My doctor wants me to take Diltiazem for my heart rate and blood pressure, has anyone had any side effects from this drug! I will take 120 mg with Diliazem and also one half pill of Metropolo in the morning and one half at night! I have Afib!
Has anyone taking Diltiazem have any ... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Has anyone taking Diltiazem have any side effects?
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BaileyC57
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Yes especially when uploading it. Because it works on the smooth muscle of the body it can cause the oesophagal sphincters to relax. I had awful heartburn for a few weeks till I realised. I also got skin.flushing. I think I was on too high a dose for quite a while, so this contributed to that. The flushing is noted on the leaflet that comes with your pills. I'm not sure if the acid reflux is mentioned but any good laryngologist would confirm it. I'm.glad now to be off it buy that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it, or that you'll have these side effects.
What was the dose of Diltiazem did you take?
Started with 200mg prolonged release. TBH I think it was always too high a dose for me. And when I lost over a stone due to digestive issues (wasn't overweight) it was definitely too much.
You were taking Tildiem, yes? You seem to have been very unlucky with the side effects.
What were your digestive issues please? How long did it take to resole? I was on it as well, (stopped now) my stomach has not been the same since, but unsure if the PPI caused this as was on that as well (stopped now) never had an acid problem in my life pre these meds. I too did like the idea of the affects on the LES -that's okay with me.
Opened up my lower oesophagal sphincter and I think maybhave contributed to a sliding hiatus hernia. I had awful heartburn - symptoms of HH very similar to heartburn attack so during early days of the pandemic I was frankly terrified. I worked out what was going on by looking up hiatus hernia symptoms on the British Hernia site. I then set about fixing it with diet using an excellent book on acid reflux. Highly recommended
Acid reflux diet book
I had similar symptoms' heartburn and abdo pain for hours, even though I'd never had acid problems in my life. What are you taking now instead?
Is there is an alternative to Diltiazem which doesn't affect LES? I can not take Beta Blockers (couldn' function) My system is intolerant to some meds
I have mild side effects but I prefer them to the effects of fast AF.
That sounds positive , thank you! What mild side effects did you have?
Some fluid retention but that happens with AF anyway if it goes on for too long, constipation on a high dose. I do get occasional flushing but as it’s on and off I’m not sure it’s related to diltiazem.
It's a listed side effect. I didn't get it all the time though. And BaileyC57 it definitely makes you photosensitive! Cover up well in the sun.
I don’t take Dilitiazem but read a fairly common side effect can be fluid retention (ankles swelling, etc)
JOY2THEWORLD49 has been helped very much by Dilitiazem. Perhaps she will comment.
I’ve taken 120mg for years, the only other medication I take is Apixaban and I am not aware of any side effects…….
I've been taking once a day 120 mg extended release diltiazem because of diagnosis in emerge of atrial flutter starting a year ago. Do not have a problems with swollen ankles or digestion issues. Though diltiazem makes me slightly tired which is due to the lowering of my sitting blood pressure which on average is 93/55. My blood pressure before my atrial flutter diagnosis was normal range so it does make sense the med would lower it more. My only concern is my bpm which are okay at approx 60 bpm, but when sleeping goes to approx. 45 bpm which I'm careful to be certain it doesn't go lower. If you already have raised blood pressure even slightly you should be okay on diltiazem. Saying that, I'll take stick with the low blood pressure rather than in emerg with the out of control crazy atrial flutter.
Diltiazem does pretty much what Metoprolol does, but many find it more tolerable in terms of side effects. That may be why your doctor added Diltiazem to the mix, rather than increase your dose of Metoprolol. If you haven't been tolerating Metoprolol so far, down the road you might ask to be switched over to Diltiazem completely.
Edema (swelling) of ankles and feet is not uncommon, but many don't get it. I also find it lowers my exercise heart rate by 10 beats, but probably less than Metoprolol does. Give it at least a month so your body will get used to it.
Heartburn has been mentioned, which is a listed side effect of calcium channel blockers, however less so with Diltiazem and I haven't seen too many people with that complaint, but we all handle these medications differently.
You didn't mention if you were in afib or not, but if not, both of these drugs are questionable, as they are weak anti-arrythmic's and function best bring down the heart rate which really isn't necessary in most cases if you're not in afib. There are also better blood pressure medications than Dilitazem, even in the same class, such as Amlodipine.
Jim
Yes, it's a balancing act between efficacy and side effects. In other words, what combination of diltiazem and metoprolol will keep your heart rate down with the least amount of side effects. It may involve some experimentation, with your doctor on board, of course.
