I have suffered with taking diltiazem(180 mg ER) AND metoprolol (50 mg ER) for atril fibrillation for the past two and a half years. The side effects have been debilitating.. Both drugs have the same side effects and together and one or the other or both create what I can only describe as chaotic turbulence in my chest and pain in my left arm when the second drug kicks in.. My cardiolgist now wants me to add a blood thinner (xarelto) to my meds menu.
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. Anyway, he said that I was over medicated so he lowered my dosage back down to 240 mg. of Diltiazem CD and he also put me on Enalapril 2.5 mg.
Since I live in Iowa (low of -24 degrees the other day), it was a side effects that really bothered me. Now I am on 240 mg of Diltiazem and no side effects but it is not controlling the rapid pulse rate very well. My husband, who has A-fib, saw a mention on one of the discussion boards he reads of Beta Blockers lowering the levels of Melatonin in some patients and causing sleep disturbances.
Sounds like the Metoprolol did the job with bad side effects, what does were you taking. The Calcium Channel Blocker should help, but seems it doesn't take care of the high HR. I take both Metoprolol and Diltiazem, 50 mg and 240 mg respectively. They seem to work well together. Maybe you can take a lower dose of Metoprolol along with the Diltiazem, perhaps at a higher dose.
Your post implies you nightmares are gone now that you are off of the BB...
Calcium channel blockers produce beneficial effects on myocardial oxygen supply and demand and, therefore, are also useful in the prevention of classic exertional angina caused by fixed obstruction. Verapamil and diltiazem possess electrophysiologic effects and have, in addition, proved useful in the treatment of supraventricular dysrhythmias.
We will first try to control the heart rate with one medication. If that does not work, a second medication is added. Sometimes even a third medication is needed. Cardizem (diltiazem) is known to cause swelling at higher doses, it seems elderly women are common group to have this problem. One option is to use a medication called digoxin to help slow down the rate and decrease the dose of diltiazem.
I'm taking Cardizem and have serious side effects (constipation, ankle swelling, etc.) Is there a comparable drug that does not cause such sever symptoms?
Hi, I'm a 33 year old male, not overweight, not diabetic, I've been dealing with tachycardia for some time now. It comes and goes. I found that 50mg of Metoprolol twice a day would mostly control it, but as a 33 year old man, I began to notice major erection issues since being on it. Talked to my doctor, they want me to start 120mg a day of Diltiazem. I'm a little nervous about it, but they assured me it's no more potent a medication.
Any ideas how I can control the A-Fib without all these bad side-effects? Am tempted to dump the Diltiazem and go back to low dose of beta-blocker and hope the nasty side-effects won't be so severe with only 25 mg/day. Feeling like a guinea-pig with an out-of-control heart at this point.
Also, is it OK to take 1/2 - 1 mg of Lorazepam during an A-fib episode? It seems to help slow down the racing.
Any suggestions/advice very welcome. Thanks!
If a doc wanted to start an ACE or a beta-blocker.. it is not a really big deal. Very common, lots of data available, fairly few side effects... There are other meds which you don't go into so lightly. Flecainide, sotolal, tikosyn, amiodarone... When I see some of these on my pt list of meds, it screams there is a problem- that simpler solutions couldn't fix. If you haven't tried the simpler ones yet, it is definitely a better place to start.
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