Thanks for this great forum. I have posted here before and appreciate your great input. I have IST, LVH,& HBP. I take sotalol 80 mg every 12 hrs. and Lasix 20 mg. daily as needed. This summer I have experienced frequent dizziness, fatigue, exercise intolerance. I have also noticed that my heart rate jumps up to 120 or higher at times when I am just sitting doing nothing. This is generally in the evening a few hours before I am due to take another dose of sotalol. At times this is accompanied by dizziness. I am also getting dizzy and when climbing stairs or walking (not fast).
My question is: Does this mean that I am building up a tolerance to sotalol? I have tried other medications and none seem to work. My doctor said that he does not want to increase the dose of sotalol and after 2 EP studies and unsuccessful ablations feels this is the only drug that will work for me. What should I do?
I am female 46 years old, in otherwise good health. Moderately overweight,could stand to lose 30 lbs. or so. Have been unable to exercise regularly since May because of my symptoms. Normally my husband and I do a lot of hiking in the Summer, but I have not been able to handle it this year. The heat also seems to be bothering me a great deal. I get dizzy, sometimes nauseated, and feel faint if I try to push myself at all. My blood pressure is also no longer controlled, probably in part because I have not been able to exercise. We were up in Buchart gardens recently and the 80 year olds were passing me. We finally had to leave so I could go back to the hotel and lay down.