Digoxin or Diltazium

[Florence-Nightingale]

Hi everyone Happy new year to you all. I have suffered from paroxsizmal AF also Atrial flutter since 2011. After many trips to A&E and investigations I decided not to have ablation. I take Bisoprolol and Apixaban and have been much better. However recently saw the cardiologist who after reading my ecg says I am in permanent AF that goes quite fast on occasions 133 to 150 bpm. She also wants me to have a repeat echo. If that is ok she says she will probably add either Digoxin or Diltazium to my drug regime. My concern is that Digoxin which I know has been used for the past 200years has suddenly got some bad press, thought now to lessen people's life span according to a huge American study that was done on it. I know very little about Diltazium, I wondered if anyone has any info or comment to make. Might help me make a decision as to what to take.

[Florence-Nightingale]

Thank you Goldfish. Diltazium it is I think.

[Goldfish_]

Certainly there is now a cloud over the use of digoxin in af, but it is still recommended as a choice for add on to beta blocker for rate control in the Nice 2014 guidance along with diltiazem nice.org.uk/guidance/cg180/...

It seems like there are very few on this forum still using digoxin, but lots on the bisoprolol diltiazem combination.

[cali111 in reply to Goldfish_]

As I have been diagnosed with persistent AF the only drug I can tolerate is Digoxin. While on this my heart does not go beyond 98bpm and I don`t feel any other symptoms and so this suits me. I am on 125 micrograms a day and feel almost normal. Even if there is a bad press drugs of all descriptions are bad for you and the down side has to be balanced to the good. I do not take any other drug except for HP.

[Scat319]

I have been taking Diltazium for 5 years with no problems and only 2 short (less than an hour and self-converting) runs of afib. Good luck and Happy New Year!

[jeanjeannie50]

For the few months I took Digoxin it affected me badly. Felt low (which I'd never felt before) and totally scatty. It also didn't have an effect on my AF tachycardia either. I'd never, ever take it again.

[cali111 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

I am lucky that this drug suited me as all the others didn't. I was just glad that this did and now I am symptom free. I did read that it has an added good by making the blood flow more smoothly through the heart and so deter clots from forming.

[P0rtnahapp1e]

I'm on 187.5 micro grams of Digoxin a day with no ill effects so far, (since September), although I have frequent blood tests to keep an eye on it.

[pip_pip]

I had nothing but serious problems with Digoxin. Dark thoughts and other stuff. Diltiazem is my choice, with Bisoprolol.

[MarkS]

I was on diltiazem when I had AF and it worked very well for me. Digoxin does have a lot of negative effects, so for me it would be a no-brainer.

[Florence-Nightingale]

Thank you all for your input.

[Denise-]

My mum was on digoxin for over 30 years, she was 91 when she died, so perhaps its not all bad