Bisoprolol buddies

Ok, day 8 of being off beta blockers. Yes, I was on bisoprolol and changed to another, all the same difference really.

Elizabeth, don't suddenly come off, it takes a couple of weeks AT LEAST to wean off, possibly longer with your Gp help and support. I was only on a small dose, and I am willing to now admit defeat and start that tiny dose again, YES, I got the use of my legs back, and my head was not so fuzzy, but my heart has it's own way of biting back! My heart beats erratically still at 120 bpm, I feel really off colour, so it's time to say I do need this drug, and I hope I can eventually tolerate it. I have a friend on BB's for almost a year and he says he has now adapted and learned to tolerate it, so fingers crossed...

I tried, it didn't work.

Please folks, font go on what I'm writing, everybody is individual, be guided by your consultant and doctors, they mean only the best for us.

Elizabeth, I also meant to say the anxiety is natural. I was, still am having rushes of adrenalin which the beta blockers keep at bay normally. Maybe another good reason to try again.

Hi Richard, I have read the side effects and I can honestly say I have so many of them, the cramps are the killers, I get cramp in my toes, feet, calves, stomach, front of my ribs area and the back of my ribs area, my hands and my neck area, and boy, when I say cramp...it makes me scream and actually cry, the pain is unbearable. When I go to bed at night I can never ever sleep, I lay there for about 6 hours before I nod off, but when I do nod off, I dream horrible, scary dreams, they upset me very much, and then my body....well it twitches and jerks all night long, sometimes massively and it wakes me up. I keep waking up terrified thinking someone is leaning over my bed, or I can see something that should not be there, but all it is, is my curtains or wallpaper, this makes me laugh later but it really scares me at the time. Then in the morning when I do wake up after finally getting some sleep, I feel awful, just absolutely awful, I feel drunk or drugged up, i'm not with it, I stagger to the toilet and I have no energy and can barely walk. This goes on for an hour or two and I cannot pull myself together. Then for the rest of the day I feel dizzy, faint, overwhelmed with tiredness, my joints hurt, im so weak I can barely do anything, trying to do my housework is just a killer but I have to do it. By the time it comes to dinner time and I have to start cooking my family dinner, I can barely stand up and keep my eyes open. I either can go to the toilet or I cant keep out of the toilet, and the heat, im burning up all day and all night, I can never cool down. I have a rash over my trunk and fast and its so itchy its unbearable, it keeps coming and going. I have some other problems but its just too many to mention on here......Anyway, I told all this to my new heart consultant and all she could say to me was...oh Bisoprolol doesn't have any side effects, so its not the tablets causing this. I would go see you g.p. to sort it out..... I could not believe it, it clearly states on the leaflet about these side effects for gods sake.

I am at the lowest point with not knowing what is going on, I am going to tell them as they are not saying I do not have heart failure, I want off the tablets, and Im going to demand they do this.... im sick to death of them all telling me I have this, then I don't as I don't know where I stand. Im hoping to go on holiday next year, but what do I tell the insurance company, do I have something wrong with my heart or not, I don't know what to tell them. sick to death as I said, they have worn me out and ive had enough of them x

Correction...the above should say they are NOW saying I do not have heart failure,

Hi Slipware, there's no way I'm going back on Bisoprolol. I've been off it for three weeks now, and I just feel so much better. Yes, I do still get palpitations (I didn't before I started this drug...), but they do seem to be lessening. Also my heart rate has gone up so I'll ask my excellent heart failure nurse if she'll precribe an alternative that I've heard of called Ivabradine. This is not a beta blocker. It may not be suitable for you, but I have read that it is recommended for those with heart failure which I have. Quite frankly if the hospital cardiologists either didn't know or couldn't be bothered to tell me that Bisoprolol can make heart failure worse and can cause increased water retention (I also have oedema, which is water retention) and breathlessness, then I can have no faith in them whatsoever.

Honeybea, I can't even guess at what's causing the cramps. Are you also on 'water tablets' such as Furosemide or Bumetanide? I am and this is a significant problem with them at high doses, but since I discovered that excessive salt intake not only makes water retention much worse but also decreases the effects of water tablets I have been able to cut down my dose of them dramatically. However I only ever got them in the hands and feet.

The dizziness and walking difficulties do seem related to Bisoprolol however. I got this until I stopped. I didn't really wean myself off it, I just stopped, which is what is recommended in the info leaflet if you get severe side effects. As I say I do still get palpitations to some extent, and my pulse is a little too high, but I can at least walk, in fact I've joined the local gym for when it's too wet to go out walking outdoors.

I don't think I can recommend you stop taking Bisoprolol or any other drug; that's a decision only you can take, but, well, I've stopped it. All the Best.

Still taking the bisoprolol 2.5mgs and am really scared to stop it especially as i felt such bad palps within a few hours after i normally would take it. The weakness in my legs is so scary especially when i first start moving in the morning. i am anxious all the time but think this is thee palps! I have no heart probs --JUST fast irregular heartbeat which is with me everyday.

