 weeks, that is awesome.

I tried to wean off from BBs 2 times.

First time, I weaned off fast (only 2 Months) from 1,80Mg of Bisoprolol to 0,0.

This is how my withdrawal looked like back then:

1st week: absolutely nothing. Everything the same as on drugs

2nd week: after 10 days, I started to feel ill, started to have some strange pain in all muscles in abdomen, some tightness in all muscles

Around day 15, my blood pressure jumped to 150 (which is not much), but my BP was 120-125 before Beta blockers (I was taking them for one type of arrhythmia) and BP was 90-100 on Beta Blockers.

So, when if jumped from 100 to 150, I felt weird in those days.

BP calmed down after 3-4 days, and went to 130.

Week 3: I still felt ill. No anxiety, no elevated HR. Just a feeling as if I have a some strange flu and pain in all body.

Week 4: the same

Then around a day 28-30: my resting HR just jumped one morning from a resting HR 70-75 to 100.

I was in the store and started to feel strange (I never had a high resting HR in my life). When I came home, I measured my HR and it was around 110.

I went to bed, but it stayed around 95-100 all day long and when I had to get up, go to a toilet and similar, I had breathing problems, some pain in abdomen, strange heart rhythms and a HR would jump to 130. It was so difficult to walk even a few steps and to breathe.

I thought that I will die if I had to make 2-3 steps more.

It lasted 3-4 days, and then on a 5th day, I felt normal, with a HR around 80.

I thought that I am fine now.

I felt good for 2-3 days and I was so happy, and then, after a few days: Bang. HR 100 while resting returned.

Then it lasted 3-4 days again and went to normal again for a few days.

Then it went to 95 (slightly lower, as you see).

And it would go that way (up and down) for a few days for weeks. BUT, the symptoms were milder during new episodes.

For example:

Week 5: resting HR 100, HR while walking 130. It lasted 4 days

Then feeling good for 2-3 days.

Week 6: resting HR 98, HR while walking 125. It lasted 4 days.

Then feeling good for 2-3 days.

Week 7: resting HR 90-95 (it is getting better, as you see). HR while walking 115-120. It lasted a few says.

Week 8: resting HR 85-88. HR while walking 110., etc

So, episodes were milder and milder (try to write a diary and you will see it).

But then, after 7-8 weeks, when my HR started to settle down, I started to have anxiety and huge dizziness+inability to breathe after any activity.

For example, if I would walk for 10 minutes or do any housework or cleaning, I would start to feel dizzy and I would have to lay down for 1 hour. I had a feeling as my brain is not sending signals to my lungs to breathe, and I was so dizzy.

So, I was lying in bed, dizzy and struggling to breathe.

But then one day, I had one attack when my HR jumped to 160 and didn't want to go down (I had to do some housework). I went to ER and they have put me back on BBs.

Then I was taking BBs for 3-4 Months and decided to quit one more time, but this time way slower.

Then I weaned off for 8 Months from 1,25Mg dose to 0,00.

I had a withdrawal all the time during those 8 Months, but it was milder.

Try to picture it this way:

If you try to quit faster: you will have a withdrawal of strength let's say 100/100 and it will last for 2-3-4 Months. And then you will be fine. Shorter but extremely strong and dangerous at times.

If you wean off little by little: withdrawal will last longer, like 6-7-8-9 Months, but it's strength will be only 30% or 50%, and you will be able to live a semi-normal life during that time (and do majority of normal things, except physical activites).

And anxiety will be way milder.

While, if you quit fast, you will not be able to be a normal person.

A lot of posters here reported over years how they couldn't go to their jobs and had to stay at home for 1-2 Months during a withdrawal.

It is impossible to work with a resting HR 100, and HR jumping to 130 if you have to stand up and do anything, plus anxiety burning inside of you.

So, if I hadn't had that attack with a HR 160, maybe I would have managed to survive a withdrawal in the 1st attempt, since my HR was getting better and anxiety was getting milder.

So, about you, you are probably past the pain in abdomen and nausea.

That happens early in a withdrawal.

You will now experience elevated HR while resting and during any movement.

It will last for a few weeks.

When a HR will get better, your heart will be fine. You will have only occasional HR jumps lasting for 10-30 minutes.

So, in my opionion, you now have to battle "only" with an elevated HR and with anxiety.

When those two will get milder, you are nearing the end of a tunnel.

Sorry for a mistake one more time.

Feel free to ask anything and update us with your progress.

Drink A LOT of water. If you will drink a lot, you will have a higher blood volume and that mechanism will naturally lower your HR. If you won't drink too much, you will have less blood and then a HR goes even higher. (this happens always during our life, even without Beta blockers and without a withdrawal).

So, drink as much as you can in these days.

Take some magnesium, it will lower your HR also.

And try to google some teas which can naturally lower a HR, blood pressure and lower the anxiety.

These thigs will be able to lower you HR from let's say 100 to 92 or 95.

It is not much, but it helps.

You will feel better and your heart won't be at that much stress.

When you will feel better (when your resting HR will return below 90), try to walk at least 2-3-4-5 minutes at home, you will heal faster that way.

Good luck

Hi Bob

I agree 100% with writing about your heart, head and what's going on with you.

It has helped me a lot to write a blog.

Most of all, writing about my anxiety has showed me that I can overcome a lot of stuff.

Thx

im having the same problem now I'm about to lose hope.

i had a very rapid withdrawal - i followed what the dr said- but was weaned over 3 days only and moved to another medicine.

its been 30 days. i choose to stick with it, had another EKG and echo about 9 days in- but my dr said it was all withdrawal.

my heart rate is resting 95- but was 100 for a couple of weeks. anxiety was high. blood pressure was all over the place - sometimes high, sometimes not. crazy. that has also stabilized.

it seems to be s l o w l y getting better. But i have also treated with a certified acupuncturist- just weekly for 2 visits, & that has helped also, especially with the anxiety, which none of us need more of, right now. good luck!

What do you think help the most?

Is it the diet, oil pulling, exercise or something else?

 

Hey denys, sorry just saw this.  I left a new post on the board.. detailing what I think helped the most