i too have Atrial Fibliration & am on Cardizem 360mg & Digoxin but still have quite a bit of bad irregular heart beats & my Cariologist is wanting to try that amiodrone on me too & wondering if it helped enough to make it worth while as she says it can be dangerous so wants to put me in the hospital when she first trys it on me so it scares me a little? What are your thoughts?

i too have Atrial Fibliration & am on Cardizem 360mg & Digoxin but still have quite a bit of bad irregular heart beats & my Cariologist is wanting to try that amiodrone on me too & wondering if it helped enough to make it worth while as she says it can be dangerous so wants to put me in the hospital when she first trys it on me so it scares me a little? What are your thoughts?

Hi fluffpuff,
Amiodarone helped me a lot. What I tried to do was weigh whether or not my immediate quailty of life was more important to me than the impending worry of the long term side effects amiodarone. My doctor never led me to believe I would always need to take it. I have been on it and off of it twice. The last time I was taken off I had to go back on because the arrythmias came right back after 6 weeks and I was feeling badly. They start you out with this large dosage (called a loading dose) and taper off how much you take. Over a period of time, my doctor decreased the dosage to about as low as you can go. I asked to decrease and take it every other day. She said we should try to go off of it again and this time increase the Beta Blocker. So far, I have done ok. I can tell a difference being off of the medication, but I don't think it is enough to warrant me going back on the medication. I was scared to death when I was first put on the medication, but if you need it and you trust your doctor... Ask if your doctor thinks you need to take the medicaiton indefinitely or will you possibly be able to come off of it.
Good luck and please let me know what you decide to do. I am certainly here for you. Remember, I have been though this.

When I was first diagnoised with a-fib and flutter I went to a female EP. One of the first things she had me do was keep track at what time of the month my a-fib would act up. She told me there is definitely a link between rhythm problems and a womens monthly cycle due to hormones.

I now KNOW that there is a connection between hormones and arrhythmias. After looking for a year and a half, and 4 doctors later, my cardiologist found a link between Yasmin and PVCs in 2 other women my age. If he hadn't been so observant, we might never have found the cause, but I stopped taking Yasmin 2 months ago and have only had 1 episode in that time. I was having them daily before stopping the medication. Your situation is a little different, but hormones can definitely wreak all kinds of havoc in your body--EVEN WHEN THE DOCTORS SAY THE CAN'T! Good luck to you in your search. :)

i told my doctors that every month two days before my cycle i would have them over the years they got progressively worse and the last four months have set me into major arrythmia attacks....now i am just waiting to see if early april i will have one due to my last ablation they seem to think they got the two major ones..im not on any medications now for it.