My mother had double bypass for AFIB in May 2018. Her surgery was successful but not with some complications.
She had two ablations done prior to the bypass. Both being on 4/7/2017 and 11/13/2017. The first ablation procedure was stopped due to a wire nicking an artery. The second was a success.
The burning sensation she gets happens in the morning, usually. It's described as resting a hand on an open-flame. She gets it in her arms and chest. This will persist for 2-4 hours and seems to get worse with other pain meds. Probably everything.
She also may feel dizzy and or nauseous.
These were the medicines she has taken since ablations/bypass:
Ranaxa - 4/2018 - taken off due to extreme flushing, pains in arms - chest - lips - tongue and gums
Amlodipine Besylate (10m) 7/4 - 7/16/2018 - taken off due to flushing, extreme nausea, impacts GERDS
Metoclopramide 7/16/2018 - taken off due to pains in stomach
Antenolol, Carvedilol, Metropolol - taken off due to bystolic adverse reaction, chest burning, pressure, sweats, extreme flushing and hot flashing, tingling and burning of mouth - lips - gums and nausea
=========================
MEDICINES CURRENTLY TAKING:
Lexapro
Alpazolam
Aspirin
Eliquis
Irbesartan
Hydralazine
Omeprazole
Carafat
Pepsin
Atorvastatin
Fenofibrlate
Restatis
Bepreve
Calcium Folic Acid
====================
I've been trying to work with her on what she's been eating or doing when these attacks come on. There does not seem to be any clear indication or she is not being 100% cooperative. Regardless, the attacks come on either at night or early morning (i.e. 5-8am)
My mother has developed some intense anxiety and is beyond stressed out. I can only imagine what's happening to her is being amplified by these stressors.
The next area up Rheumatoid but the list is dwindling. I certainly hope it is just a matter of time because i can't possibly think of anything worse than having a mother who taught her children to be strong and never give up - constantly breaking down and losing hope and crying, "Why me?"
Has anyone else experienced these symptoms with the ingestion of Amiodarone? and if so, did time or any other remedies solve this issue?
I would greatly appreciate any and all input.
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She had an ablation done (twice) and double bypass due to plaque buildup. This was supposed to fix her afib issues according to the doctors. As was the ablation.
She doesnt get afib as often pre-surgery but she still gets it.
Tell her to stay strong and to do a healthy journey to get well 🌸
Firstly a bypass CABG is not to cure or stop AFIB
But the operation caused have triggered it maybe or her CVD
Secondly if the amiodarine is making her feel so ill she needs to go back and explain to doctor it’s making her worse
And maybe to change it
What could help her is positive thinking in theses times
For example buy a nice flowered journal and she can start writing when afib starts how she feels what makes her worse or better and she will see a pattern and from there go in to change her lifestyle
Mindfulness is amazing on utube
If it’s the meds that causing the problem it’s nit going to go away with other meds just more side effects which she does not need
She needs to change meds
Anxiety can trigger
plus u have not said when she had the cabg ablation was is recently ?
Inflammation is a major cause for afib as well so plenty of antioxidants in herbs or foods must be organic
She needs to be looked at holisticly
Maybe a natural path nutritionist would be the way to support her as if the cells have been damaged and they have
she will need vitimans to heal
Doctors have no module in there training for nutrition
Health issues needs to address the whole person dealing with it on a separate issue does not work
Her rheumatoid problem is linking to other issues
You your self need to have some time to unwind 🌸mindfulness will help u all to heal
all have us at times in our life have bleeps sometimes good comes out of these bleeps
Just she has to relax be calm research and make journals if it’s her thing it does help
The doctors she has did not want to put her on Amiodarone. I should have been a bit more descript in my initial response. This was a last resort medicine as none of the medicines (and she's tried them all) were working.
I am not sure she has positive thinking in her. As mentioned in another reply she gives up and in very easily. So easily that this occurs on level 1 out of 10. I have been trying to get her to remain or become positive but in her state she would rather cry, complain and focus entirely on what's happening vs trying to do something else to possibly take her mind off of things.
I have suggested she write everything down when it happens - which she has been doing.
She had an ablation either in Dec of 2017 or January 2018. I want to says he had two as the first procedure had to be stopped due to a nicked artery. But, i think 3-6 months is needed to heal? It's possible a second ablation was scheduled until the plaque was discovered. That could be where my confusing is on two ablations.