It makes me so upset when i read your posts Honeybea. The medical care just isn't good enough. What hell you are suffering. My only knowledge of a similar case is that one of my friends who has breast cancer is also on bisoprolol now. She was told that the chemo drugs have weakened her heart. In your case you need to be told what is going on! We all need to have stuff explained. With hindsight I wish to God that I'd never seen Bisoprolol. Many years ago I was prescribed PROTHIADEN (still remember its name) by a neurologist. After a couple of months my GP said I had to be weaned off it. I went through hell and can still remember teaching my 6th form sitting on the floor in my classroom!! I have put my trust in my GP and over the past 3 yrs i have made infrequent visits to ask about side effects. No joy,but I continued to swallow the pill cos I trusted him. Only when i visited all of you here did i then realise that there is a good chance that BISOPROLOL is not for me. I will carry on and then try the atenenol when i come back from hol. I may be in for a rough time but i will drop the dosage from 2.5mgs to 1.25mgs every so many days. Its no good for me to stop taking it in one go,been and tried it and its been in my system for over 3yrs!!!

Well, day two of being back on beta blocker, and it's not pleasant. Having had 8 days off it, it seems I now have to get used to it in my system all over again. I don't like what it does to my head (buzzy ears etc) and legs, also my heart is confused.

I now bitterly regret coming off it, and would urge everyone here to discuss with your specialist the pros and cons. Being on it, not pleasant, coming off, also not pleasant

I now accept I'm not the person I was only a year ago, but people live with worse. I've not got cancer and on a death sentence as some are, so I'm signing off now and getting on with life as best I can

Good luck folks, be healthy and happy.

Slipware you have a great attitude to your medical state. I agree that we should be thankful that some of us have a lesser problem than others. Its true that we can wonder and worry about things too much. I am lucky in so much that I have atrial fibrillation and as yet no other complications. The beta-blocker has reduced the quality of my life,Ive done all I can to eliminate the effects even tried stopping it all together. I totally sympathise with you and will continue to read the posts here but at the same time try and take a more positive attitude to my life. I so easily can wind myself up. I now have a GP I can talk to,i'm losing weight,travel insurance is sorted,I'm nearly ready for France and if I feel I'm getting worse then I will ask if I can see an electro-physio cardiologist in Liverpool. All the best to my fellow sufferers.

Been to doctors today , they keeping me in 7.5mg as my blood pressure is low, so they don't want to up my dose . For to wait for another hospital appointment witch should be soon . Haven't had any heart skips this month but did feel like a rough day last week , so I just got pissed to take my mined of it. And it worked so I told doctor about it and she said you shouldn't be drinking at all, feel like life is shit at the monument .

I'm off Bisoprolol for good. However my heart failure nurse has put me on Carvedilol. I'm supposed to take two 3.125 mg tablets every day, but so far I've only taken one a day. For the first three weeks I was off Bisoprolol I felt much better without it, but then I started to get a highly irregular heartbeat. That was why I asked for an alternative. This one lists similar side effects to Bisoprolol, so I'll watch out for them. At lest I know about them now.

The really annoying thing is that I never had an irregular heartbeat (at least, not on this scale) before I took Bisoprolol.

Hi richard, Thanks for reply. As I do not think there is much wrong with heart to be concerned about will now be very reluctant to take any other heart meds. Worked out low blood sugar caused some problems, then aquantance in nurseing care pointed out low potassium. Some drs saying serious others saying ok, doesnt make sense. Cholestrol up now 6.7 so working on diet now. Not due for cardio clinic until 9th Nov. In the 90s was put on umpteen heart meds but non suitable. Just hope am right in turning down some meds. Perhaps if was younger would be anxious so age helps me decide about future, and if side effect worth it.

@Richard, I know exactly what you mean when you say before having the drug you didn't have the problem!! I had some problems, or why else would I have been given the drug, but in trying to get off it, after only 3 months, I found my heart now relied on some assistance, whereas before, I either managed or ignored, this time, I could do neither!

However, as I've said, I'm getting on with things, and trying now to just say to myself ' it's all just the side effects' nothing more sinister.

Good luck all.

Hi Everyone.

I had a heart attack in June 2007, I had a stent fitted in my right coronory artery, I was dischaged from hospital on aspirin and Metoporol, after about a week I found I had a job to keep my eyes open in the afternoon I felt that tired. I went back to my GP and he changed the Metoporol for Bisopororal, I was fine for about a fortnight, then it started. I piled on the pounds, could hardly walk up and down stairs without gasping for air, had a constant runny nose, tingling in my fingers tips, a complete lack of motivation to do ANYTHING, plus depression. (I suffer from depression already but it has got worse since going on these Bisoporol). Does this sound typical of Bisoporol to you, as I have finally convinced my GP to take me of the things, I'm not on any beta-blockers now, just aspirin and blood pressure tabs. I stopped taking them yesterday (Wednesday 16th October) the bisoporol, are there any withdraw effects from these.

To be honest now I have stopped them I am a little worried in case Ihave another HA. I have had NO ANGINA OR CHEST PAINS since I had my stent fitted.

Thanks for any replies.

Regards

Roger

ok everyone just to keep you up date with everything went to cardio rehab on monday resting heart beat 48-54 bpm blood pressure 114/70 discussed with the nurse that i am refusing to take bisoporolo and ramipril, after my assessment nurse states that because of my natural steady heart beat i wouldn't of benefitted from the beta blocks but if i'd have continued to take them they would never of known my heart rate was ok on it's own....also my colesterol level healthy= ldl1 and hdl 1 over all is at 3 so way below the recommened 5 all this after only month since heart attack.....please look into raw food diet will be coming of the statins if next blood results come through all positive