Posted by Tim Hawkins on July 11, 2002 at 12:42:54:
In Reply to: amiodarone post maze posted by Pete Tabolt on July 10, 2002 at 22:59:51:
Pete,
In many ways you and I have been down the same road. I think that you are right on track to be drug free and in NSR.
As far as I know, I had flutter/afib for about 10 years before my Maze on March 29, 2002 at the CC by Dr. McCarthy. I first started out with flutter only occasionally when I did something like climb a mountain or went skiing. As the years went by, it became more frequent as is normal for most people. I finally had to admit that something was wrong. After cardioversion in Canada after a skiing trip the doctor put me on Amiodarone. He wanted to make sure that I stayed in NSR. I found out later that he was involved in a study involving Amiodarone and that he thought it was the best drug. After reading posts about the dangers long term from Amiodarone I decided to stop the drug after about 1 year. Soon I was back in and out of afib and flutter. I had RF ablation twice for the flutter and started on other drugs to control afib.
At the CC I stayed in the hospital for 5 days following the maze and in NSR without drugs. Two days after I left the hospital I was back in afib/flutter with a very fast rate. In the emergency room I was converted and sent home on Rythmol and toprol. About 10 days later I went back into afib for about an hour. The next day it happened again but lasted for 3 hours. I called Dr. Hammer at the CC and he increased my dose of Rythmol. That was on April 14th that I increased the Rythmol. I have not had any flutter or afib since then. I haven’t even noticed any PVC and only a very few PACs. I have now cut way back on the Rythmol and toprol. I will be off both drugs completely in about 2 weeks. I know that my local EP doctor was surprised that the CC brings patients in who are on drugs like beta blockers and just stops the medications without backing off slowly. She told me that rebound from abrupt stopping of beta blockers is common and that she wasn’t at all surprised that I went into flutter/afib just a few days after stopping my beta blocker and having the Maze.
I would bet that you would be able to stop the amiodarone in 3 or 4 months with going back into afib. I wouldn’t worry at all about taking that drug for just a short period of time. It seems that most people don’t have problems at first or early on. If it’s keeping you out of afib then I would take it until the heart has time to form scar tissue and block the electrical current that is causing afib.