Pill in pocket?

[nymima01]

Good evening everyone - My Mother, aged 92, has had afib for over 30 yrs. It has always been paroxysmal. Lately she is having afib more and more and it is lasting for around 8 - 9 hrs a day. She is wondering if there is anything she could be prescribed that would lessen the number of hours she has an episode? I plan on calling her doctor on Monday to ask about this. I have heard of “pill in pocket” that some use for this type of episode. I’m wondering if this would help her?

[Hidden]

Hello nymima01

The short answer is yes in theory, dependent on how symptomatic she is.

The priority is consideration for anti coagulation for stroke prevention.

Has her AF been assessed by a cardiologist?

heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

[nymima01 in reply to Hidden]

TY for your reply. I should have gone into all her meds, but I didn’t. She has had afib for many any years. Always been under the care of a cardiologist. She always seems to be able to calm them down with meditation and breathing exercises, but lately they seem to be coming more and more and lasting longer. She is on Eliquis, metoprolol, levoxothyroxin, losartan, Lasix (40 mgs), Lipitor and magnesium. She has a pace maker for bradycardia. She was on tykosin and digoxin too for about 5 yrs, but her new EP/cardiologist took her off these 2 meds when she first started to see him about 2 yrs ago. He thought they weren’t helping her anymore. Since she is 92 yrs old, he felt she was on too much unnecessary medication and they weren’t benefitting her any longer.

While she’s always had to deal with these episodes for the past 30 yrs or so, it just seems they are coming on more and more and lasting much longer. I have read that this condition may progress. The doctor has offered her an ablation or to start amiodarone, both of which she turned down. She is very much afraid of surgery and amiodarone is not a good choice for her since she has macular degeneration and already has a thyroid condition.

She suffers all day sometimes and won’t go to the ER. She said she has gone in the past and they made things worse. Hence my question about pill in the pocket. I am going to call her EP tomorrow and tell him. Her scheduled appointment isn’t until November this year.

[Hidden in reply to nymima01]

Perhaps in the circumstances, her EP might consider restarting a small dose of digoxin regularly. Perhaps others may have some thoughts.

[nymima01 in reply to Hidden]

Yes - She didn’t seem to have any side effects from digoxin when she was in it previously. TY.

[Hidden in reply to nymima01]

My mother at 92 also had a pacemaker, and took digoxin with a diuretic, all without obvious problems. It was the warfarin that gave her trouble mostly.

[LindaDaisy in reply to nymima01]

Interested because I’m thinking about asking EP about pill in pocket for my PAF. About her not wanting to go to A&E, I’ve spent time in there and sometimes they treat elderly people badly. Not medically but they don’t always listen to them. I’ve heard very articulate 90+ people explaining their condition and the doctors take no notice.