Newbie on Multaq. (dronedarone) Not working?

I'm a newbie here, and I greatly appreciate this forum. I had my AF under control for many years with Atenolol, but a month ago it suddenly stopped working, and I began experiencing daily AF episodes. A week ago, cardio switched me from aspirin + Atenolol to Eliquis + Multaq. Well, I'm glad to be on the Eliquis because I have heard so many good reports of its effectiveness and I feel fine on it and I understand its necessity. But after one week the Multaq is not touching my AF symptoms. I don't hear much about Multaq on this forum though I've searched. Do any of you have experience with Multaq for better or worse?

CadMan

I had paroxysmal afib for about one year and took only metoprolol and aspirin during that time. After that afib episodes increased slightly and my ep put me on multaq. That quickly worked fine for about 10 months. After that afib returned and I chose the cryoablation option. It's been about 5 months so far and I'm afib free and not taking arrhythmia meds. One thing I've learned on this and other forums is that oftentimes afib gets worse over time and is harder to treat the longer you have it. You might want to get more advice from an experienced ep.

Multaq was the 2nd AA I took. It was ineffective, and actually put me in danger by causing lengthy pauses (4-5 seconds, close to losing consciousness) on conversion back to NSR. I was told EP's have been quite disappointed in Multaq's overall effectiveness, but for some it does indeed work. I know Dr. Natale likes to put patients on it post ablation for 3 months. I took it dutifully then, but I was in NSR the whole time.

Thanks so much for your reply. This is the road I feel I'm going down with Multaq, and I appreciate your relating your experience.

CadMan

I forgot to mention that at the time I always self converted, and don't believe the Multaq had anything to do with how long an episode lasted, but it absolutely caused the lengthy conversion pauses. I took it less than a month before moving on to sotalol, my 3rd AA. It didn't work either, but at least the conversion pauses were a little shorter in duration, but not by much. My 4th and final AA was propafenone, and I only took it twice. I essentially lost consciousness the 2nd time, when used as a PIP at 600mg. My 1st AA was diltiazem, and yep, it was ineffective. I refused to try amiodarone.

Thanks, AB. I feel like I'm all of a sudden some kind of science experiment gone crazy.

My previous cardiologist wanted to put me on Multaq after my 2nd afib episode. I refused to take it and he got mad and fired me, saying lacks of communication between me and him. I'm glad I didn't start it.

I may stop it and just not tell the cardiologist til I go to the EP who ought to know better what the heck is going on.

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dcadwallader
I may stop it and just not tell the cardiologist til I go to the EP who ought to know better what the heck is going on.

I think you better not just stop it abruptly. That might cause problem. You should at least get some consultation regarding how to stop it correctly.