What alternative could we use for biso ?

Hi Merryl, Glad I found these posts, I have written on the Atrial Fibrillation 'site', as about a month ago I went into A & E with a fast, irregular heartbeat, after a couple of days in CCU I was discharged and put on 5mg of Bisoprolol in the morning and 3/4mg of Warfarin in the evening. I am seeing the cardiologist in a few weeks. Last Fri/Sat I had a terrible night, the heart was 'knocking' all night and I just couldn't settle. Went to A & E on  Sat afternoon and the doc on call gave me 1.25mg of bisoprolol to take in the evening to help me settle, it did the trick, I saw my own doc yesterday and she upped the evening dosage to 2.5mg. I never had any side effects on the 5mg dosage, was able to do 3mile walks, (on the flat) and generally get on with things. Today I woke up and felt that I just couldn't take a real deep breath, just felt sort of breathless, (can't really describe it), I went for a walk around the block, about a quarter of a mile on the flat and just feel exhausted. Again, I wasn't like that on the 5mg dosage. Reading your post and those of other people, I see that this is quite 'normal', I too will ask if I can either change to something else or lower some of the dosage, I guess they all have side effects as they are powerful drugs. Anyway, thanks for the comments, I'm glad I found them today. Cheers, 

Hi lankylass, sorry to hear you are suffering from these awful palpitations. I had to call an ambulance last night because of palpitations and chest pain which I had all day on and off, and was taken to A & E. I was there for over 4 hours. I had 2 ECG, blood taken  and they all come back fine. I told the Dr the medication was not suitable for me, so she told me to see my Dr and change to a different one. I was taking 5mg which was prescribed by the hospital when I was in for 10 days but my own Dr gave me 2.5 mg when I came out of hospital so I am going to try that. A lower dose might be suitable for me. I just started that today.

I know what you mean when you said you can't explain about the breathlessness. Mine seems to come from my heart then go up into my chest and it feels as if something is cutting my breathing off and I feel as if I am suffocating.    

Sorry it went before I finished. I was going to say, I have'nt come across anyone with the same breathing problem as me. I am having a lung function test tomorrow at my local surgery, so hope something will show up and can be treated.  I have suffered with these palpitations for years but only found out recently what they were called when I had an ECG in my local surgery and at the hospital. I can go for years without any and then they come back with a vengance. Besr wishes.  

They are quite bad when playing up.

Do you think the hot weather may have something to do with it , I hzvd not stopped sweating and thus is not normal for me , yesterday I cam e in to the house and the place was swimming in front of mr , I sat down and slept for 90 mins aslao not like me , I'm worried about going on holiday , I love the sun , 

Hi, I would'nt be surprised the weather is to do with it. Since I had this going on I can't sit in the sun for long. The hot weather puts my blood pressure up and sometimes starts the palpitations off. Perhaps you was in the sun for too long and it caused dizziness. When I went abroad about 12 years ago, I was sitting in the sun for about 2/3 hours and when I stood up I had a funny turn and felt terrible, I had to lie back down and wait for it to wear off which it did half an hour later. I have had 2 of these funny turns so now stay out of the hot sun.    

I have only been on bisto for just over a week , I really want to believe my doc , I ,love the sun , would devastate me if I could sit in the sun on holiday , have you had any treatment other than meds 

No, I have not had any other treatment. I have been on bisoprolol for about 12 weeks. There is an alternative to meds and it is called an ablation but I think they only offer this if you have lots of palpitations and can't take the meds for some reason. My ectopic beats are caused by faulty wiring in the upper chambers of the heart. I was told this by the cardiologist when I was in hospital. She did mention the Ablation but said it is a bit drastic. I would try this if I could have it.

I have to wait a year for a follow up appointment with the cardiologist. But still waiting for the results of a 48 hr monitor I had last week. If you sit in the sun make sure it is not too hot. You might not be affected by it like I was.   

I was told I would get an appointment for the warfarin clinic and I would be on it for 8 weeks to make sure there had been no clots when I had  :attack : then I would get the abalation treatment as I have never had this before , I think it was caused by stress   They seamed fairy confident that it would work , I suppose everyone is different , this is extream heat for us (Scotland )  I'm going to go out for a few hour when I get home , see what happens , might need to dig a pool in the  garden if it keeps up , x

Could you tell me your symptoms and why did the Dr consider you to have the ablation?

Hi Merryl , my story is as follows for about 3/4 hours during the night my heart was going nuts beating all over the place so loud I had to sit up as the noice was scary , my throat felt like it was closing , my tongue felt swollen , my husband wanted me to go to the hospital , I didn't , I went to sleep as it seemed to ease , next morning I got up walked round the bed and it started again 

i went to A&E where I was given a heart trace etc they then gave me some drug through an IV that they said May reverse the AF in 24 hours it didn't that's when they gave name the biso , that brought the rate down but not the rytham , then they said warfarin and the abalation was the way to go , I suppose it must have been something that showed on the heart trace that lead them to come to this conclusion , 

i will add I smoke and do have a couple of glasses of wine a week , sorry I DID , I hope this helps you , today was the best day I have had since it happened full day at work supermarket a wee ironing but v tired now .x

Hi, I am glad you are feeling better, perhaps the medication is working now. I found the meds reduce the racing of the heart but does'nt stop the palpitations. It can be quite frightening at times. I get niggling palps which causes me to become breathless. I am having a lung function test this afternoon.

I get very tired as well, after doing a few chores. I don;t work now so it must be worse for you. When are you having the ablation?  

Good luck with your test today , I am to be on the warfarin for about 8 weeks   Then the abalation , but still waiting to start the warfarin , 

 I went to the nurse to have the the lung function test and told her about the chest pains I am having, so she would not do it. She had a word with the head nurse and she said the same. I told her about all the tests I had done which were normal except for the ectopic beats. She said the test might cause the pains to start because I had them this morning. So she said a dr will phone me at home which she did, I explained everything again and she said it is reasuring I had the all clear on my scans / blood tests .  

I am on lansoprazole and told the Dr it might be this that is causing the chest pain and said I will stop taking it and if the pains stop I won't take it again. I read online that lansoprazole can cause chest pain. Hope it is something as simple as that. She wanted me to see a Dr this afternoon but because the tests were clear 2 days ago, I cant see it being any different. So will see how it goes after I stop the lansoprazole. Hope you have'nt got to wait long for the warfarin.