Two weeks ago my Cardio doctor changed my medication from Cardizem LA to Diltiazem CD. I know it's the generic brand of Cardizem. Anyway he raised my dosage from 240 mg. to 300 mg. For a whole week I had some terrible side effects. I blacked out once while sitting at my computer and then I came close to blacking out on a daily basis. I also felt off balance. I ended up going to my primary doctor, not for this, but for something else. I guess it was a follow up appointment.
I have been taking metoprolol and diltiazem for sixteen months and initially the medications brought the SVTs under control. Fourteen months ago I started coughing blood and experiencing chest congestion. This took my attention off any heart issues and sent me on a long search for the cause of the bleeding. After many tests and visits with various specialists I never did get the answer. The bleeding resolved itself after 10 months (last October) and has not reappeared.
I could handle the fatigue and muscle aches but the chest pain and SOB did me in. Recently I was on Diltiazem for awhile. Was tired a bit, had headaches the first couple of weeks but overall it wasn't a bad med. I can't take beta blockers because of asthma. The Diltiazem was helpful in easing some of my tachy times and got rid of my chest pains.
i am 24 and am now on diltiazem lowest dose. i am very symptomatic to meds. i was on metoprolol and i had bad asthma with it. so recently i was switched. well i am a nursing student ready to graduate and am pretty fond of the heart and conduction, so i am affraid of things like clot formations and the fact that the medicine isnt stopping the flutters. if i up my dose i get very dizzy and feel like i have motion sickness like the floor is moving from under me. its really odd, anywho...
My doctor put me on Diltiazem 24 hr. ER 180 mg. It seems that the chest pains are less frequent, but I still get the tight in the chest and breathing issues I had on the beta blocker. Do calcium channel blockers cause lung thightness? My BP was still around 130/90 2 weeks into the Diltiazem. We are checking again when I finish the bottle. Meanwhile, lots of aches and flue like sypmtoms. I always feel sick and tired. I sleep 9 hours a night, but wake up with anxiety attacks around midnight.
I'm not sure how long you've been on the Verapamil. I was given Diltiazem, also a CCB, for my heart because I couldn't take Verapamil. When I started the Diltiazem I had a non-stop pounding headache for 2 weeks. It gradually eased off and my body adapted to the med. It probably has something to do with the way the medication works to relax the blood vessels a bit.
t heard of that but I do know beta blockers are contraindicated in folks with asthma (like me). I was prescribed a CCB for my tachy. And yes, PAT is the same as PSVT.
I am currently on 30 mg of diltiazem 3x day and i was wondering how effective is this dose at bring down your blood pressure. and how much would it bring it down. a rough estimate would be great. for i am hoping to come off of this medicine.
My heart rate was the only reason my doctor gave me for taking the diltiazem. After an ECG, was diagnosed with MVP, this diagnosis was given more than a month after the ER visit and I was already on the DIltiazen, but I just recently read that Diltiazem was a treatment used for MVP and arrythmia. THAT connection was never made even though we talked about it, independent of the rapid heart rate. .Did I misinterpret what I read? I stopped taking the DIltiazem because I had a low to normal rate.
It seems heart meds are notorious for causing fatigue. They say it gets better in time. I took my Diltiazem for 3 months (it's a CCB) and although I did get over the headaches and dizziness, the brain fog and general "I don't care" feeling was still there. Wish my hunger had gone away :-) See if you can feel some improvement in a week or so.
When I first started Diltiazem I had a powerful throbbing headache for a few weeks. It gradually tapered off. I was a bit tired too. After I'd been on it for a few months my BP would have low times (systolic in the 90's). I was a slug when my bp dropped that low. But thank goodness it wasn't that low all the time. It sure helped with the tachy times and chest pain though.
I can usually control my PACs/PVCs through diet but when I stray and they flare up, calcium channel blockers (diltiazem) work like a charm. It makes them completely go away until it wears off which is about 24 hours (extended release 240), Just curious if anyone knows why doctors do not prescribe these to more patients for PAC/PVC because they seem to work.
I have already quit all coffee, tea, soda and chocolate for the past couple months, which did nothing to help, but at the same time I know it is even worse when I partake in those things. I will ask my cardiologist for an echo, blood work for electrolytes and for BNP, a chest X-ray, to change to a beta blocker, or add a beta blocker... does anyone have any other suggestions for things to try or ask to be checked or done? I have my follow up appointment on August 30th.
t get any responses here, but from googling around on the web I came to the conclusion that diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker, would be better for an athlete than atenolol, a beta blocker. So I called the doctor who agreed to change my medication. Yesterday on the treadmill, after having only taken one 25mg dose of atenolol my heart rate only showed a bit over 120 when I was doing a pace for which a 140 should have been called for.
I had been taking it for 6 months. Not for chest pain but for Raynaud syndrome. I have been off for 12 days. I am a little light headed. The Dr says its sick sinus syndrome and I am scheduled for a pacemaker tomorrow. I am last minute looking for anything else this can be maybe causing a temporary slow heat rate. It was only detected 4 weeks ago.
m a female, but I can share my experience switching from a beta blocker to diltiazem. I have been taking beta blockers for 8 years for SVT and afib. I had an episode of afib and was in the hospital is Sept. They took me off the beta blocker and put me on diltiazem. It didn't control my heart rate like the beta blocker. My resting heart rate went from upper 60s to the low 80s. After a few days without my beta blocker, I ended up in the ER, in sinus tachycardia with a rate of about 120.
I had a brief bout of A-Fib, and the ER put me on 15mg Diltiazem every 6 hrs. My physician a couple of days later bumped that up to 30mg/6hrs. Around a week into taking the drug, I lost most of the sense of taste; sweet, sour, salt. Initially I just had a tiny sense of "savory" as the only thing I could taste. I began to not be able to eat, because everything made me sick to my stomach. I read in the Diltiazem side-effects that this is called "taste perversion".
I take Metoprolol for a thick heart muscel & pvc, which it doesn't help much with the pvc's, Diltiazem was just added 120mg once a day. My doctor seemed somewhat reluctant to add the Diltiazem but said lets try it. My Blood pressure has been around 155/95. His reluctance just seems to scare me. Should I try it or should I not? If I do start taking it should I take it with the metoprolol or at different times?
First time, adenosine failed twice to bring down 180+ pulse. Diltiazem given, and worked. Sent home with extended-release 120mg diltiazem. Experienced breakthrough arrhythmias and eventual return to tachycardia 170bpm that lasted 8 hours before heading to the ER again. Given fast-acting diltiazem 60mg, which seems to be working so far, although I'm still experiencing arrhythmias. Cardiologist preliminarily diagnosed AVNRT and recommended ablation asap.
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