Tikosin

I finished my Tikosin loading on 4/16/09, after 3 wonderful days in the hospital, enjoying marvelous food and the restfull and quiet atmosphere....LOL.  I am on 500 mg BID.  While in the hospital I had AFIB two of the 3 nights that lasted for about an hour or so each night.  The episodes occured about the the same time each night.  Since I have been home, I have had episodes every day and usually at night that again last for about an hour or two.  In the past when on Rythmol, I would go for 3-4+ days without any symptoms and then it would kick in for anywhere from 12 to 36+ hours.  Yesterday I cleaned out my garage and felt fine and it was not until around 8 pm, did it kick in.  Any thoughts?  Thanks.

Bill

[Brooke_38]

Hi Bill...

Glad to hear that your days were "wonderful" during your hospital stay, along with "marvelous" food:) Unfortunately, my experince during the 4 days I was hopitalized was quite different. It was far from restful, as a matter of fact...by day 3, my cardiologist had me moved to a private room due to sleep deprivation. Maybe you are being facetious with your thoughts:)

I am also on 500mcg BID. I was back in Afib less than 24 hrs after leaving the hospital. Since then I have not had even 1 day that my rhythm has been normal. It has been 6 weeks for me. I will be seeing my cardiologist on the 30th of this month at which point a plan will be made wheather to continue or chalk this up to another failure.

Have you called your Dr to let him know what is going on? If you haven't, it migh be a good idea to do so and see what his thoughts are. Keep us posted with your progress:)

[Bilbo1933]

Brook....thank you for your reponse and yes I was being facetious in my comments on my hosiptal stay.  My roommate was in heart failure on Lasics, going through alcohol withdrawl (withdrawal), etc.  So you can imagine the time I had.  I am going to call my EP's office today and talk with one of the NPs.  Did not seem to have any symptoms last night, but I would say my rythm has not been exactly normal either.  When not in Afib, feel ok, but like you said, not really normal.  This morning BP 106/73 and HR 78.  Yesterday it was 94/69 and 65.  Seems to be all over the place.  It has been only a week, so I will wait and see a bit more.  Take care and again, thanks for your thoughts and interest.  Will keep you posted.  Until then, be well and do good works.  
BTW, out of curiosity how old are you?  I am 54 and am trying to avoid a pace maker as long as I can.  My brother keeps asking me why and I have to explain, coumadin the rest of my life, ect.  I am sure you know all the reasons.

[dmully]

I am 54 years old and have been in afib for a while now.  Had a cardioverson done a month ago which lasted 2 weeks.  Cardiologist now suggestion Tikosyn.  I want to look at other options as well.  I would appreciate any suggestions.

[alanib]

I had many episodes of Afib on and off for several years with cardioversion, both electrical and chemical, until it was decided to let the A-Fib become chronic. I eventually developed congestive heart failure which I lived with for 10 years until I received a life saving heart transplant and that was 15 years ago. I used to get episodes of A-fib all the time that of course were very unsettling and dangerous to keep cardioverting because of the potential for throwing and embolus. I would always have more episodes since my atria were worn out amd grossly enlarged from working too hard over the years to pump blood into stiff ventricles from congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When my A-fib became chronic I actually felt better and functioned better because I became compensated for this new hemodynamic via beta blocker and digoxin therapy that would keep my ventricles beating slower and more regularly.  This improved my hemodynamic state and was superior to that horrible incapacitated feeling you get when you jump out of rhythm into A-Fib where your ventricles race irregularly.  I took small doses of digoxin which helped my ventricles beat slower and more forcefully and of course coumadin to prevent stroke from emboli forming in the atria. I was more fortunate than others in my family who all eventually experienced a similar course but had strokes that precluded transplant.

My suggestion from my experience and from that of my cousin who is now at the AFib episodic stage and trying all the same modalities as most of you with little success (he has had an implanted defirillator, has had RF ablation, is taking Tikosin now after getting a new implanted defibrillator, has tried all the other anti-arrhythmia meds with no lasting success), if your atria are very enlarged and your cardiac output is lowered, stop trying to prevent the episodes and get stabilized with chronic A-Fib as I described above.

Also, ***I suggest*** take plenty of Coenzyme Q10, especially if you are taking statins, take lots of good anti-oxidants, fish oil omega 3 but coordinate it with your blood thinner, take Vitamin K-2 with MK7 to help calcium out of your arteries and into your bones, take lots of B12, B6, folic acid supplements and make sure you don't have a B12 deficiency- something doctors rarely check for anymore that can cause heart failure (beri beri), and do somethings to keep your bones strong because the coumadin by blocking Vit K1 will cause osteoporosis leading to possible bone fractures. The Vit K2 MK-7 could partly help with this side effect of coumadin while cleaning your arteries of calcium deposits. Read the health letters of board certified MDs who study and practice alternative medicine along with traditional western medicine- complimentary medicine- to gain a better perspective of how to get and stay well.  

***I am not a doctor but I have had great success overcoming what you are going through and coming out feeling really well. Of course I must make the disclaimer that you should check with your doctors before implementing any of these suggestions but if they are completely closed minded about these alternatives without a good explanation, I would get another doctor who is more open to alternative medicine approaches. Stephen Sinatra, MD, FACC, write a monthly health letter at www.drsinatra.com. He is a professor of cardiology and a board certified cardiologist and is board certified in nutritional science et al and is a good place for you to begin to learn alternatives. There are many more like him out there. Feel better and good luck and remember your doctors get most of their knowledge directly and indirectly from big pharma and big pharma sponsored research. Big pharma cares more about making money than they do about you, in my opinion and probably yours too!***  

My name is Alan Brezin. I am 15 years post heart transplant as of 12/15/09 and going strong. I play golf several times a week weather permitting and do light resistance exercise and moderate cardio exercise. I am now 61 years old. I was transplanted by Mehmet Oz, MD at NY Presbyterian Medical Center on December 15,1994.  Dr. Oz is a well known surgeon and TV health show host and co-author of the "You..." series of books. He also is a proponent of complimentary medicine having started an investigational complimentrary medicine program through Columbia Medical School in NY. I experienced some of the program's unique approaches as a patient while hospitalized for 4 months receiving an LVAD and a heart transplant, both performed by Dr. Oz.
You may contact me at ***@****