wrong medicine?

[norton21]

I am 65yo male, don't have diabetes, have blood pressure slightly below average, used to smoke heavily until Feb/2011 when I had a sudden heart attack (with terrible pain) and was operated on within hours, and had an artery support installed and was prescribed with 1 tablet daily of 3 types of drugs: ConcorCor (Bisoprolol) 2.5mg (coated), Simvastatin 20mg, and Aspirin 75mg (coated).  Since the attack I quit smoking and have been taking these drugs,  but have been unwell almost everyday, suffering heartburn or chest contractions or some other stomach or chest pains or depression. As the months pass by I began to suspect and now  believe that these problems are side effects of the drugs. I visited many doctors and had various checks and echos and analysis and was told that I am ok and was advised not to take alternative medicines!  I would be grateful to anyone advising me as the doctors I have access to seem to be too busy to consider my 'special' case, they wouldn't even answer why I am given ConcorCor which is said to counter hyper blood pressure while my blood presssure has always been lower than average.

[norton21]

I am grateful for the information and advice. I will certainly ask my doctor to lower my Bisoprolol dosage to 1.25mg (instead of 2.5mg).

[ed34]

With regards to the Bisoprolol, it is a VERY powerful beta blocker. I could only tolerate 1.25mg a day, which tells you how strong it is. If I took 5mg, my heart wouldn't go over 30 beats per minute. Perhaps they could consider trying to lower your dosage to 1.25mg ?

[ed34]

I was on Bisoprolol for a couple of years, and to honest I found it very good for reducing chest pain, but useless at lowering blood pressure. I had to take an ace inhibitor for this (Ramipril). If you are getting lots of heartburn and stomach issues, then I would suspect the Aspirin more. This is known to be able to cause Ulcers in the stomach in some people. I couldn't handle Aspirin so the Doctor prescribed a slow acting one, a pill which will break down much slower and not upset the stomach. It seemed to work for about three weeks, but the stomach pains came back. So now I take Clopidogrel instead and this has been working since 2008.