How long after stopping diltiazem will my heart return to normal rate?

[FiveMilesSouth]

I took Azidem for ten days for Atiral Fibrillation. I had highly irregular and fast heart rate. I was in 90mg twice a day. My heart rate was obviously slowed by the med. The irregularity has gone. But my heart rate still is between 53-63 on resting. I’m sure it was a steady 72 beats per minute in the past.

I’m still waiting to see a cardiologist- it’s an 84 day wait where I am.

[rosyG]

I don't know the answer to this but wanted to say you shouldn't be concerned at this rate. My pulse is often 45 and the cardiologists think that's fine!!

[FiveMilesSouth in reply to rosyG]

Thanks. That’s helpful.

[Hidden]

For the standard rather than slow release diltiazem, I believe the usual elimination half life is below 6 hours. Which I think means at least 99% has been eliminated after 1 week.

[FiveMilesSouth in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Maybe my heart rate will always be this slow then. My worry is that my heart is in some way damaged / isn’t working as well as it should. I guess we all have to love with uncertainties.

[rosyG in reply to FiveMilesSouth]

My echo has always been fine my rate is probably lower cos if my age but it’s not thought to be s problem

[Hidden in reply to FiveMilesSouth]

Have you had your thyroid function tests checked recently, underactive thyroid can be linked with slower heart rates.

[KMRobbo]

I came off 200mg diltiazem after 10 months. I had problems with the drug, brain fog, exercise intolerance breathlessness and poor memory. I reduced the dose over a week before stopping completely.

I can't remember my blood pressure changing much but I can look at my stats tonight when I get home to confirm. However I can tell you it took over 4 weeks for the side effects to wear off, before I lost the brain fog and the poor memory and started to feel better despite the fact it has a small half life, so I would not panic yet.

How high was your afib and how long were you in it?

I did 7 days between 130 and 190 with afib.

I also spent 3 weeks at 140 with A flutter. I don't think either damaged my heart. So unless you have some other dramatic symptoms other than your low heart rate I would not worry too much at this time.

Worry causes more problems than most other things!

I am not medically trained just my recent experience.

Best wishes

[KMRobbo]

Just looked at my data - my HR is all over the place on my measurements ,bearing in mind i was checking BP more than Heart rate when I was taking the measurements. However there is no real change i can see either side of stopping taking the diltiazem.