Atrial

My husband was diagnosed with A.T. in Sept and has been on Cardizem, 180 mg.  It has been under control.  Last Saturday, he spiked a fever and he broke thru the medicine and now they are having a hard time getting it under control.  He is in the hospital with a heartrate of 140-150 resting.  They put him on Metoprol but did very little.  He has gained 20 lbs in water weight, can barely get out of bed, difficult to talk, very sluggish.  They now have him on Toprol and started the Cardizem today.  They want to wait a couple days to see what happens.  I'm afraid to wait a couple days.  He is really out of it.  any suggestions or comments.  I am really getting scared.  No more fever.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

That is a very difficult situations -- I've bee there before, several times recently.

The problem is the medications aren't controlling the rate, but more invasive alternatives are not always safe when they are that sick.  There is not always a good treatment to fix the problem.  Many times it is the illness driving the tachycardia and treating the underlying condition will fix the problem.  I understand your concern and hope your husband gets well soon.