Coming off Amiodarone

[bushy2016]

Ive been told by GP i need to come off amiodarone due to it rapidly messing my eye sight up whats the next best thing...as the amiodarone was the only thing that slowed my heart rate down have to wait 3 weeks to see cardiologist

[P0rtnahapp1e]

I was on Bisoprolol 7.5 mg, and the cardiologist changed me to Amiodarone for some reason. I became very breathless and nauseous, and although I'll stick any side effect if medication is having an overall positive effect, he put me back on Bisoprolol, (along with my ten other drugs, lol!)

[BobD Volunteer]

Flecainide and propafanone are both rhythm, control drugs but must be prescribed by consultant in first instance. Sorry you will have to chase that appointment.

[Hidden]

bushy2016 many years ago I was taken off Amiodarone and put on Disopyramide. This is not a commonly prescribed anti arrhythmic drug but is the only one which works for me, albeit not 100%

I understand that Disopyramide is particularly effective when the AF is thought to be of vagal origin . You may like to ask about this.

Sandra

[ultramarine]

I was on Amiodarone for around 9 months, the side effects to other organs was pretty risky, my eyes didn't seem to be effected, but my GP and Cardiologist were concerned about my Thyroid, this needed monitoring.

If you are going to go off them then it is best to do it gradually with this medication, its a fairly potent one. I suggest you let your EP decide which other medication is suitable, as not all medications are readily available in different countries, so I have found out.

[excalibur]

there is a direct alternative - Dronedarone that doesn't contain iodine, though it is less effective.

[Polski]

There is a misconception here. Amiodarone does not contain iodine, but it 'replaces' iodine in the body, so any processes which need iodine will be deprived of it, hence the problems with the thyroid which must have iodine (as well as on many other minerals) in order to work properly.

[Bolander]

I was prescribed Amiodaone after a cardioversion and also had problems with side effects , including my eyes. I had difficulty in persuading the cardiologist of these but fortunately another cardiologist accepted the need to change and put me on Sotalol instead. This is disparaged by some as it is no longer recommended by NICE but the list of side effects is much shorter than other rhythm control drugs and it has the advantage of also acting as a rate control drug. In my case it as worked well with no side effects and apart from a brief episode I have had NSR for the last year and a half.