Posted 5/18/2017 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
Jay, I looked this medication up & I totally understand your reason for declining it, I would have done the same. I did go to the Mayo Clinic's site & did some quick reading, they had 5 medications listed to treat A Fib. I did not look up the side effects of the other 4. I used Drugs.com when looking meds up. I have to wonder if the other 4 medications are as bad. Something else I read on their site is a person should have their thyroid checked because it can be a potential cause A Fib, along with diabetes being a potential cause. When you read about my husband's situation you will see what I am talking about.
He was under the care of a cardiologist for several years. He was having issues with congestive heart failure & just kept increasing the amount of Lasix. He had to go to the VA for a physical & they did a 12 lead EKG that came back abnormal. The Va dr said do you have a cardiologist & he said yes I have been seeing one for years. He here is a copy of your EKG & you need to find a new one you have problems. He said as bad as this EKG is the A FIB has been there a very long time. He ended up going the next day to a prior GP & he got him seen by his personal cardiologist that afternoon. This old dr was one that picked up the phone & called the dr directly & said so & so is in my office & I am sending them over now. None of this waiting 6 weeks if you were his patient, lol. This old GP was the last of a rare breed, he was still practicing at the age of 83.
As it turned out my husband also had bad A Fib & had been in A Fib a very long time, the cardio said he was too bad for any medication to help. He did do an outpatient procedure & hit his heart 3 good jolts but it didn't work either. We knew going in there was a good chance it wouldn't work but worth trying.
He ended up having a pacemaker put in. The pacemaker stopped the dizziness, shortness of breath, fatigue & him falling. He got so bad off that he started falling from the dizziness. Right now the pacemaker is running 75% which is on the high side.
My husband is diabetic, bad sleep apnea & has thyroid issues for which he takes medication. Ask your GP to check your thyroid to make sure its ok.
A Fib is hard on your heart. I am not sure how connected you are to your cardiologist but you may want to consider getting a 2nd opinion because this is not something that should be ignored. A very dear friend of ours ended up in ER, was dx'd with congestive heart failure & A Fib. They pulled a bunch of fluid off of him, said he was just drowning. The following morning the cardiologist shocked his heart & got it right back in rhythm, never had another problem. Also had no prior history of heart issues.
I suggest you do a little more research on this but please stick to reputable sites, too much inaccurate garbage out there. Think about maybe a 2nd opinion.
Take care.