last resort meds????

[jujemendoza2002]

I was wondering is amiodrarone a last resort med., because I was put on it 3 years ago and I have had thyroid problems because of it. The doctor that put me on it never tried any other drugs for atrail or rapid atrail prior to amiodrarone and I have since heard so much about it?

[Burton Borrok]

Re: last resort meds????

Howdy,
If you’ll pardon the pun, welcome to the Board of Education. To me the drug of last resort is a Hershey bar – with almonds.

Amiodarone is one of a class of drugs called Antiarrhythmic. Many of us here take an antiarrhythmic drug of one kind or another. Here’s a couple of websites to start you off in finding out just what is what with Amiodarine, antiarrhythmics and the wonderful world of drug therapy.
Burt


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...di/202029.html

http://lysine.pharm.utah.edu/netphar...%20Arrhythmias

[Glen Beamish]

Re: last resort meds????

Geez I hope not, I have been on it for a year now and have tolerated it very well.
The problem your having can be a result of Amio.
It's a very powerful drug, but not a last resort drug.

[Sarah]

Re: last resort meds????

The FDA approved amiodarone as a drug of last resort, --really last resort, as in "you who are about to die." however, the drug company marketed the drug as a first line drug for atrial fibrillation and despite being spanked by the government for it, the damage has been done and doctors regularly hand out "amio" as soon as someone gets afib for the first time.

amio can be very toxic, has a long half life (stays in the body a long time) and have a list of side effects longer than your arm. people have gone blind (albeit only a 2% chance of that). and yes, it will mess up your thyroid almost instantly. you must get liver and other blood tests every six months to make sure other bad things aren't happening. for example, it can turn your skin blue/black and damage your lungs.

i refuse to take it despite the fact that i've tried every other drug on the market and i'm still in afib. i know afib is damaging my heart, but at least nothing else. my thyroid went a long time ago, probably from norpace. so i know i'm sensitive to side effeccts.

that being said, many people do really well on it. but you should be fully informed about what you put in your body and make your choices with all the info.

ps: there are three classes of antiarrhythmic medications based on how they work. amio is a class III that also has class II behaviors. it is essentially a calcium channel and potassium channel blocker combined (this is a bit of an oversimplification for illustrative purposes).

take care,

s

[cynthiaG]

Re: last resort meds????

have a question....Sarah, you mentioned that afib damages your heart....we asked two doctors (one of them an HCM specialist) and they both said that it doesn't.

[Reenie]

Re: last resort meds????

I was under the impression that unchecked afib can cause your atria to enlarge? I could very well be wrong though. I hope someone else will help here.

Reenie

[Linda]

Re: last resort meds????

Reenie, The atria become enlarged due to increased back-pressure in the HCM heart. Then the enlarged left atrium predisposes to AFib. The continued AFib isn't the most efficient heart beat and certainly doesn't improve your condition, but the enlarged atrium is usu there first. Linda

[Sarah]

Re: last resort meds????

The doctor may have been thinking of damage as in the damage a heart attack does --cardiac arrest causes some heart tissue to die. Afib doesn't kill the tissue, it does what Linda says --makes the atria bigger.

My left atrium is about a centimeter larger than normal after three years in afib.

S

[Reenie]

Re: last resort meds????

Linda, thanks for the info. I couldn't remember exactly how it went.

Reenie