Digoxin in the elderly
Common Questions and Answers about Digoxin in the elderly
digitek
My elderly mom has been having some pretty severe episodes of anxiety/confusion over the past couple of weeks. We've initiated contact with her doctors who are doing their thing, but of course nothing moves as fast as we'd like in situations like this.
Her life is pretty much consistent every single day, same habits, same foods, same tv shows, etc. These episodes have been happening every *second* day, in mid afternoon.
A woman in her 80s, hx hypertension but mostly in good health. She was walking for around 40 minutes. She was feeling weak and had to take breaks on her way home. When she arrived home she had an episode of tachycardia (158) with BP (144/71) (not sure if it started while walking). She had no chest pain, only palpitations and general weakness. She took 1 mg digoxin PO and eventually the episode resolved.
My dad has been detected with low Ejection Fraction of 25% through an echo test, also doctors say theres a leakage in his left valve, though the doctor also mentioned that the leakage is not that much that he should go in for surgery immediately. Now, he is kept on beta blockers and diagoxin. I would like to understand the follwoing:
- How sever is the problem, can it lead to sudden cardiac arrest?
- Can his EF be improved through medicines or he needs a surgery?
I know there was a recent recall of Digoxin in the U.S. Check with your doctor about any changes in medications.
Is there any chance the pain is because of the ICD? I've heard some people say they have some discomfort from the leads/placement of the device, etc. Does your doctor think it's OK for you to take over the counter pain medication? If so, what does he suggest?
Diastolic blood pressure significantly decreased and systolic blood pressure significantly increased during overnight sleep in the digoxin phase .Heart rate decreased in the overnight sleeping phase . Digoxin significantly decreases diastolic blood pressure during overnight sleep in patients with congestive heart failure. This effect is likely to be caused by reduction of sympathetic activity or increase of parasympathetic activity.
If people have side effects to the medications, sometimes the best option is to place a pacemaker and do a simple procedure (AV node ablation) that makes you pacemaker dependent. That why the pacemaker is in full control of the heart rate and the medication doses can be decreased. I have noticed that older women are often the ones that have the most medications side effects with atrial fibrillation and are more frequently the patients that end up with a pacemaker.
He offered help me to sweep the floor/yard. Hanging and picking up the clothes. He also concentrated on the weather make sure he picked up the clothes before it rained. He'll miss if he slept all the day long! LOL. He liked sleep (usually longer hour than us). He said to me, when getting old all the bones shrink, so can feel the body aching. He said exercise is important. Even he was on the bed, he also moving his toes and fingers a lot.
A comparison of verapamil, propranolol and digoxin showed equivalent efficacy in a small group of patients. However, in general calcium channel blockers and beta-blockers are preferred to digoxin. Digoxin has been around for a long time! I used Digoxin over 50 years ago for my PSVT, and my recollection was that it did little to prevent episodes. There are so many newer drugs now that are far more effective.
Digitalis toxicity may also result in persons who take the drug and who have low levels of magnesium in the body.
Risks include taking digitalis medications such as digoxin or digitoxin along with medications that interact with digitalis such as quinidine, verapamil, amiodarone, and others.
Reduced kidney function will cause digitalis to build up in the body rather than be removed normally through urine.
I will definitely ask about that when I seen the cardiologist next week. Digoxin was the first thing they tried ans it didn't work at first. The they tried flecainide along with the digoxin but that made my heat rate fast. All I had to do is stand up and I was at 160. So they took me off that 2 days after putting me on it. After the flecainide was out of my system the babus heart rate was all the sudden normal!
He converted while in the ER and was told to take it in addition to his beta blocker. They had given him a pretty large dose of it while in the ER and he took 3 doses of the pill...he started feeling pretty bad. He went to his regular cardiologist today and he ran a blood test to check for toxicity and took him off of it. It sounds like a very nasty drug...thanks for the info. I can't understand why he was put on it.
8 years later I had to have triple bipass surgery diagnosed by the same heart doctor. Just after the surgery, in the hospital, they said it looked like I had diabetes and
my heart had a little bit of funny beating rythm. They put me on coumadin, digoxin, actos, amiodorone, and lipitor. They stopped Actos because
my family doctor said I did not have sugar. 4 months later I started noticing affects like falling asleep at work or at the wheel of the
car and began taking caffiene pills.
I know if i was on digoxin i would look at the packaging the pharmacy gave me and go directly to the horses mouth so to speak and go onto the manufactuerers site and see what they have to say about long term effects, etc. They should tell you what the clinical studies showed, side effects and all of the pertinent information....good luck to you....
ve felt like a new person! Unfortunately, at the age of 52, I now need 3 valves replaced. I received a letter in the mail from the pharmaceutical company stating they accidentally put a double dose of the medication digoxin I was taking since my surgery because of an irregular heartbeat. I feel that this is the reason I now need these valves replaced but all the doctors feel differently. I would like to know if anyone has had 3 valves replaced at one time?
The echo turned out fine but eight minutes into the stress test my heart rate peaked at 275 bpm. The nurses in the office had never seen a heart rate that high. Two doctors reviewed the EKG results and said they would have to consult an EP specialist. I was prescribed Coumadin and metoprolol tartrate. The doctors have not decided on a procedure yet but said that I could possibly have a cardioversion or ablation. What are the advantages/disadvantages to these procedures?
Q1) A few months ago I took him to a specialist who took him off some other medications previously prescribed by our GP (local doctor). The specialist put him on Digoxin. He said it was better for his condition. However the patient recently had another appointment where his blood pressure was high and so another specialist has now added Doxazosin. (You don't always get to see the same specialist at appointments). The patient is also on Furosemide, Warfarin, Simvastatin and Ramipril.
I am wondering if you are uneasy about taking digoxin. If so, I would ask you cardio if you can get by with just the TOPROL XL. Digoxin, xanax, toprol xl, and lisinoprol seems like a lot of stuff to be taking.
I am a runner and only take TOPROL XL 12.5mg. This knocks out my extra beats and really slows my heart down. A little seems to go a long way for me.
Go with lots and lots of fiber, at least the minimun daily requirement and this should help unless she is developing IBS. Try this and if it doesn't work have her see a GI dr.
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