Taken off Amiodarone?

[Jasko]

Hello,

My dad had a heart surgers (Mechanical Valve Replacement) and a Maze procedure done in June of 2005, the doctor just now told him to stop using Amiodoren which is a pill for the heart. He also told him to take a bloodtest more often now instead of the every month before because Amiodoren can affect the INR level. His heart rate is usually around 60 when resting, is there something he should watch out for now? Is his heart rate going to increase?

Any tips would be appreciated

Thank You

 

[Cris N]

Hi,
Glad to hear he's off the amiodarone and I hope he's doing well. Yes, he should be tested more often, weekly would be a good idea as his INR will probably drop - meaning his warfarin dosage will probably need to go up. Amiodarone is used to help regulate a rapid heartrate. You probably want to keep an eye on his heartrate & contact the doctor if he experiences a high rate. Hopefully, his heart is now healed enough and will behave itself.

Cris

 

[Natanni]

Amiodarone

Amiodarone

Hello!

My husband had his AVR in Sept and had two rounds of Atrial Fib post op. His Amiodarone 200 mg daily tablet was discontinued Tuesday Dec 15th. He is self monitoring his INR weekly at this time. He had one slight dip down to 2.4, and has so far been back up to 3.4 range. So far, no adjustments have been needed for his warfarin. Amiodarone takes a long time to completely leave the body, usually months. It is hard to tell when a person could actually see the results in the INR.

 

[Jasko]

Nattani, or anyone else how can my dad monitor his INR by himself?

Thank You

 

[Cris N]

There are currently 2 monitors approved for home testing. If you click on the QAS logo at the top of this page you'll arrive at the site of a company that carries these machines. You might want to look at the QAS/PT Monitoring and the Anticoagulation forums on here on the vr.com site.

Cris

 

[ClickerTicker]

Jasko - Amiodarone is sort of like a chemical pacemaker. It's used when the heart goes into funny rhythms - particularly "Atrial Fibrillation" (AF).
If you search this forum for Amiodarone you'll find quite a few references to the side effects of this particular medication. There are various less aggressive treatments for AF, but physicians still like it as it will most likely stop the AF and keep the patient at arms length for a while. It's a real sledgehammer drug. I can attest that it plays havoc with the INR. I've got my cardiologist's agreement to come off it shortly.
I don't know about the heart rate as such, but there is obviously a chance that your father could slip back into AF occasionally. I discussed this at length with my cardiologist and he told me that the main risk from AF is from blood clots being thrown off by the rapid heartbeat. He said that with an MVR (as your father has) I'd be anticoagulated enough for clots to be very unlikely even if AF does develop - main effect will apparently be tiredness as the heart is working so hard and not very efficiently. As I said before, there are various other less aggressive treatments for AF, so if you're father goes back into it those can be considered.
Best of luck.

 

[Jasko]

Did anyone here had to deal with 'Atrial Fibrillation', and if how often do you go back into it how long does it last?


Thanks

 

[Nancy]

My husband, Joe has had atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter off and on for many, many years.

Unfortunately, Joe has multiple co-morbidities which are very severe, and the most used treatments for afib/flutter aren't in his lexicon of drugs or treatments. Too many interractions, and too much risk in his case. Cardioversion has been suggested, the Maze procedure too, but nixed, I believe, by his primary cardiologist.

So he goes on and on with the arrhythmias, and he is OK, not great, but OK. There have been long periods of time when he's been in NSR (normal sinus rhythm).

So, you can live with it. It requires careful monitoring, and for most normal heart patients, there are many options that just aren't available for Joe.

Amiodarone is a very tough drug. It has many and long acting side-effects. The drug takes a VERY long time to exit the body. It is stored in the cells. And shedding the effects of the drug means that all of those affected cells have to be replaced by the body. The body does this all the time, but it takes a whole lot of time for a whole-body cell renewal.

 

[Jasko]

Thank You Nancy, hope your husband gets better

 

[jax3172]

Amiodarone...

Amiodarone...

...is the drug from hell. Dont get me wrong, if you need it, it can save your life. It may have saved mine. I took it from 7/28/05 through about 9/25/05 post op for serious A-fib. It did the trick and my heart rythms have been fine ever since.

The trouble is I have a few things to remember Amiodarone by: a hypothyroid condition, thyroid nodules putting pressure on my windpipe, a small mass in one lung, and a liver that has finely gotten back to normal enzyme levels. And I only took it for 2 months!!! Although I did take a pretty heavy dose - a bunch in the hospital to start and then 400 mg a day.

If your dad has no side effects from the evil "A", then consider him lucky but by all means, get him off the evil "A" and keep him off. Handle whatever comes up with other drugs.

 

[RCB]

Good Advice

Good Advice

It would seem your father got good advice. Since he is on ACT for the mech. valve, he is covered if the AF should return. He should check his pulse
to see if it remains regular. I wouldn't worry too much if it goes up 10 to 20 beat, just let the Dr. know. Otherwise, he is a lucky man!