Sorry - I don't quite understand. May I ask some questions? (No need to answer if you prefer not) Do you really mean all this has happened since April this year (2018)? What do you mean by 'burning'? (How old is she?) Do we understand that she is no longer taking amiodarone?
Aslo, if you listed here the medicines she is taking someone might be able to identify which one(s) might be causing the problem, which might give you some clues.
I also suggest you speak to your pharmacist, explain the symptoms, and ask if he/she thinks a combination of two or more of the medicines might be the problem.
(I do just wonder if she is waking early, on her own, panicking because it all seems so much worse at night, and hence bringing on some of the symptoms. Can she be helped to respond more positively when she wakes up? Plenty of water to drink may help - dehydration can happen overnight and make everything worse, and a radio to give her company until other people are around . . .)
I am certain she has had two ablations this year. Which is odd since i know time is needed after the operation to heal.
I went on a cross country trip in 2017 and returned in dec. From that point on my family and i have rushed her to the hospital 7 or 8 times.
It was then suggested she go for an ablation. The wires nicked an artery and the procedure had to stop. The dr mentioned he believes he got 2 sides out of 4.
Maybe only one ablation was done but after some scans, it was determined her arterywas filled with plaque. A bypass was suggested.
As for her burning. She described it like putting a hand on an open grill and leaving it there. This is accompanied by what she describes as feeling sick (e.g. nausea) and dizzy.
She is 71.
She has been off Amiodarone for about 5 weeks. The 30th of this month will be when the medicine "should" be out of her body.
Here is a lit of medicine she was on and is currently on:
She is currently taking in any form:
Lexapro
Alpazolam
Aspirin
Eliquis
Irbesartan
Hydralazine
Omeprazole
Carafat
Pepsin
Atorvastatin
Fenofibrlate
Restatis
Bepreve
Calcium Folic Acid
Omega 3
Magnesium Tauraate
Coq10
Fish Oil 1000
Vit E
Glucosamine
Vitamins C
Multi-vit/min
===NO LONGER ON===
Ranaxa - 4/2018 - taken off due to extreme flushing, pains in arms - chest - lips - tongue and gums
Amlodipine Besylate (10m) 7/4 - 7/16/2018 - taken off due to flushing, extreme nausea, impacts GERDS
Metoclopramide 7/16/2018 - taken off due to pains in stomach
Antenolol, Carvedilol, Metropolol - taken off due to bystolic adverse reaction, chest burning, pressure, sweats, extreme flushing and hot flashing, tingling and burning of mouth - lips - gums and nausea
Prior to Amiodarone she had none of these symptoms only afib.
There is no helping her. She gets very upset and just says shes trying. Ever since i can remember she has been doom and gloom the instant something goes wrong. And when the fix takes time but she will go into panic mode.
I have tried helping to find her hobbies or something to do when these episodes happen. Instead of her living in darkness and only dwelling on her problems but she isnt receptive to any of that. She will sit in her chair and stair.
Shes more worried of what she is doing to the family and we quickly tell her that is nonsense.
I will show her this thread when she is stable. I woke up about 20 minutes ago and thought she was ok as i heard no commotion. Midway through typing this i heard ger crying, again.
Can't seem to edit my post and when i do its very difficult.
So, if anyone see's this. The burning sensation she gets happens in the morning, usually. It's described as resting a hand on an open-flame. She gets it in her arms and chest. This will persist for 2-4 hours and seems to get worse with other pain meds. Probably everything.
You must understand that I am no expert, but here are my 'thoughts' which may give you some ideas as to what to work on. The pepsin, and everything from calcium downwards are food supplements, which should be working to build her up. The rest are drugs which you need to look at carefully. I notice she doesn't have any B vitamins, apart from folic acid and the multivit (from a health food shop is best). B vitamins are essential for nerves (will she eat marmite or it's equivalent?) and the burning sounds like a nerve problem. I have been reading that Alpha Lipoic Acid (another supplement) is excellent for dealing with nerve damage, though it will take a while.
Is she small? I wonder if she is on standard amounts of these drugs, where she would be better on a reduced amount because of weight.
