Hello All!
I am pleased to have found this wonderful community, although no one goes looking for a reason to join an afib forum...
I was wondering if anyone else has had memory issues with diltiazem or other calcium channel blockers?
Also, is there anything you wish you had known at the start of your afib journey, or advice you would give your former self? So far I have been focused on the right electrolytes and the right EP, but the right philosophy also seems crucial...
Thank you so much.
I have been on diltiazem as well as amlodipine, another calcium channel blocker.
Now what was your question, again?
But seriously, no memory issues so far, and I prefer it to beta blockers which don't agree with me.
What would I tell my former afib self? Probably tell him to live as healthy a life as possible with more attention to exercise, diet, cholesterol, weight and blood pressure and blood sugar control. But my former self was more than 30 years younger, with the invincibility of youth, so not sure if he would have taken all the advice.
Maybe you can tell us a little more about yourself as to your age, afib history, symptoms and what interventions -- drugs or otherwise -- you have taken so far.
Getting a good ep is a very good start. But also independently do your homework, like you are starting to do here. Because there are several treatment approaches to afib and what's good for one person may not be the best for another.
Jim
AF is a long journey. AF won't kill you. There are no shortcuts and lots of diversions along the way . Accept your new life and work with it. Saying I want to be normal again is pointless. See an electrophsyologist early in your journey and engage with them regarding your treatment.
Remember that any and all treatment for AF is primarily for quality of life and no one treatment is the best. We are all different.
And be glad you haven’t got ……..(insert any one of a number of conditions here) because it does help to put things in perspective. My father had both AF and COPD so seeing that did give me an early advantage there 😕
PS AF can cause memory issues because of interrupted blood flow and therefore low oxygen to the brain. But if your Diltiazem dose is too high (I take it) it can affect thinking, I was like a zombi when my HR was in the 50s.
Hi Cabot, I’m sorry, I can’t answer your first question as I’ve not taken Diltiazem . As to your second question, it sounds as if you have made a great start on your AF journey. I’ve only been on it for 18 months or so officially but, after the initial “why me” period , I realised it’s my body trying to tell me something that I’ve been ignoring for years, in my case, that “something” is lifelong anxiety. So having AF has been a good thing for me, bizarre as it may sound and, as Buffafly says, it could be an awful lot worse. I’ve a long way to go in dealing with my anxiety issues but at least I’ve finally made a start!
The other suggestion I would make, as mjames has said, is to research and get an understanding of the condition. To that end, the book “The Afib Cure” by Dr John Day is an excellent place to start, in my view, not to mention the wealth of advice available on this wonderful forum😊
All the best to you in your journey, TC
Yes in the form of major forgetfulness and brain fog with it! The number of times I went to do something and by the time I got where I was going I had forgotten what I went to do! Just stood there wondering what I was supposed to be doing!
Clearly it was not total memory failure as I can remember the frustration!
When I eventually stopped diltiazem post ablation it took 4 to 6 weeks to get back to normal.
I was on 200mg modified release and I always thought it was too much. I got the dose reduced to 120mg for a while and it was better for exercise but I forgot to take a flecainide one night and went into high rate AFib in the morning. It was very difficult to get me out if high rate afib when I went in it so the local hospital cardiologist changed my prescription back without discussing it with me! They were happy to have me as a drugged Zombie so long as I was not with them !
Anyway as I was only 2 months off my ablation at that time so I did not make a fuss.
What I would do differently?
Have an ablation much sooner!
After my 3rd afib attack I should have realised it was not going away and pushed for it.
However I was very anti ablation, no way was anyone burning my heart!
20 months later on my 12th attack, 8 days at 165 to 195 bpm resting , 5 of them in hospital with the medics struggling to cardiovert me, and finally being cardioverted by flecainide infusion in the local hospital coronary care unit and I changed my mind! U - turn!
4 years 4 months with no Afib since the ablation. And no drugs for over 4 years now.
Thank you all for your wise words (and Jim's joke). Both are necessary in this battle!
My Afib story is a short one. It began out of the blue, at a time of great stress and an injury that kept me from doing much exercise. My heart was not pleased, as exercise has always made everything all right for me. I also think my vagus nerve was shot from the isolation of covid, and there were some other precipating factors.
