Does anyone here have experience with the supplement ‘Berberine’?
Berberine is suggested in this scientific article in PubMed as a replacement for Amiodarone:
“Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of bioactive natural product berberine in the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Data of 45 paroxysmal AF patients treated with berberine and 43 age, gender, New York Heart Association functional classification score, and concomitant cardiovascular disease matched patients treated with amiodarone were analyzed retrospectively to examine conversion rate, average conversion time, average heart rate, and echocardiographic parameters. There was no statistical difference between berberine and amiodarone on conversion rate or echocardiographic parameters. Berberine treatment showed a significantly longer average time to conversion and higher heart rate during sinus rhythm (SR) than amiodarone. Echocardiographic parameters showed that E/A ratio and left atrial diameter were significantly improved after 6- and 12-month berberine treatment, but only E/A ratio improved significantly at the same time points after amiodarone treatment. This is the first report to specifically compare efficacy of berberine and amiodarone in the treatment of patients with AF. We find that berberine and amiodarone are equally effective for conversion of AF and maintenance of normal SR.”
I wonder now if anyone here has tried to substitute Amiodarone with Berberine.
If so, what was your experience? And did the weak anti-coagulation properties cause any trouble for those who are an other anti- coagulants?
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!
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Abbyroza
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We’re not allowed to post links here. Title is “Antimicrobial Natural Product Berberine Is Efficacious for the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation”. Date 2018.
Husband couldn’t tolerate Amiodarone due to (immediate) side effects and is still in persistent afib.
Got Berberine at home but not started it yet. Was going to use it to aid to lower cholesterol (only enough to get the doctors satisfied).
He takes apixaban and several supplements with mild anticoagulant effects (omega3 etc) and all is ok, personally I’m not worried about trying berberine, of course everyone’s physiology is so different…
l have just read the link of 3 years ago, thanks to ozziebob. I honestly can’t see this going anywhere, well l haven’t heard any info. since 3years ago and think this would be the first pit stop.
Amiodarone is a very powerful drug and any equivalent, l would imagine, would have to be fully researched. I can’t see this being done hastily, since there is no difference between the two. It wouldn’t be cost effective for big pharmaceutical.
From what l have read about Berberine it can be a very toxic supplement, so taken with other medications, l doubt if anyone has tried this. I may be wrong, but l think this has to be considered with caution and certainly not without medical advice.
I did say ‘can be’ as all supplements can. There are always side effects with supplements, but there is no research data on Berganine as to its safety, especially long term usage. It is not recommended by GPs because it has not been FDA approved. I would err on the side of caution because of its potency and possible affect on the heart in your particular case scenario and interaction with medications.
It’s Berberine I’m referring to. It is considered quite safe. Except for its possible interaction with anti-coagulation medication like edoxaban or warfarin. Then there is a possibility of increased ‘blood thinning’ in certain cases. That’s why I asked if anyone had taken it in such a combination.
On the other hand, if, as suggested in the paper, it is as powerful in stopping AF as Amiodarone, but without the serious side effects of the latter, Berberine sounds quite promising!
Yes, l agree with you, it does sound promising and hopeful, but at this moment in time, it is hearsay.. There is no research data to confirm that this is safe, neither is there evidence to justify its benefits. This is surely a concern? It is to me, especially where my heart is concerned. Let us know how you get on and l do wish you well.
Many natural plant based medicines have been used in various herbal medicines systems for hundreds if not thousands of years. A great deal of "research data" consists of clinical trials done by interested bodies ie pharma companies. Lots of pharmaceutical drugs make it to market touted as safe and effective which turn out to be neither . Despite evidence of this it is often very difficult due to the power of Pharma to get these drugs withdrawn or even get a black box warning on them.
Yes, its not very toxic. I don’t think it’s toxic at all, unless somebody took very large amounts. Everyone is different but berberine is considered safe for most people. Keep researching and everyone makes their own decisions.
I tried it. After a few days, I developed a headache, which is a possible side effect of the supplement. When I stopped it, the headache disappeared. I was sorry it’s not for me. It has lots of potential benefits.
I seem to remember reading an article about a hospital in China doing a lot of research on Berberine for AF. You can find a paper on Wiley. There are also articles on science direct site and in US cardiology journal. I don’t recall though seeing anything there about the interaction with anticoagulants.
If you look on PubMed however you will find an article on interaction between Rivaroxaban and Berberine called Safety First.
I think many supplements interact with anticoagulants so would err on the side of caution, however, think I would prefer Berberine to Amiodarone any day BUT I would want to be monitored by a medicallly competent and qualified doctor but looks like you may not find one outside of China who would work with that.
This conclusion is partly what I suspected: “… it increased rivaroxaban concentrations by up to 50%. Therefore, we hypothesised that in the present case, berberine inhibited the metabolism of rivaroxaban, resulting in ALI. This was supported by the temporal commencement of berberine”.
I shall ask my cardiologist if, in a case like this, reducing the dose of anti-coagulation would have sufficed to prevent overdosing.