She sounds depressed to me. (I am 70 and would also be fighting depression if I was suffering with that lot!) She also sounds as though she has strong reactions to all drugs. (This is typical of someone with CFS) I assume that you have checked thyroid (amiodarone is notorious for causing problems with that) and her sugar levels are well within the normal range (high blood sugar can cause nerve damage).
Hospitals tend to put people on loads of drugs and send them off, but the patient doesn't necessarily need them all long term. I would want to find out exactly what each is meant to do, and then discuss with your doctor whether she really needs them all, or, if she does, if the doses can be decreased.
Atorvastatin (a statin) can block other things in the body - does she really need it? Doctors like it 'to reduce inflammation' or 'cholesterol', but our bodies don't like it. Is her cholesterol really high?
And what is her diet like? Both these can be changed through diet eg, decrease sugar (sugar tends to increase pain), cut out processed food (bad fats) and eat real food - fruit, veg, nuts, beans, with possibly a little dairy, some eggs, meat (less red meat, more white).
Probiotics (another supplement) are also very important (eg yoghurt or similar, but best as a tablet from the health food shop)
The Eliquis is an anticoagulant (essential for the AF to prevent stroke).
I suggest you discuss the mixture of all of them with the pharmacist, and see which ones concern him, and then discuss with your doctor which ones you can phase out or decrease. The pain may well come from one or more of these, not necessarily from the amiodorone, which may take much longer than you hope to go.
Hope something here helps! Please let us know how you progress . . .
PS I have just read that lack of Vitamin B12, which often happens to elderly people, especially those taking a lot of medicines which use it up, could definitiely cause burning, depression and other things. It should be taken with a general B vitamin tablet, as they all work together, and you need to buy methylcobalamin which is natural B12, not cyanocobalamin which is synthetic and not nearly so well used by the body. It is worth looking for the methycobalamin, and if you can get it 'with intrinsic factor' better still. This just means it comes with the means to absorb it. Probiotics will also help with the absorption.
Lack of Vit B12 could be the problem which is at the bottom of it all. It is possible to get a blood test to check, but it is not cheap. (Vegetarians are particularly prone to lacking this vitamin)
I really appreciate all your insight. You would be spot-on that she is depressed. I like to classify it as sadness but hey...
Funny that you mentioned the b12. Her GP mentioned she may have low b12 but was ruled out cause her legs hurt but that test was scheduled and now she's looking into getting it done next week.
As to your other questions:
She is 5'0 about and 132 lbs. She lost about 30 pounds since the bypass in May.
Her diet is pretty clean. She is on a restricted calorie diet. 2-4oz of meat, low sugars/carbs. She eats brown rice, vegetables, fish, chicken, turkey, pork. Mostly chicken and vegetables (green beans, carrots, spinach, broccoli etc).
She will cheat once and awhile and very rarely eats processed foods aside from a snack once or twice a week...if that.
She does eat yogurt, daily and seems to be drinking ensure ( i guess for the extra calories as she has a hard time eating throughout the day).
132 lbs is just under 60kgs, which is the cut off point for taking a lower amount of Eliquis ie 2.5mg instead of 5mg. Which one is she on? This may well be the cut off point for lower amounts of some of the other drugs. This is something you could discuss with your doctor, especially is she is continuing to lose weight.
(Definitely follow up that B12. Lack of it would be having profound effects on her, and so replacing it could make a very real difference)
Thanks again, Polski. The b12 is still in-the-works. She saw a heart doctor today and her diagnosis on my mother was Fibromyalgia. Apparently, from what i was told with this type of surgery it isn't uncommon for the symptoms in the OP to manifest.
She was given medicine and will be working with this doctor to make sure they figure it out.
So, we will see.
I will keep this post updated as i get the information.
I am suprised she is on Elequis and aspirin, they are both blood thinners, I tried Elequis, which made me sick, headaches, felt dreadful on them, now back on Warfarin, which in itself is not a good drug but have given me no side effects like the Elequis.
Wanted to give an update for any of those curious. My mother is nearing her Amidarone half-life. She since has seen a Rhumatoid doctor and has now been passed off to another doctor but they have her on cymbalta and that has been helping with her flare-ups.
Its believed she does not have Fibromyalgia but some fibro nueropathy i think it is. So now we are going down that route.
She is way better and happier and all of us are in return happier.
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