Jim
I've been using Diltiazem since Dec. 2018. I haven't noticed any side affects. I'm 69
I had issues with weight gain from metoprolol so my doctor switched me to Diltiazem. No side affects at all. I like it. 120mg daily. My doctor said very few people get the water retention. I have not had any issues with that. I can still take a pill in pocket of metoprolol if I need it for blood pressure but I have not needed it so far. I have had no AF since an ablation 2 and a half years ago but Diltiazem does a better job with BP and heart rate for me than metoprolol did.
I have been taking metoprolol for 5 years, did you gradually get off metoprolol for cold turkey?
The only side effect I notice is constipation - I take Tildiem 300LA
I have most of the mentioned mild side effects, flushing a bit, tiredness, puffy ankles but the one that was difficult at first was. constipation. Better than AF!
Hi, I have been taking 300 la Tildiem for 2 years and constipation is the only side effect for me.
Hi
Diltiazem should be separated like AM CCB and PM for BB. But Metoprolol is not for AFers so try Bisoprolol at night.
I have Diltiazem 120mg AM. 60s H/R Day
Bisoprolol 2.5mg PM. Controls BP
No side effects.
Cheri JOY
Shortly after taking my first dose of diltiazem I passed out and ended up in A&E. They couldn't find any cause other than possibly the new medication which they thought might have caused a sudden drop in blood pressure.
Have been on half a tablet twice a day since with no problem.
Xx Moy
I have been taking 180mg Dilatziam for over three years with no side effects. It has worked well for me. Good luck!
I was put on Diltiazem 240mg for blood pressure when other tablets made me cough. This was about 13 or so years ago. Then about 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with PAF and the dosage was increased to 300mg. Have never had any problems touch wood
I was put on it a cou[ple of years back and, after taking it for just a few days, I had a severe reaction to it and finished up in hospital. The symptoms were as described in the leaflet as "requiring immediate medical intervention" but basically, my heart rhythm was all over the place in a roller coaster o0f values, a very dry mouth and loss of mental acuity. After stopping it, I had several more attacks over the next couple of months but the symptoms diminished every time so I didn't need to go back to hospital but I did have an ambulance in attendance during the second attack. Eventually, the attacks stopped completely and I am now back in asymptomatic AF, just as I was before taking that particular drug.
Was you taking Dilatiazem?
Yes, at the lowest effective dose.
I was put on it when in hospital with an arrhythmia which turned out not to be AF but I was given it for rate control. Took one tablet and woke next day covered in a rash. |I| was told not to take any more although I do react very badly to fillers and colourings in tablets so it could have been that rather than the actual drug
No issues at all 
When first diagnosed with af two years ago, I was on Multaq & Dilatiazem 180. Multaq caused my liver values to go wildly out of range, so Multaq was stopped & Dilatizem was increased to 240.No further problems. Had a successful ablation 6 months ago, now on Dilatiazem 120 plus Xaralto. No side effects or problems at all.
Unfortunately, when I went on 180 mg Diltiazem, I also cut out caffeine (cold Turkey) and went on a diet.
So my system went pretty haywire with lots of anxiety. I thought Diltiazem was dropping my HR too low and I was experiencing anxiety from, but also know it could be the AF diagnosis.
I have now been on it for 7 months, I don't experience any side affects whatsoever at this point. I like the dose level. I did not think it helped with the AF, now not so sure.
Hope any of that helps
When I'm curious about side effects of any medication, I just put the name of the medication in my search engine of my computer followed by "patient reviews", and you will get information from many others taking that medication and you will see there are many more side effects than is listed on the insert. Of course, on this sight, you also get true responses. You just get a large variety when you search your computer. Good and bad but honest.
No side effects whatsoever (180 extended release). I could not tolerate side effects of beta blockers, such as no energy, exhaustion. Diltiazem was complete godsend for me.
I had a very bad reaction to this and it ended up with my heart and lung consultants having an argument in the room with me outside. I was having Digoxin intravenous drips to get my heart rate down to safe levels and I was feeling very ill. It took a lot to get me off it as the Heart consultant just said it was an early settling in and after many weeks of attending a walk in Emergency clinic for my Digoxin for many weeks, they took me off Diltiazem! My Lung doctors have Diltiazem as a marker for bad reactions.
I will add I am a complicated soul with many conditions and certain drugs have been an issue. I cannot take water tablets for one due to a nasty pain I get in my kidneys within hours of taking. I am allergic to Iodine which came to light on my first Angiogram. Anaesthetic is not a fun thing as I have woken up in theatre twice now much to the shock of the peeps in there!
Be Well
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