The side effects of amiodarone are very much dose-dependent. My mother has been on it at 100 mg per day for 25 years (yes, that's YEARS) without a single bad side effect. But she religiously gets her tests at intervals for eyes, thyroid, liver, etc. , as recommended. If flecainide ever stops working for me pill-in-pocket, I would not fear moving to amiodarone low dose. However, I do not believe the loading dose should be so high, as I think that primes a lot of people for side effects; I am a research dr and I have that debate with my own cardiologists... who admit that they don't really know a lot about amiodarone--yet they prescribe it at high dose. I do believe it is inappropriate for drs to refer to amio as "poison", since there are thousands of people for whom it works extremely well. (almost 2 million prescriptions are written for amio annually in the US) Researching & talking w/ other patients, I find that too many drs are leaving patients at higher doses without considering that 100 mg may be effective. A short trial at low dose might answer that question for patients. Something to discuss with your dr. Wishing you a peaceful heart and NSR in your journey!