Coreg and sotalol
Common Questions and Answers about Coreg and sotalol
coreg
I am taking sotalol for a-fib and alot of patients take that. It is specifically for a-fib and a-flutter. I don't have many side effects and it is working. He should ask his doc about having a ICD implanted and a pacing wire put in his atrium-that would also help. I don't know his whole story, but he should ask about it to see if he is a candidate.
I went to see 2 surgeons , one is in favor of heart transplant and the other one says that she can agressively treat me with drugs. My EF is under 20, and the lung pressure what that means is 12 and it should be 15. the suregeon who wants to treat me with drugs only did visual physican examination and MVO2 test. The other surgeon did heart cath. On echo my ef is between 20% to 25 percent, on nuclear stress test my ef is 13%, I able to do all the day to day chores without any problem.
Diagnosed with CHF and DCM in 1999. Probably tachycardia-induced. Multiple ineffective DC cardioversions, months of amiodarone, years of Tikosyn, Sotalol, and so many other drugs. Had my 2nd ablation at the mayo clinic in 2007. Restored NSR for 24 hours until an echo-tech jammed the probe really hard into my chestwall, knocked back into permanent afib since then.
Lately, I have been getting shocked every week. Meds are coreg, sotalol and this week mexilitene. I had the test for Pheo but negative. I have been told to see a neurologist? Warning signs (hours) before shocks are feeling of fullness (tight) around abdomen, "crawling" on my upper back usually the left side. These have been dismissed by the EP but I get them.
I have measured my pressure and pulse when I feel like something is going on and occasionally the pressure has been as high as 133/88 with a pulse of 47 and as low as 87/48 with a 55 pulse. I am on beta blockers (sotalol and coreg). Prior to that I had very salty fish the previous day and almost 2 pints of Guiness draught which I was in the process of finishing (a dark beer, for the 'nonusers'). Maybe I should have stayed with the Pinot Noir?
Recently, I have a rash and the pharmacist thinks both these conditions are caused by my Sotalol. My doctor has stopped the Sotalol and put me on Varapamil until I can see my cardiologist. The cough is improving but still a very liquid raspy cough. Do you think this would be caused by Sotalol and what are the long term effects.
a) I appear to be quite fatigued by the sotalol; does this get better over time?
b) When exercising, my heart rate isn't climbing to my normal range (140-160 bpm) and my performance is suffering for it. Is there a trick to handling this other than simply slowing down, and is there less or no benefit to 'cardio' workouts when you can't get your heart rate to the preferred zone?
The question of beta-blockers and exercise is very interesting and I'm still not sure what's really going on. I take Sotalol for Afib and am in NSR; I work out regularly. My experience is that my heart rate is definitely suppressed at a given exercise level from what it used to be without the drug. I know this for sure as I had a regular treadmill routine with a known heart rate and when I started taking Sotalol my heart rate dropped dramatically.
Atenolol is an interesting drug. I am not an expert on it. My mom takes it and it's been a mixed blessing for her. My advice is to have your BP and heart monitored as frequently as possible to make sure they're in the healthy range. The list of side effects on any medication is usually scary. The main side effect I'm familiar with in terms of Atenolol or any other beta blocker is that it can take months to get used to.
It is a combination of Coreg and Tropol XL, I believe. This gives all the benefits of Coreg and reduces the tiredness that people complain about. Our relatives in Europe use the medication and have energy to travel to US and all around the states. I am not sure what the name will be of the medication when it becomes available in the US.
Salmon, fish oil, and dark chocolate have been shown to raise HDL levels. Your level should be in the 50's if you can get it there.
next five years passed and numerous visits too er,one angiogram heart normal and 4 eps studies,all too no avail,no ablation done and notoow my cardiologist tells me he thinks i also have af,puts me on aspirin and sotalol,am taking aspirins but not sotalo as i think risks of taking these too high too be done in the home background and not a clinical monitored situation,i am now beginning too wonder just how much my doctors do actually know about these conditions.
When I read yesterday that Sotalol AF was for Afib and plain Sotalol for ventricular arrhythmias, I was concerned that maybe my EP or even the pharmacy had made a mistake! But, that is more of my irrational thinking that can put me in a panic, because the facts are, Sotatlol has been great. I should say that I was very fatigued for the first two to three weeks when I began the Sotalol. It was like I had a governor inside my chest!
My electrophysiolgist/cardiologist prescribed Coreg and Lisinopril for my condition. I have episodes of ventricular tachycardia, apparently brought on by a focal wall abnormality in my left ventricle. I also have atrial fibrillation. I have an ICD as well. When I mention to other doctors that I take these medications, they insist I must have high blood pressure. I don't have high blood pressure and never have.
Im a 44 y/o woman, and I enjoy long-distance running. A year ago I had an ICD placed for confirmed sustained VT. It's likely that my arrhythmia is genetic - CPVT, though I haven't chosen to do genetic testing. My heart is structurally quite healthy.
Prior to having the ICD placed I was a middle-of-the-pack marathoner and triathete. After the ICD was placed I was on Metropolol which I couldn't tolerate and was switched to Sotalol.
I switched from Sotalol to Multaq back in September and was concerned at the time about weaning off the Sotalol. I posted a thread back then asking the same question. My doctor told me to just stop the Sotalol and start the Multaq the next day without missing a dose time. Both drugs were taken twice daily so I took my last Sotalol at dinner and my first Multaq the next morning. I had a few days of jittery nerves and anxiety as the beta blockade came down but that was all.
I have CHF and EF of 25%, currently on 80 mg of Coreg and 30 mg lisinopril along with lasixs. I asked my doctor the same question. I was informed that if I stopped the Coreg my heart would eventually return to the same EF of 25%. Not a wise thing to stop the medication. You are at risk for Sudden Death Syndrome. If your heart were to get into an irregular rythm you could die. Please advise him to talk to his doctor.
Then my doctor added Cardizem with the sotalol and that helped for awhile also. In the summer of 2007 my fib and flutter started breaking through the meds again and it was decided that my last resort was an ablation. I had it done in January 08. So far so good. Why did your new cardio take you off the sotalol? Do you see an EP or just a cardio doctor. If you see a cardio doctor I would suggest changing to an EP. The specialize in heart rhythm problems.
I have had worsening rhythm problems over the last several years, dating all the way back to viral myocarditis in 1993 when I had a resting pulse of 180 for nearly 6 months. I had three ablations in the last couple years that were unable to fix it. They just kept adding more and more meds until I fell over pulseless. Now I'm on coreg, flecainide, diltiazem, and lisinopril. I never have had high blood pressures and all these sometimes about tip me right over.
Thank you both! Jerry, I have AFib and SVT. Thankfully, both have been very successfully treated with Sotalol. And so, for that reason, my EP (like yours, Twinbee) has decided to cut me back to Toprol- which is good news. He originally decided on 25 mg twice daily, but my blood pressure is a low normal anyway (100/60 or lower at times) and wanted to avoid it being lowered any further. Thank you both very much for the responses!
I was on toprol for alittle while, and it did help me. I was also on Sotalol for a few years (combined with Cardizem) and that helped me also. In regard to V-fib and sotalol, I really haven't heard of that. I have heard of v-tach a very low possibality when on sotalol, but not v-fib. I would recommend you trying the sotalol. When I was first put on it, I was monitored in the hospital for 3 days. I had no reaction to it. Yes, it did make me tired, but I got use to it. Good Luck!
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