https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/05/18/antibiotics-and-sudden-death/

[Delle]

This is the main reason for my earlier post...but it's been lost in the test....curious to know who others feel about taking antibiotics whilst having A Fib....:/

All views most welcome..thank you

peoplespharmacy.com/2012/05...

[Hidden]

Sorry link not opening probably user error. Don't often use antibiotics but why would AF make me reluctant?

[CDreamer]

Link worked for me, frills you probably need to update your browser and don't use Explorer.

They are talking about a specific class of antibiotics, not all antibiotics and yes like all meds, they can have undesirable effects, doesn't mean they will.

Personally I only take antibiotics for serious conditions - I can only take a limited spectrum of antibiotic anyway and those mentioned I have to avoid along with Telithromycin.

I think I have had 2 lots of antibiotics in the last 35 years. They mess up your gut health - it's taken me 5 months to get to where I was before the last dose taken for a serious UTI.

However, they also prevent some pretty nasty infections from killing you and without them we wouldn't have any surgery. Risk to benefit, risk to benefit, there is no black and white.

As far as I am concerned I am more worried about antibiotics and my Myasthenia, if I had to take them.

[BobD Volunteer]

Many of the drugs mentioned have US names not familiar to us here in UK but surely there are a number of factors here.

Yes NSAIDs have been linked to causing AF since the study in Denmark probably six years ago and this is well known and flagged up here on every possible occasion. Nothing new there.

Yes many anti-arrhythmic drugs can be pro-arrhythmic in some people. This is also well known and no secret. Nothing new there either.

The percentage of deaths is actually very small and one must question whether those deaths would have occurred in any event being mindful of the pre existing heart conditions.

Yes the world has been over prescribing antibiotics for many years and as a result many bugs are now resistant to some of the most common ones. We may not like them but they do save many more lives than they cost and the world may find out soon just what it is like without antibiotics. Think back 70 or so years before even penicillin was common and how many people died from simple infections. I hope and pray we never descend to that level again.

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

The voice of wisdom again Bob

[Rellim296 in reply to BobD]

If you happen to look at the memorial of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for WW1, you'll see that for some reason the names are divided into three: Killed in Action, Died of Wounds and Died of Disease. There are more names in the latter category than in the first two put together. I find this statistic very shocking, given that vets would be men with far more medical knowledge than the average soldier.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Rellim296]

proved my point I feel

[Bagrat]

Interesting though this article is, it is very difficult for someone to write so that non medical folk can understand it and are drawn to read it without skewing the information in some way. Medicine as a specialty is all about the balance of improving quality of life and may involve statistical risk. We all have different attitudes to risk and though I am usually risk averse the improvement in QOL for me from taking Flecainide ( for example)in spite of dire warnings on the data sheet, is worth it for me. For a lot of people the group of antibiotics referred to including erythromycin make one feel rubbish anyway and I avoid them after crippling abdominal pains.

Once again we have to wend our way through the minefield that is information and please stick to websites that offer a balanced view.

[Finvola in reply to Bagrat]

I agree and find that particular website to be too sensationalist and tend to avoid it for more balanced ones.

[Plantwords]

'Z Pac" as this antibiotic is commonly referred to in Canada is contraindicated for people with AF. I had an infection in 2014 for which I was prescribed this drug at the tail end of my treatment to finish off another antibiotic. I subsequently discovered that it can cause sudden cardiac death in persons with AF. I brought this to the attention of my GP and I am now flagged not to be prescribed this drug ever. Antibiotics can also cause thyroid issues which is problematic for AF people. In the course of taking high dose antibiotics, I developed a nodule out of nowhere several weeks after I finished taking antibiotics. AF people need to be extra cautious with any pharma.