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Please help. Bisoprolol withdrawal and weaning offys

Posted , 17 users are following.

Aj1986
Aj1986

hi everyone I’m new here.

i was given Bisoprolol less than 2 months ago for tachycardia (120-130 bpm).

ive done countless EKGs and an echo a stress test and a 24 hr monitor, and blood tests to rule out a heart condition. 

My problem is the beta blocker, when the incident happened I took Bisoprolol 2.25 mg and it helped reduce my heart rate but caused chest pain, couldn’t eat, couldn’t walk or go out I was a complete zombie.

didnt take it the next day and was fine, but the day after my heart felt like it was shaking my body with how hard it was pumping and had to go to the emergency room again and the doctor there said my heart rate wasn’t that high and that this was an anxiety attack, and I should take the Bisoprolol and gave me an appointment with the cardiologist.

went to the cardiologist and said my heart was fine and strong and that I can stop the drug any time I want and manage my stress.

I cut the pill in half (1.25 mg) cause I felt like crap on the higher dose, then a few days later boom another attack but this time I had the flu which made it 100 times worse. I thought I would die, my heart was pounding for an hour till I took my next dose.

this kept happening for a few days every night I’d wake up with a very fast heart beat and would calm down by the time I took my dose.

anywa

0 likes, 45 replies

45 Replies

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  • jx41870
    jx41870 Aj1986

    Posted

    AJ, sorry to hear of your difficulties.  I've used atenolol, another beta blocker, and the very first time I took a 25mg pill, which is half of a low daily dose, it hit me like a hammer, I immediately called the doctor and asked if I could take just half, and that's pretty much all I've ever taken - 1/4 of the normal low dose.

    I found it is hard to get off, but then I was hit with some other health problem and somehow, that got me entirely off the beta blocker!  But a few weeks later I needed it again, as part of treatment for high blood pressure and accompanying tachycardia and arrhythmias.

    So I still take it way "off-label", a tiny dose when I need it, and then I stop for a day or a week.  Or sometimes I take more than my tiny dose, then reduce to the tiny dose or less.  For me, for atenolol, this is working OK.  If I'd ever taken even the full low dose, who knows, I can't imagine what it's like to live with that at all.

    You might try this, dark chocolate is a natural beta blocker!  About 1/3 of a typical Lindt bar affects me just about the same as my usual atenolol dose.  Of course it tastes better - and is more fattening!  The chocolate has other ingredients that are also mood elevators, which never hurts.  Worth a try?

    • Aj1986
      Aj1986 jx41870

      Posted

      Wow thanks for the tip on the dark chocolate, didn’t know it had an effect like that, I’ll try it. 

      When I first took the normal dose of the beta blocker it was controlling my tachycardia and was good at it, but it made me feel like I was 100 years old, and I’m 32, with no health problems except being an anxious person. 

    • annie78444
      annie78444 Aj1986

      Posted

      Hi, again Aj, as far as i can see, you were prescribed a moderate dose to start with, but as you did not have a great deal wrong, this was too high - i have a few things wrong, yet i was prescribed 1.25mg Biso, and told to try half to start with (i.e. i have been prescribed  0,625mg per day, so this must be seen by medics as still a substantial dose for some people).  So although you have now halved the 0.625, that is not nothing, it may look small but it still has an effect.   in my experience it may be a good thing if you go slower stepping down the dose if you want to avoid these side effects, and possibly a lot worse, or keep at the dose you are on -  i.e. a quarter of the 1.25mg  tablet - this  is what  i may soon  start on as an  experiment.    Maybe ask your doctor for the 1.25mg tab so it is easier to dose,  a quarter of one of these - around 0.32mg -- is easier to measure, then it will be easier to go down to approx   0.15mg if you need to? As you have used Biso for such  short time, and reduced already, before your body got used to it,  stopping should not be too bad. Although i only used my bb for 4 months, i had stepped up the dose, and, like Peter, i took many months to mostly recover after stopping,  I did wean off, though not slowly enough, and was fortunate not to have to stop cold turkey , yet even so i felt weird and very unwell for months. Retrying the bb i used before at only a quarter of the lowest dose has had exactly the same effect as previously, and i am now considering trying Biso.  Not sure now. I hope things work out  
    • Aj1986
      Aj1986 annie78444

      Posted

      Hi Annie,

      The toughest part was when I reduced the 1.25 to half of it, which is I’m assuming 0.60 more or less. That’s when I had severe withdrawal which lasted a little over a week. When I reduced the 0.60 to half or more I still got bad withdrawal but not as bad. So I think I’m on 0.25 or 0.30, which is so tiny I don’t think I can reduce more, I tried cutting it, it just turned into small amounts of powder. It’s been a week on this dose

      Right now I’m just dealing with some anxiety that is dealt with by Xanax at times and spikes in heart rate after a meal or when I’m stressed. 

      I want to know when it’s safe to skip days at this stage cause I can’t cut the pill anymore and if I do it’s just so small that by the time I put it in my mouth to swallow it, it’ll probably melt before I drink water lol.

