bronchitis/ steroids ?

I have been dealing with an upper respiratory thing for about 10 days. Doc took a listen today- it was scratchy. But X-ray shows no pneumonia so yippee. I have been doing Budesanoid nebulizer for about 10 days and doxycycline for about 3 or 4 days. Doc today wanted me to start a steroid pac and also nebulize another combo packet that has some albuterol in it. He understands my concern about increased heart rate...and triggering afib.

So I am curious what others have done for bronchitis. I found this thread Bronchitis thread back from aught 9. LOL. I am hoping I have already turned a corner but anything you have done that has helped that didn't trigger the a-fib? Doc said I could start the steroid pack with just 4 of the 4 mg for a few days and then drop down....

Thanks

Responding to myself LOL. I did read that when taking steroids, it has to do potentially with the lowering of potassium and that is how they set off fast or irregular beats. That and diuretics. I have an appt with my cardiologist that manages that for me Friday- I will find out more from him but will put off that for tomorrow. And may try the nebulizer- just a titch - tomorrow. If anyone has anything else let me know.

I have a steroid prescription for steroid pack to pick up that was called in Monday. I'm also hesitant to take it and said something at the time to my GP and he didn't seem to think it was an issue. Hmmmm I'll be interested to hear.

Hi Bettylou, I'm not sure if this helps, I'm not as expert as most others here, but I just had cataract surgery and was given eye drops with prednisolone, a steroid. You can imagine how small that dose is but it was enough to put me in fib again and raise my heart rate. After a year afib free!

Now that I'm down to twice a day I can tell heart rate slows and fib comes and goes in the 12 hours before the next dose. Then it hits all over again. I am also very sensitive to most drugs so if you're not it might be just fine for you. At least the drops are temporary. Can't wait to finish these drops

This sort of thing depends on the individual person, like alot of things regarding AFIB. I have taken many steroids for an inflammatory condition that I have, and I ended up doing much research on this. For me the period of time that provoked AFIB, was after I tapered down and stopped the drugs. The steroids boost your natural Cortisol levels and then they drop down after you stop taking them, and can even drop even lower than you originally had before. The electrolyte levels in the Cardiac cells also fluctuate during the use of these anti-inflammatory steroids.

Bettylou: You could start with only 3 of the 4mg tablets, this will give you extra tablets, and then extend the taper-down period a little longer than normal. This approach is what worked for me, as I had many AFIB episodes that were provoked by these Steroids, but I still had a need to take them.

I never had a trigger with prednisone. I was on very high doses.

The doc said I could just take 4, 4, 4, for 3 days and stop. I just actually wrote him a note and said could I just try one LOL. The thing is I don't k now if I NEED it. GP said I can do without and it will likely resolve but will take longer. I finally heard back from EP office. the NP said.. there is also the issue that an illness itself could bring it on. I'm still on the fence hoping the cough will just dissipate.. But thanks for the tapering info. That is helpful

It's safer to taper off. Some Doctors don't think you need to taper, but they don't realize all the causes and effects that some can have after abruptly stopping.

Quote
The Anti-Fib
It's safer to taper off. Some Doctors don't think you need to taper, but they don't realize all the causes and effects that some can have after abruptly stopping.

thanks. I am re- thinking. I was hoping it would get better today. I might just do a trial tablet in the morning if it goes OK I might do 4,4,3,2,1. or something like that. I have 21 pills to play with. I skipped nebulizing today to see if that was making it worse. The jury is out. My oxygen was 100 this morning which is high for me in general. So I figured I had one more day to think and pray on it. I will say the coughing triggers stuff too- so I might just be able to knock it out if I do a mini pack...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2025 10:37PM by bettylou4488.

It it was me, and I have taken Steroid packs a hundred times, I would do 3,3,3,2,2,1.5,1,1 or 4,3,3,2,2,1.5,1,1 and then save the rest for later. That's just me, and I weigh 205 lbs. I can feel the drug working at 12mg after several days., but then again individual people react differently.

Prednisone last year for bronchitis triggered a major afib event for me after just 2 doses,

[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]