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Amiodarone
Hi, 58 years old. Recieved a pacemaker and ICD in late June. Had 2nd heart attack with VT. Continued to smoke after 1st heart attack 8 mos earlier. Not smoking. On amiodarone.. 200 mg. Problems with thyroid. On 80 mcg of Synthroid. Eat NO FAT and NO SALT. Cholesterol down from 160 to 80. LDL and HDl and triglicerides are all good! Dr. wants to take me off of amiodarone and "let's see if you fire or not. If you do we will treat you with Sotalol." I AM TERRIFIED! Anyone out there have an ICD and come off of amiodarone?
8 Comments
Not on Amiodarone
by Cheryl B - 2011-11-29 09:11:29
But I am on Sotalol and have been since I left the hospital with my new "buddy" November of 2010. I have an ICD, and I also take 100 micrograms of Synthyroid, and I've taken it for 25 years. I take a bunch of other drugs, too. So far so good. I eat fat and salt. I hope I never "fire" but I guess that would be a good thing if my heart needed it. Hope some of this helps., Cheryl B.
Bill I didn't mean to
by sfbaywalk - 2011-11-30 02:11:49
ignore some of the other things you brought up. Yes, the cigs ... had to go.
Very impressive achievements on salt and cholesterol.
Good luck with it. Sounds to me like your docs are being prudent ----- Checking to see if you may not need a prescription (one that could possibly cause harm).
the devil
by verger - 2011-11-30 07:11:45
drop the drug, if you are having some problems with your thyroid, watch out, amiodarone is notorious for causing tyroid toxicity, it threw my ass in the hospital for a month. now taking sotalol and have no roblems
realize that amiodarone takes 6 months to leave the body so stop now.
amiodarone
by keveri - 2011-12-01 01:12:00
be grateful the md is taking you of this very toxic drug. i had very serious side affects from it : permanent staining of the skin of my lower legs, sunlight sensivity, started on synthyroid medication for newly dx.hype thyroidism (now dc'd), daily diarrhea which caused permanent diverticulitis.
when i begged for the md to switch to another anti arrythmic drug he said "have you had any rapid heart beats"? ( was he funny or what) i changed physicians and now am on corgard and digoxin in small does. i feel much better but have been permanently damaged by the use of amiodarone.
remember everyone is different but for me personally i have a real sensitivity to any chemical going into my body. i usually do not fill any prescription until i doing my own research.
there is new info posted on internet about this drug being harmful. always discuss with your doctor and if he isn't interested in your well being find another..
good luck jan
Weigh the Options Carefully
by cmgdavid - 2011-12-01 10:12:38
I was in a very similar situation to your. The only drug that controlled my VT was amioderone (I am now going into my 6th year on it). Last year I was diagnosed with an over-active thyroid. The options were remove the thyroid (which meant I could take as much amio as I wanted) or stop taking amio. We waited and we tried a step down regimen of prednisone. My thyroid than evolved into an underactive thyroid. Finally after 9 months everything is normal again. There has been some discussion about lowering my amio dose from 200 to 100 (I have had 3 ablations and no shocks from 2 years). Each the time the discussion of taking me off amio comes up I ask 2 questions: If I don't need it why was I put on it and what would you put me on as an alternative - I still await an answer.
amiodarone
by riodog - 2011-12-01 12:12:54
Get off that medication as soon as possible. It can have a permanently damaging affect on your lungs. I didn't know that and was on it for almost a year when my primary Dr. said I should get off it if at all possible. My cardio was reluctant but said OK. I phased off it in about a week with no problems. I do have SOB and I blame amiodarone for at least part of it, maybe all.Bad stuff--so many meds are available I kinda think another less harmful med could be substituted for it if necessary.
gretchen
Looking forward to weening.
by Tickman - 2011-12-02 02:12:29
I started on an Amio drip at the hospital when they were stabilizing me (Had two nasty VTachs after my ICD was put in). A week later had an ablation surgery and they put me on 200mg of oral Amio at that point. The reason is that its a good cover your *** while your heart recuperates post surgery. Or if you've had some bad episodes.
It is very toxic and scary. So I have mixed feelings about next week when I see my surgeon. He'll probably start to ween me off. But, while I will be nervous that maybe I'll have some adverse events, I guess I'd rather know so that we can take further corrective measures to fix the problem instead of just mask it.
My goal is to be on as little medication as I can. And if my Sarcoidosis goes into remission, then none at all.
Best of luck. You'll be Okay.
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Member Quotes
I wasn't really self-conscious about it. I didn't even know I had one until around six or seven years old. I just thought I had a rock in my side.
I was taking Amiodarone and stopped
by sfbaywalk - 2011-11-29 08:11:23
But I take various other drugs as well. Forget why the doc wanted me to stop.
I also took Synthyroid, and also stopped that one. For this we kept lowering the dose. Then I'd test for thyroid functioning. Turns out the thyroid issues were temporary and the treatment could be dropped.