Digoxin

I realize Digoxin is a bad drug –from hell– etc. Yet my cardio prescribed 0.125mg yesterday due to my pulse rate 95 Bpm in his office and I often have near or at 100 -110 bpm. Have been in permanent Afib for a year now. Ablation out of the question due to CHF. I told cardio I fear Digoxin. His reply if you don't like it stop taking it.

My question: Are any other posters still on Digoxin?

I have not filled prescription yet. But, it appears many still use and prices are skyrocketing
[philadelphia.cbslocal.com]

Thank you,

Stephen

Stephen,

I've never used it on myself, but did give it to a cat successfully for 14 years. He got cardiomyopathy at age 5 and lived to be 19.

I have successfully purchased meds like flecainide from this pharmacy <[goldpharma.sc] Here is .125mg <[goldpharma.sc]

George

George:

I have had a rough, busy day today, I have two cats, your post isn't really funny but it just struck me very funny. That must have been one tough cat.

Liz

Hi Liz,

The cat got cardiomyopathy around 1986. We lived in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He nearly died. The x-ray of his heart showed it taking up most of his chest cavity. Back in the infancy of telemedicine, they modemed his ECG to feline specialists in New York City. The prescription was Lasix as a diuretic, nitroglycerine paste for his ears and liquid digoxin. It did turn him around, however the effective dose of digoxin is just below the toxic one. I gave him the digoxin every other day. He'd see me coming with the med and start foaming at the mouth. I could not get him to eat. I told the vet, we may save his heart, but he will starve to death. The vet switched to a tablet. The dose was 1/4 tablet and was supposed to be the same as the liquid dose. It must have effectively been a little less than the liquid, because he started eating and quit foaming. I asked the vet how long he thought the cat might live, three years he said.

Well it worked, his heart shrank and I gave him that med every other day for 14 years. I did not have to give the Lasix or nitroglycerine very long. He did finally die of a heart attack at 19 1/2 years old. It was an amazing turn around.

Interestingly this happened when they discovered that a lot of commercial cat food did not have enough taurine in it. They started adding it. The lack of taurine could cause the cardiomyopathy. Cats (unlike humans) do not make their own taurine. Mice are very dense sources of taurine.

His long life may have been helped by the additional taurine in the food.

I'm glad you got a chuckle out of it.

Enjoy your two cats! I have a twelve year old one now.

Cheers,

George

Absolutely do not take digoxin. Go read my article in the very topic in the latest Oct/Nov AFIB Report !

And since when is CHF an automatic rule out for an expert ablation? A successful ablation in many cases can help improve CHF. Please go have a chat with Andrea Natale and politely put aside your cardios fears about that until you speak with a true expert in the field such as Dr N. In a case like yours, make sure you go to an elite level ablationist for such a consult to get a true and straight forward opinion about just what is, or isn't, ruled out in your case.

That your cardio would put you on digoxin still is a big red flag in this day and age. Too many still do, though very few EPs still prescribe it having learned over the last 5 to 10 years that it's just too dangerous for any meager, at best, potential benefits. Please read the article in the latest newsletter and the host of other references.. It appears you might well not be getting the best advice it seems in at least two areas of interest to your heart. It's really worth it, even with some travel involved, for a person in your shoes to at least have one good consult, with all your cardio records handy, with a doc of Natale's vast experience and skill to set your mind at ease and give you a clear and correct vision of what is possible and and achievable in a case like yours.

Best wishes, and ditch the dig! Try a calcium channel blocker such a verapamil or Diltiazem and see if that doesn't get your rate down without the long term risks of digoxin. IF you have higher speed persistent you can try a large dose of Verapamil of Diltiazem and a very small beta blocker dose such as Toprol at 12.5mg a day. That little trick worked like a charm for me the last 6 weeks before I had my highly aggressive and rocking persistent AFIB put to sleep by Dr Natale in 2008.

The Dutch Cardios and EPs in Amsterdam had a hell of a time trying to control my rate and I was in and out Amsterdam's Academisch Medisch Centrum medical center every week or so the last couple months before returning to the US and flying to Austin for that first big ablation. My Hawaii EP, whom I called from my hospital bed in Amsterdam one evening after yet another round of failed drug cocktail, including digoxin, the Dutch docs prescribed, wisely suggested combining a large dose of Verapamil (I think is was 180mg a day and 12.5mg of Toprol XL) to keep my HR lower while still in persistent AFIB and that formula finally brought my persistent rate down from the 130 to 145 region which is plenty high when it is 24/7 every day ... down to under 100bpm in the lower 90s mostly and into the mid 80s up until the ablation and allowed me to fly all the way back to the US without much distress.

Shannon



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2014 01:07AM by Shannon.

Shannon,

Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

Stephen L