  • jx41870
    jx41870 Aj1986

    Posted

    Just as an aside, I wish they made my beta blocker atenolol in much smaller doses.  I do my best to cut the tablets in half but they are tiny to begin with and half the time I just crush a quarter of it and have to just take some dust and pieces.  Which still seems to work, fortunately!

    I guess I could take it to a "compounding pharmacist" and they could remake them for me, but what a bother - and expense. 

  • joshuapryce1987
    joshuapryce1987 Aj1986

    Posted

    What i do is mistake on tablets and then over time take less dosage over time, do not go half straight away but take less tablets over time. At least this will be more acceptable to the doctors rather then cutting the dosage in half. The higher the dosage the more likely that it will be harder to go down in dosage. This works for me, but perhaps you should speak to your doctor, about options.

  • jeanie36495
    jeanie36495 Aj1986

    Posted

    Aj1986, I know how you feel and it's difficult. I, too am going through a weaning off period from taking a beta blocker for almost three years. I have been having more palpitations now than during the last two years. I don't feel I need to take atenolol, but because of a one-off episode of tachycardia in 2018, my GP prescribed it. I also have bouts of insomnia and am very irritable.Hope you are feeling better now.

    How are things going for you now? I hope you are feeling better? Take care.

  • maxine32453
    maxine32453 Aj1986

    Posted

    hello, is anyone still active on this forum? i plan on stopping Bisoprolol soon. as i do not want to rely on this medication forever.

    i am on 5mg. 2.5 morning and 2.5 night.

    i have inappropriate sinus tachycardia but its not too severe.

    before i started Bisoprolol in January my resting heart rate was between 90-101. whilst on Bisoprolol my Resting HR is 80. a couple of weeks ago i stopped taking it (weaning off over a couple weeks)

    my heart rate has never been so high! i thought i was going to die and couldn't stop shaking with fear.

    am i going to have to stay on this forever? i feel hopeless and don't know what to do 😦

    • andrew00920
      andrew00920 maxine32453

      Posted

      i was put on 2.5 mg twice a day for episodes of severe chest pain and all sorts of arrhythmia. may last year was the start of all these weird symptoms. normally fit never been in hospital before, hardly ever unwell. Went through all the tests echocardiograph, holter, ecgs galore, blood tests etc all normal, no diagnosis but whacked on bisoprolol. took it for 11 months which culminated in feeling severe muscle weekness in my arms and lower limbs to the extent that i thought they would stop working. i had all the other symptoms dizzy standing up cold extremities, dry mouth, dry eyes, streaming nose, numbness, pressure behind my eyes and nose, feeling awful lacking energy the list goes on. it wasn't until the neuropathy i stuck with it . it started give me new palpitations, decided to stop. cut to 2.5 mg a day for a week , then cut it dead. had the spells of high anxiety which felt more like on the cusp of panic attack. high heart going to 130 just walking. I'm in my fith week off it and feeling a whole lot better, all symptoms described above very much now in the background. the weird thing is for me there is a yoyo effect for a while. I can personally relate to your concern about never getting off. for me the drug seems to cause a desperate state of mind and huge doubt at times. this forum is a tonic for beating that. it's a tough one to beat but from my experience doable. I'm not advising doing it the way i have, seems people need to find the best way for their individual situation and condition. i felt the whole experience of this drug is horrific, I'm pretty angry with the medics who dealt with me, who put me on it without appropriate follow up, monitoring and awareness of the damage this drug can do to those who are sensitive to it. my parting comment is that for me it was hard at first to get off this thing, but it has got easier for me as time passes. Hope this helps

  • monday47640
    monday47640 Aj1986

    Posted

    Hello everyone!

    I was on Bisoprolol 2.5mg for about 7months because of heart palpitations.

    Please, how long till I get over the rebound effects.

    Thank in advance

  • monday47640
    monday47640 Aj1986

    Posted

    Hello everyone!

    I was on Bisoprolol 2.5mg for about 7months because of heart palpitations.

    Please, how long till I get over the rebound effects.

    Thank in advance

  • marwan40654
    marwan40654 Aj1986

    Posted

    hi

    i was in Bisoprolol just two months I was taking 10 mg ,Because my blood pressure is a little high, and it was the worst day of my life. I became like an old man. My body shivering, cold feet, dizziness, dizziness and ringing in the ears. I stopped taking it only after two months of using it. Loss of energy most of the time, foggy head and dizziness sometimes I feel better, but the adrenaline in our bodies is rushing with force. I give up and I have no solution but to take vitamins. I do not want to be negative, but I am afraid that it will not come out of my body. I am 39 years old, I admit that the tinnitus with time has improved, I just feel With a band in the ear, but ringing in the ears. Note: Do not ask the doctor, because it will worsen your condition. Do not use any medication. Pregnancy and time will end this despicable drug that caused me anxiety and incomprehensible fear.

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