Going off Amiodarone - Wish me luck

[ARGreenMN]

Michelle, I'm not sure if Metropolol is similar to Sotalol (sounds similar though lol). I was originally on Metropolol (started it a couple days after surgery) and my main complaint when I went to the ER a couple wks later was what I thought (still think) were regular, skipped beats. It felt/heard like it was skipping every other beat, which was triggered by me reclining or laying down. But they seemed to think it wasn't skipping beats, but just beating really slow - maybe because of the Metropolol. It was 43 bpm when I was admitted to ER. And then I went into afib a few hrs after being admitted. Anyway, they took me off Metropolol and put me on Amiodarone. I slowly got better. When I first went into afib, they explained I was in no danger because I'm anti-coagulated, so just try to relax... Took my first Amiodarone and the afib went away about 4 hrs later. Had a couple more relatively minor afib incidents over the next few days. And the slow hr (and/or regular skipped beats) episodes lasted for a couple wks I think. Those eventually got better too - not sure if the Amiodarone helped or if it was just finally healing up. As bad a rap as Amiodarone gets sometimes, if used only for a short period (3 months or so) it seems to be safe, and seems to be effective too, at least based on my experience. Hope yours gets better soon. My experience seems consistent with what they were telling me - all the irregular beats / afib stuff is due to the trauma your heart went through during surgery, and usually eventually gets better after about 3 months.

Good luck to you too Pat. They did that to me too - cut my doses in half a couple times. Went from something like 800 mg/day the first few days, down to 400 mg/day and finally down to 200 mg/day (if I remember right). And stayed on 200/day for the remaining couple months I was on it. Still doing good having been off it for about a month now. No more afib!

 

[Michelle D]

That's great you still haven't had any Andy. When I went to the ER with a-fib I cane out of it myself after about an hour. They admitted me and gave me an iv of amidarone (sp?) and immediately I had a crazy hit flash and pressure in my sinuses and throat then I started a-fib again so they switched to Sotalol. I think I'm adjusting to it. I was on metapropal as well and had no complaints. I know these type of meds take time to get accustomed to. Well continue not having a-fib!

 

[lragsac]

I am also going off Amiodarone cold turkey also. other than that I am walking and jogging 2-4- mi a day, and feel great. It has been 3 months since the surgery to repair a valve. Hope you all have a great rehab too.

 

[Michelle D]

My holter came back with two 15 sec episodes of a-flutter so rather than getting off sotalol they are increasing it.

 

[Sevgi]

PVCs are driving me nuts lately. I had surgery 7/12 and was on Amiodarone for 30 days with little to no PVCs. I only take 1 81mg aspirin daily and no other meds. I've been in rehab for 3 weeks and work out 45 minutes in my target heart range 118-128 with no problem. Last week I started have more PVCs to the point it was upsetting me so I went to my pcp. She said they are harmless PVCs and not to worry about them. She said she could give me meds if I couldn't tolerate them but if I could do without the meds they may go away on their own. She says it's just stress induced PVCs but it's hard to go on with life as if nothing is wrong when I keep feeling like my heart skips a beat. I'm going to wait a few more days and if it doesn't get better, I'm going back to my cardiologist.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi andy,
wondering how you are doing?
joey is off his amio (after almost 9 years!!!!) and on tikosyn. although the tikosyn doesn't do the trick the way the amio did, it is 95-98% successful. joey does still have afib from time to time, but it lasts a short period of time and resolves itself without intervention. his dr. feels this is fine for now and is keeping him on this for the time being. hoping it will get even better with time. afib is such a nuisance and disturbing.
hope you are well.

 

[ks1490]

If you have a recurrence of a-fib, ask your cardio about Multaq (dronedarone), I was on AMiodarone for awhile but then went on this drug after surgery, in my case it was just as effective without the side effects of Amiodarone.

 

[Michelle D]

Multaq is similar to amiodrone but less toxic. That's what I read at my cards office.

 

[Freddie]

Just wondering how your doing Andy.
It's been a couple of weeks since your last post.
Just getting concerned, hope everything is okay and going well.

 

[hook]

My story was just like Andy's. I got of the amio 8 weeks ago and no afib at all. It seems my PVCs have slowed down as well. I tell you, the healing process of OHS is a roller coaster of crazy stuff. I even went through a stage where my heart simply felt tired and week. Feeling much better now.

 

[Freddie]

That's good news Todd, hope the feeling of "feeling better" continues.

Still wondering how Andy is doing. No news is good news right?

 

[Sarah_Louise]

So pleased for you xxxx