Amiodarone Blues!: I have just been put... - Atrial Fibrillati...

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Amiodarone Blues!

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I have just been put on Amiodarone. On day 3 of the loading process (3 x 200mg/day) and already starting to feel rough - nausea and breathlessness which I hope will decrease once I am at the maintenance dose (200mg / day).

Quick question - has any of my fellow Amiodarone sufferers ever actually turned blue? I live in Scotland and hoping that the watery sunshine we get here wont turn me into a Smurf.

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9 Replies
Tramel profile image
Tramel

I am off amiodarone and feel like a different person😇

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50

I'm sure no one has actually turned blue, but a friend who took it for many years developed what I would call a ruddy complexion. I just thought he looked suntanned all the time. I took Amiodarone and had no noticeable side effects, but it did eventually have an effect on my thyroid function.

Jean

seasider18 profile image
seasider18

A friend in Edinburgh did around 1994, more grey than blue. As he came towards me it looked like a massive birthmark on his face and neck.

He had had a pacemaker fitted and had been told that he still needed to be on Amiodarone for life. He was one who always followed doctors orders but not that time. I can't remember how long it took to get back to normal.

hirwaun profile image
hirwaun

Oh dear cardio dr wants me to try this but I'm reluctant due to the side effects. Think I'll stay to my AF symptoms

Ashburton51 profile image
Ashburton51

I was put on Amiodarone following my ablation and cardioversion because the cardioversion didn't work. I am now on down to one tablet a day but have been rather lucky with no real side effects. I do however ensure that I use factor 50 sun cream on my face and neck and keep arms and legs covered up. Apparently you also have to do this for a few weeks after stopping the medication. It has put my heart back into NSR so it will have been worth it. I have another two weeks on one tablet a day and then will be stopping it. Fingers crossed it will have done its job.

I so miss not being able to sit in the sun.

My consultant was quite adamant that one year is the longest you can take this drug.

Ashburton - I'm still on three tablets a day. Feel like I have the hangover from hell but I will work it through in the hope that my body gets used to it. Apparently it takes 2 weeks for Amiodarone to have an effect, so I am hoping for a few more days of sunshine.

Thanks for your input - let me know how you get on.

gixxerboy profile image
gixxerboy

I was put on Amiodarone and it made me feel like I was cracking up and climbing the walls !!!!!!! changed me onto Digoxin am a different person now :)

Never saw a smurf in bonnie Scotland, only in the Northeast on a Saturday night lol

resmqme1065 profile image
resmqme1065

I was placed on amiodarone approximately 1 m post ablation. My heart was in afib/flutter and nothing else was getting me to NSR. I did not want to take it but placed on it 3M max.

I didn't handle much of the first week of the loading I was sleeping a ridiculous amount of time. One day I got out of bed at 10 am. By 1 I laid down and didn't wake til 6:30! I was reduced to 1 200 mg per day. I did not have an appetite, nothing tasted good. I lost 8#.

The sun did not bother my skin but I wasn't sitting at the pool. I was doing yard work though in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. No burn, no tan lines. My eyes were sensitive to light and sunlight. My body never felt like where it was in space and I was somewhat dizzy.

I have been in NSR which i was promised with amiodarone. I quit taking last week, 3 weeks less 3 M.

Some people have no problems with this drug. I may have experienced more than others or less. I also had a horrible cough while starting amiodarone. I did bring me into NSR. Will I stay in NSR? WHo knows. Another wait and see 3M game.....now think my mitral valve is the cause of my afib/flutter.

Judy

Have you seen the side effect of not being in direct sunlight? Mind you, it may not be on the Scottish version of the drug ;)

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