Dronedarone

[Trout7]

Started my Dronedarone two days ago and my breathing has become laboured and ive had a few dizzy spells, is this normal ? Seems to be worse lying down. I feel like stopping the tablet.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

Dizziness and labouring breathing ring Drs. I had to stop the extra Metoprolol.

Do you get asthma?

cherio JOY. 75. (NZ)

[Trout7 in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi, no I don't dont suffer from Asthma. Doctor examined me and said chest etc was all clear and told me to stop taking the Dronedarone as one of its serious side effects is breathing problems. I'm Now back on flec and awaiting word from the cardiologist to see where we go next.

[john-boy-92]

You may have a rare reaction to dronedarone and amiodarone called pulmonary toxicity or cryptogenic organising pneumonia. It wasn't until my third admission to hospital - fortunately a specialist lung centre - that I was correctly diagnosed. The symptoms are a dry non-productive cough, a crackling sound from the lungs known as Velcro crackles as it sounds like Velcro strips being pulled apart, and failure to respond to any antibiotics. Frequently wrongly diagnosed as community-acquired pneumonia, but the sounds are from a different position in the lungs and, the gold standard test - it does not respond to antibiotics. Blood oxygen decreases gradually. At around 92% it reaches a 'knee' and then drops in a straight line. Mine was at 76% when picked up by a GP who sent me to A&E, where I was hypoxic and very close to critical that night. A paper was written by the consultants who treated me, and published by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh: "Organising pneumonia due to dronedarone" R Coll Physicians Edinb 2015 45: 213–4 dx.doi.org/10.4997/JRCPE.20... © 2015 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

In hospital, my blood oxygen didn't respond to 4 litres/minute of oxygen by nasal cannula. Ultimately, I was on 25 litres/minute of oxygen, although the Ward limit was 20 litres/minute. I was also injected with a corticosteroid.

Hopefully, this is not what you have, but you do need to get it checked by a clinician who is aware that dronedarone may cause pulmonary toxicity.

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to john-boy-92]

Hi

My friend 82 is finally improving from Crytogenic Organizing Pneumonia. I diagnosed it - her brain all over the place.

She started off with a flu-like diagnosis but given an antibiotic amoxil them UTI diagnosed but no such thing ( Nurse Practitioner). I said take her to the Dr.

She ended up in hospital for assessment as her brain was all over the place. Not making sense. Awful thinking.

Apparently it isn't pneumonia but infection in the tubes in lungs.

It's been 4 months and her head is right again. She has gained 6kg - good she was too skinny. She walked at 81 years then 2 consecutive days in a group walking 12-14kms.

Glad she is improving but no driving.

It can be caused from a med, infection, some uTI meds can cause it...

cherio JOY. 75. (NZ)

[Trout7 in reply to john-boy-92]

Thank you, i will be mentioning it to my Doctor.

[Midnight2022]

I certainly haven’t had those symptoms with dronedarone. I’ve been on it for six months or so and in that time I’ve had only three episodes of AF all of which reverted by themselves. I think you should consult your doctor.