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Originally Posted by gle56 I would like to hear from those of you that are taking this medication or have taken it for Atrail Fib. I may go on this medication and want some advice from all. Thank you and any response will be apprecaited. - gle |
Ahhhhh, I think you mean amiodarone. Am I right?
It is a good medication, though not the first line of treatment for atrial fibrillation (once again, I speak from my location Ontario, Canada). With atrial fibrillation there are two problems
#1. The heart is often beating very quickly
#2. The heart is beating irregularly
The problem with atrial fibrillation is mostly because it increases the risk of stroke greatly....so we want to treat it...how do we do that? Well, there's a couple of things you have to think about
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At least conceptually, you want to not only make the heart beat at a regular pace, but also you want to have it beating regularly; however, studies have shown that the you don't necessarily have to treat the irregular beating, but only the rate to reduce the stroke risk. So normally they will put a person in afib on a beta blocker to reduce the heart rate.
You CAN try to treat both of the problems, and that is usually done with amiodarone. The problem with it is that it has a lot of side-effects, most notably with causing scarring in the lungs if used for a long time. It also has a very high concentration of iodine in it, so it CAN be rough on the kidneys and the thyroid as well.
Did the doctor do any pulmonary testing on you before s/he put you on the amio?
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