please help me

My father was diagnosed with afib about a year ago. He was put on eliquis. He has had triple heart bypass surgery 15 years ago. The doctor wants to put him on Amiodarone 200 mg to try to get normal heartbeat. I read there are lots of side effects. Don't want my dad to suffer more. Can he just continue eliquis long term. What are consequences? Thanks



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2017 12:44AM by oprah9.

Eliquis is an anticoagulant. It prevents his afib from causing blood clots that could cause a stroke, so it's absolutely essential, but it does nothing to control the afib. Can he stay on nothing but that? Yes, but if his afib is symptomatic he's not going to be very comfortable. Tell us more about him. How old is he? Is he active and in good health otherwise? Has he tried other meds to control the afib?

Ditto what Carey said. Age? What other meds have been tried, specifically anti-arrhythmics (Rhythmol, Tikosyn, Cordarone)? Amiodarone is very powerful for sure, but it comes with some nasty side-effects.

There was just a twitter thread by well respected EP's that included at least one calling for amiodarone to have restricted access.

"So improperly used in community. If there was ever a drug that should have restricted access, it is it." - Suneet Mittal

The EP that did my first ablation (a marathon 8hr plus FIRM procedure) wanted me to try this nasty drug 2 months in to my blanking period, after I was back in afib with flutter. Had I listened to him, I likely would still have masked afib and a highly toxic drug in my system doing who knows what damage.

On the other side of the argument, 200mg is a low dose, and the Drug could be tried on an experimental basis. Most side effects manifest after long-term use. Many Dr's consider it it to be the most effective AAM.