At any rate, I ended up with a trip to the ER, was promptly diagnosed with Afib with RVR, converted with diltiazem and sent home with the same.
Over the ensuing months I learned I have reflux, positional and tyramine triggers and have embarked on a regime of lifestyle changes which seem to be helping. Magnesium has been a game-changer, as has Stanley Rosenberg's basic exercise, which I learned about on this forum. Little by little I am working on adding supplements.
My big issue right now is whether to go off diltiazem or not. On the one hand, why mess with success? My afib burden has been relatively light, about one episode a month that self-converts. If I go off diltiazem and start having high rate afib it could do some unwelcome remodeling.
On the other hand, memory issues are no joke and I don't want to get locked into a medication I will habituate to or that affects my memory long term. At this point I will probably try to go off it and hope I don't regret it. One thing that is unclear to be is the whole vagal/mixed etc. categorization, and where calcium channel blockers stand in terms of their efficacy for different types of afib. I am keeping the dilitazem because of its gentle antiarrhythmic properties, but if I am vagal and calcium channel blockers don't help with vagal afib then there isn't a point of staying on it.
I was glad to hear that KMRobbo's forgetfulness went away after stopping diltiazem. I hope that ablation holds for you, KMRobbo and that afib will a memory itself...
Thank you all again!
Hi again CabotThank you for sharing your story. I’m glad my earlier post gave you some ‘food for thought’ and I’m also pleased to hear of the positive effect the lifestyle changes you’ve implemented have already made. It certainly sounds like you’re on the right path.
I, too, was diagnosed with AFib with RVR in hospital and in my case, was converted with a Bisoprolol and magnesium drip. My episodes normally start in the small hours of the night, often with a digestive element, so I had convinced myself they were vagal in nature. When I was told to take Bisoprolol daily I was petrified it would make things a whole lot worse, as beta blockers are contraindicated for vagal AF. I resisted taking it for quite a while but after a spate of episodes I did start and….. it worked like a charm! Sorry to bore you with that story but I just wanted to say maybe don’t get too hung up on the different types of AF and what drugs work for which type etc. Certainly my cardiologist was very dismissive about that and it turns out he was right in my case!
I do sympathise with you wanting to get off your medication. The Bisoprolol makes me feel like I’m wading through treacle most of the day, as well as causing other side effects and I would love to come off it but it’s been successful, in that I’ve gone from several episodes a week to one in four months ( says she touching wood😊) I’m on the lowest dose but have nevertheless experimented with cutting the tablets in half to see if I can get to a point where I can take just enough to have the desired effect without so many side effects. Still experimenting on that one! My cardiologist knows what I’m up to - he just rolls his eyes😀 Please note I’m not recommending anyone else does that, of course! ( cut up tablets that is, not eye rolling😊)
The only other thing I’d mention is have you been tested for sleep apnoea? That’s another trigger for me and, as you are probably aware, undiagnosed sleep apnoea can be a cause of AF.
All the best TC
Yes I think we are in a similar situation and I am glad to hear your story. It is the treacle tradeoff -- stay on meds that affect the way you are in the world or risk the great unknown armed only with a PiP.
Thank you for your excellent suggestion regarding sleep apnoea, something everyone with Afib should probably consider. I was sent for a sleep test and the doctor who ordered it was shocked that it came back normal -- no one she had ever sent had come back with other than a diagnosis of at least mild sleep apnoea!
I also agree that getting a handle on gastro/reflux issues is key. I have gone in the direction of softer foods, avoidance of citrus and garlic, and staying upright for three hours after meals. It sounds draconian, -- and it is! But I prefer it to the alternatives. I had been on omeprazole in the past but one of the side effects for some is insomnia, and it turned out to be the case for me.
I am glad you have found a way through that has brought your Afib burden down. I wish you the best on your explorations regarding the minimum dosage of bisoprolol that keeps your Afib at bay.
First Post - Flecainide with Diltiazem
propranolol to diltiazem?
Bisoprolol to Diltiazem
A question about diltiazem.
Diltiazem and side effects
