Amiodarone Report

[GuyThoma]

Is Amiodarone the drug of last resort, which produces terrible side effects.

Or

The best drug for arrythmia?

My consultant says that it will improve the chance of a successful cardioversion and will help keep my heart in sinus rhythm afterwards. Amiodarone has already improved my heart significantly, as a result I am significantly less breathless and have more energy.

My advice is to give Amiodarone a try. Look at the percentages for the side-effects rather than rely on reports from ONLY those unfortunate people who can’t tolerate this anti-arrhythmic drug.

Nausea, constipation 30%

Photosensitivity 25-75%

Sleep disturbance 30%

Grey-blue skin < 10%

Ataxia, tingle fingers 3-30%

Bradycardia 5%

Hypothyroidism 4-22%

Hyperthyroidism 3%

Pulmonary toxicity 2%

Torsade de pointes <1%

Hepatitis <3%

Optic neuropathy < 1%

I have omitted Corneal depositions 90% because this is not a serious condition.

My condition is Atrial flutter, also Atrial fibrillation. Here are my experiences with Amiodarone scoring my discomfort out of 10:

Slight tummy rumblings 3/10 (1st day only). Stomach sensation at bedtime 1/10. Headaches 1/10. Vivid dreams 3/10. My point is while you may experience a side effect it may not be too inconvenient.

[jeanjeannie50]

Amiodarone damaged my thyroid and made it under active I'll now have to take medication for life to rectify that. At a local AF get together a few years ago, out of 21 that attended, 3 people had their thyroids damaged by this drug.

[GuyThoma in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Dear Jean

I am sorry to hear of your experience, and will ask to have my thyroid checked.

[Visigoth]

This is interesting - could I ask where you found these percentages? I’m on amiodarone and it has transformed my life (for the better I mean!) but of course I’m always wary of side effects taking it long term.

[GuyThoma in reply to Visigoth]

Dear Visgoth

I used PubMed as the research "vehicle" .

Efficacy of amiodarone for the prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence after cardioversion, table 6.

Efficacy of amiodarone for the prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence after cardioversion

Here is the URL

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Guy.

[Visigoth in reply to GuyThoma]

Thanks, that’s really interesting. And very positive!