I am only taking natural supplements st this stage for my paroxysmal AF (diagnosed in April). I will defintely look into Berberine (have read of its benefits for other things as well). I dread the side effects of pharmaceutical meds (sotalol is the one recommended for me). I also read on this forum from one person that ivermectin had been keeping their paroxysmal afib at bay. I want to research that as well. I was not recommended an anticoagulant by the cardiologist who saw me.
The need for anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is assessed using the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, which estimates the risk of stroke in these patients. This score guides clinicians in deciding whether to initiate anticoagulation therapy.
Each risk factor is assigned points as follows:
• C: Congestive heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction (1 point)
Actually, with a chads score of zero here in uk anticoagulation is not recommended, rightly or wrongly, i have afib approx 35 years and no anticoagulant until i reach 65 which will give me a score of 1.
The cadiologist who saw me is also an EP. He only spoke to me for about 5 minutes. He said my (I am 61) lung and heart xray were all good and thst there was little risk of stroke.
This is very interesting. I’m a great believer in natural meds as much as possible. I’m a retired nurse so definitely approach medications with caution. I have persistent AF diagnosed a few years ago. Am 75. I also have osteoarthritis, quite badly in my hands which are very painful but because I am taking Apixaban I can only take paracetamol for pain. I’m not a fan of paracetamol so I take it only rarely when I can’t bear the pain any longer.
Before AF diagnosis I was taking Turmeric tablets which were enormously helpful as an anti inflammatory and therefore analgesic.
After diagnosis and subsequent Bisoprolol and Apixaban prescribing I researched Turmeric in relation to these drugs. It soon became clear that ALL natural supplements which worked as anti inflammatories also seemed to have, in varying degrees, anti coagulant effects. So I stopped taking turmeric and now my hands are much more painful and swollen.
Several points:
At no time did the cardiologist nor my GP (several different GPs Infact) ask me if I was taking supplements, nor did they caution against certain supplements. GPs and probably most cardiologists know next to nothing about supplements, their actions nor their interactions with conventional meds. But they should at least ask the questions.
Big Pharma are never going to fund research which may result in patients being able to buy alternative treatments cheaply over the counter.
An E/R doctor had me stop taking tumeric, they this same doctor put me on a heart medication that aggravated my asthma (I have since been able to stop that medication). I understand why I need to take Eliquis (and would not stop taking it) but I wish it didn't keep me from also taking tumeric. Tumeric helped control my osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia pain with no noticeable side effects.
I am taking Quercetain and Bromelain, Magnesium Taurate, Vit C, Vit D3 and K2, Ubiquinol (the reduced form of CoQ10), and Nattokinase (which is a natural blood thinner and antioxidant). I have checked that none of them interact eith each other.
I do not take turmeric tablets, but I use turmeric, all the 'chai' spices, fenucreek, amla, cacao and flaxseed at least 5 days a week on average (for example, in porridge, smoothies, green or herbal teas and/or coffee). Dr google tells me all of these things can increase the risk of bleeding when used with a DOAC. But I eat a whole-food plant-based diet with all these wonderful spices because I believe it is healthy for my body.
If conducted among a population eating a strict whole-food plant-based diet, I wonder what the drug trials for the different anticoagulants would have shown? There is some indication that high fiber intake interfers with the absorption of DOAC medications. Perhaps these two effects (high fiber decreasing DOAC availability and high intake of spices increasing the DOAC anticoagulant effect) balance out and perhaps not.
Often clinical trials for drugs have arms that take place in parts of the world where the diet is very different such as China or India. I doubt the people are told to adopt a SAD or Mediterranean diet for the trial.
😊 Yes I know what you mean but I guess I was referring to the loss of profits for the Pharmaceutical companies when the public have recourse to use alternatives.
No, on nothing but Bisoprolol and Lixiana for the moment. But my friend, a retired cardiologist with AF, is on long term Amiodarone and I would like to help him in finding an alternative.
I've taken Berberine to help with blood sugar after eating and it helps with weight loss (probably because of how sugar is processed). I was not aware of any dysrhythmia benefits so that is interesting if factual.
Sorry but it is nonsense to say that because something is not found in normal food it is not a natural element. It gains the classification of natural element simply by the fact that it grows in nature. Even plants that are poisonous are still natural. This is true for all herbal medicine. Some components of herbal medicine are indeed part of what is eaten on a daily basis but this varies widely depending on what part of the world one inhabits. Up till quite recently spices like cumin and turmeric would not be eaten in the UK. My mother never even ate garlic regarding it as something nasty, smelly and foreign. I agree that there is a risk with herbal medicines but there is also a risk with so called safe pharmeceutical products. I speak as a person who has been poisoned (I do not use the word lightly) by fluoroquinolone antibiotics . Out of the 4 times I have been given these only once was justified and this has compromised my health over a period of nearly 35 years.
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Amiodarone interaction with NOACs /warfarin
Avoiding permanent atrial fibrillation: treatment approaches to prevent disease progression.
Cryoablation or Drug Therapy for initial Treatment of atrial fibrillation.
Has anyone tried Berberine (supplement) for Afib? 
Ablation 4 maybe?
