Re: a-Fib & coumadin

Posted By marcia on February 16, 1999 at 12:16:51:

In Reply to: Re: a-Fib & coumadin posted by CCF CARDIO MD-APS on February 14, 1999 at 14:59:42:






My 76 yr old mother had a successful cardioversion for A-Fib a couple years ago and with meds, has not had another A-Fib. She's been on coumadin even before the cardioversions and the dosage is always needing to be increased. My question is why does she need to take coumadin if her heart rythm is normal. Her EKG's are good; heart is strong and not enlarged. All arteries are clear. She does have high blood pressure 140/90 and takes medication. Her cholesterol is high 260.  In general, she is not doing that well on the coumadin because she is getting alot of large vein  blowouts in her legs. We would like to get her off this drug, but her general physician says do. She hasn't seen a cardiologist for over 3 years and I'm wondering if we should have her reassessed.
Thanks for any comments.




Dear Marcia,
I agree that a visit to a cardiologist is in order, especially given that I see no indication for the continued coumadin in your mother if she has maintained sinus rhythm months out of the last cardioversion (coumadin is usually continued for 3-6weeks following a successful cardioversion and then discontinued.)  
The cardiologist will want to treat that cholesterol as well, so go ahead and make the appointment with a cardiologist.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.





Thanks for the above info. We have an appt with the cardiologist March 2. Through my research, it appears that my mom is not taking an antiarrhythmia drug to stablize heart rythm but rather cardizem (which I understand slows that heart rate) and coumadin. My question is: do you have a general opinion as to which is a better option for "lone" a-fib. She's also taking Tiazac for the high blood pressure. Since these drugs are calcium channel blockers and from the literature, seem to be very similar, I'm wondering why she'd be taking both.
I recall some talk about calcium channel blockers causing confusion and memory loss (which she suffers from). Do you have an option on this.
Thanks again for your help. This is of great assistance to me.