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.
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.
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?
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!
I was on it for a week but my side effects were not very pleasant, a bit out of the norm. They took me off of it. Now I take Diltiazem (another CCB) without much trouble. A heart rate of 86 at night is still pretty brisk. Mine is normally 60 at rest, in the low 70's when I'm up moving around. And that was before Diltiazem. No, I'm not athletic. I'm an old pudgy lady.
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.
sorry to hear your hubby is having a hard time. sounds like he is having some of the common side effects. There is nothing that can boost platlets but many docs let them go really low before lowering or stopping the meds. Try and get back on the full strength of interferon ASAP!
Probably the most common side effect is the itching. I have it as well and it is horrible. I have found some relief with a prescription med called Atarax.
You would then be taking 220mg of a Beta-Blocker every day. The side effects are not easy to take sometimes, at least in my opinion. I gave up taking it because of those. However, I have been put on Metoprolol ER - 50mg - again four weeks ago and they just don't seem to work. I found out through experimentation years ago that none of the generics worked - it used to be Toprol XL - except when I found them actually made by the original manufacturer and sold as Metoprolol.
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...
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