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Very Worried About My Mother

Please can anyone give me some advice?

My mother has a pacemaker and is taking Amiodarone and Warfarin (all since 11th January). She is 85 and was in remarkably good health, despite her arrhythmia. Up until 11th January she was walking two miles a day, and gardening, now she is too weak to go anywhere.

She had not taken any drugs for her arrhythmia prior to the Amiodarone. Since mid February, she has been coughing a great deal and is becoming increasingly breathless. I am so worried that this is due to the Amiodarone, but her GP is not sure and isn't responding very quickly. She had a chest x-ray, ten days ago. He now wants her to have another, and in the meantime is prescribing antibiotics. If the Amiodarone is responsible, are the side-effects reversible and should she and I be worried? My concern is that if she is suffering from pulmonary toxicity every tablet could be making her worse.

Any advice would be so appreciated.
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Avatar universal
Hi Yvette, Your poor mom, she really has endured a great deal, it must also have been so tough for you. I am pleased to hear she is doing well now, though. She must be quite a fighter!

My mum's GP believes she has pulmonary fibrosis (probably due to the Amiodarone) but still she is being prescribed it. I find it alarming that the next course of action won't be until the end of May, when she is due to have a CT scan.

I'll be honest, I am having nightmares about the situation and that wretched drug. I know it's a good drug for most, but it seems to have very serious side effects for some. I feel helpless!

Thanks again and all the best to you and your mom. Tricia.

P.S. I live in Britain, I have a feeling our medical system is slower than yours!
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Avatar universal
Hi Tricia--
The doctors didn't end up putting my Mom on any other medication as a substitute for Amiodarone. They said her arrhythmia was due to being post-surgical, as a complication to the surgery--From what I understand, atrial fibrillation can occur in some patients days or weeks after bypass surgery. I think the doctors said due to the irritation to the heart and system in general.

My Mom's bypass surgery was in Dec. 2007 and unfortunately, she's had other major, unrelated health issues since then (failed brain shunt for hydrocephalus which required shunt replacement surgery less than 2 months after the bypass surgery, another brain shunt replacement surgery 5 months later on an emergency basis with complications including pneumonia and hemorrhage; then she got a major infection which lasted nearly 9 months and also required a hospitalization, etc.) It was all quite a long ordeal, but she's stubborn and a real trooper, that heavens!

The good news is my Mom has been hospital-free since August 2008 and she just celebrated her 82nd birthday in January.

Good luck, Tricia, with your Mom and please keep us posted.

Bye for now,
Yvette  
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your replies, Yvette and Ksig. I will take your advice.

I will look at the site you spoke about, Yvette. Is your mom on another drug now and how is she doing?

I have to admit that I am even more concerned that the Amiodarone is responsible for my mother’s lung condition.

Best wishes, Tricia.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
There are many drugs out on the market for arrhythmia.  Amiodarone is one of the best but it is highly toxic.  I'd suggest you google amiodarone and read about its side effects. Keep advocating for your mom.

You might also check into her latest pacer interrogation to see if the settings are correct. I have a pacer and have a long history of finding the correct settings that would not tax my life and allow me leeway in doing exercise.  There were times I was just plain exhausted and didn't have enough steam to walk around the block.

Good luck to you and your mother.
ksig
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi Tricia--
I'm not a doctor, but wanted to respond and share what happened with my Mom, who is also in her 80s. She was on Amiodarone for arrhythmia a few years ago; the pharmacist called her cardiologist and alerted her to a possible dangerous interaction with one of the other medications my Mom was taking at the time. The doctor ended up taking her off the Amiodarone.

The reason I bring this up is there is a long list of medications that may interact with Amiodarone, including some antibiotics. Go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a687009.htm
You may want to have your Mom's doctor or pharmacist double check her medications to make sure the combination of drugs she's getting isn't causing a problem.

Good luck!  
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