Amiodarone Replacement Gets the Fast Track
Posted on August 11th, 2008 by Mellanie
For those atrial fibrillation patients who are on amiodarone, or for those avoiding it, there is good news. Multaq® (dronedarone), a replacement for amiodarone, received priority review status from the US FDA. While amiodarone is among the most effective atrial fibrillation medications, it has major toxicity issues that dronedarone doesn’t display.
dear doctor,about 3 yrs ago they declared i had afib after rhymol ,coumidun,digitel and troprol it still was not under control.stopped rhymol and beta pace seemed to do it,then i felt that afib was back after 3 yrs,on june 9 08 i had a catheter ablation and am now on anmiodrone metroprol and coumidun and feel worst than i did 3 yrs ago.forgot to mention cardioversion has been done several times and once since the ablation.my blood pres is through the roof.never had a problem before.now they want to do an ibulitide drip and another conversion if that does not work.i have had it and feel like a lab rat,so i have canceled the drip.should i get a 2nd opinon or stay with this dr. thanks
Cheryl,
If you’re asking the question as to whether you should get another doctor, then you’ve lost faith in your current doctor and yes, you probably should get another doctor.
Are you seeing an electrophysiologist (EP)? If not, you should. That’s a cardiologist that specializes in heart rhythms. In easy to remember terms, you could think of an EP as more of an “electrician” whereas you could think of a cardiologist as more of a “plumber”.
If you need help finding an EP, check our Afib Services Locator (http://www.stopafib.org/find.cfm) or contact me privately by using our contact us form (http://www.stopafib.org/contact.cfm).
I’m not a doctor, just an informed patient, but I do notice that you are on metoprolol right now, which is the generic version of Toprol, which you were on. Both should help control blood pressure, but sometimes the generic isn’t as effective. In fact, a few months ago there were some alerts about the generic, metoprolol, so you may want to ask your doctor about that.
I can’t really comment on any of the other meds, but I think you need a second opinion, and perhaps to change doctors.
Good luck.
Mellanie