Amiodarone Post Surgery

[Arne]

Did you get put on this medication post surgery? What was the dose and how long? I hear it's a pretty bad drug to be on, really don't want to be on it longer than I have to.

I got a-fib in ICU, and I'm not sure if it was caused by someone trying to get me to do physio in the worse possible way or if it was actually valid. Basically some guy came in and rushed me through all this physio stuff (picking me up and kept calling for help) and I had no idea what was going on so I think my heart just panicked. Even when he came back to apologize my heart went wild.

Eitherway I'm on this med now and don't want to be. I'm taking 200mg daily and I supposedly have two more months to go (although I only have two weeks worth of tablets with 'no refills') I hope my cardiologist can clarify this for me when I see her in two weeks.

Any advice?

 

[Odie]

I got a-flutter (similar to a-fib) when the pacing wire was pulled. I was on IV-amiodarone for a day and a half till they gave up waiting for the drug to work and did an electrical cardioversion, which worked like a charm. After I converted they had me take amiodarone pills for about 30 days. The pills were not too bad. The IV, however, did a job on my veins which has taken almost 6 months to clear up. Initially I was taking the 200mg pill 3 times per day. Over the course of the 30 days the dosage was scaled down until it was only one 200 mg pill per day.

 

[epstns]

Immediately post-op I had extreme rhythm issues. My heart tried them all -- bradycardia, tachycardia, afib, and eventually even loooong (20 second or more) pauses. I ultimately ended up hosting a shiny new pacemaker and was prescribed amioderone to control the afib and metoprolol to control the tachycardia. My last recorded bout of afib (the pacemaker records them all) was about 1 month post op. My cardio kept me on the amioderone for 3 months, and once we saw that I had no further afib he stopped amioderone. He said (and IIRC, I confirmed in research) that the amioderone is not too bad if prescribed for up to 3 months. He did say that if we found that I needed meds to control afib long-term, he would prescribe Multaq, which has the same effect as amioderone, but without the iodine ingredient.

That your cardio has instructed you to take amioderone for 3 months tells me that he/she is on the same page as mine was. Use the meds for short duration and re-assess for the long-term. If you call your pharmacy, they can probably call your cardio for approval to refill, if you don't receive a new prescription when you see the cardio.

 

[river-wear]

I was on it post-op for about 5 weeks. It stays in your system up to 3 months after that, giving your heart plenty of time to heal while it clears.

 

[PGARG]

I was on it for a month exactly. I don't recall any symptoms but ya it stays in your system for about 6months to a year. It hides in fat cells apparently. I was told its very important to have to avoid post surgery afib etc.

 

[gerrychuck]

I had afib post-operatively, and was on amiodorone for a total of about 6 weeks post-op. Since then my afib is controlled very well through rate control with metoprolol. I was very concerned about the amiodorone as well, but as others have said they potential problems that can arise with it are usually related to long term high dosage use and you should have no problems with using it in the immediate postoperative period.