Amiodarone lung toxicity

@tommy901 - thanks for your reply. I am "pushing" myself by walking an uneven hilly path (1 1/2 miles) nearly every day unless it's raining or below 20° F. My lungs were fine Aug 25 when I rec'd 1st dose. 3 weeks later my lungs were damaged. The probability of my lung problem being anything but amiodarone is too small to consider. I really think my eyes have been affected also. I noticed my eyesight had deteriorated, but considered the possibility of amiodarone only after I researched amiodarone side affects. I'm accepting that my lungs may never heal or if healing comes it will be very slow.

Wow these are interesting comments and it really makes me wonder if this is what is wrong with me - I took Amioderone for 7 months ending with my ablation last February. In a pre-ablation echo done a few month prior to the ablation I was diagnosed with mild pulmonary hypertension. Well the EP paid no attention to this on the echo and it was not until I asked about it that the nurse said "oh they don't do anything with that here, you'll need to go to a pulmonary dr. So I self referred and this started a whole lot of lung testing, another echo which still showed PH, pulmonary rehab, trial of a Breo inhaler even tho he has ruled out asthma after testing, and blood tests. He and the new cardiologist I was referred to after the EP was done with me say they don't know what is causing the PH - now I wonder if I have lung damage from Amioderone even tho it was stopped last February? I continue to have chest tightness, SOB at times (climbing stairs, fast walking, and weird little chest pains more like pinches from time to time. I never thought that Amioderone could hang on this long or cause permanent damage.

@carculmer PH is also known to be an effect from RF ablation, if that is what yours was.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27475259/. It's too bad your case was confirmed AFTER your ablation (if it was RF and not PFA) because now it's hard to point at one cause alone.
https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacep.2023.11.005

@mart6321 I might mention as I also was on Amiodarone for almost 10 years so I am aware of side effects but I cant say I had you specific problem. But want to let you know when it comes to the Lungs is they do have some ability of recovery from toxins. I was a smoker for over 30 years and quit about 14 years ago. I was told by a pulmonologist that the effects can reverse themselves over time. From smoking you will regain function and reach its best outcome after about 10 years. Hopefully it won't take that long for you as it was short term but wanted to say it is possible.

Despite what 99% of doctors think (because it's very rare) Amiodarone can cause life threatening and deadly toxic side effects at low doses in a short period of time. I am an example.
I've had persistent AFIB for 14 years. I never had an ablation because the success rate is so low for persistent patients. But I found a doctor who had a unique maze procedure and decided to try it. He puts his patients on low dose Amio for several months prior to the procedure because he has better outcomes if he does.
I went on low dose amiodarone, 100mg 1x day. Thirty days later:
While skiing I went into Cardiac Arrest, Ventricular Fibrillation. Fast CPR and AED saved my life. At the ER no signs of an MI, no heart muscle damage, negative troponin makers. Very lucky to have lived with no heart damage. But arteries were stenosed (narrowed) enough that the doctors said I should have a CABG. And since that meant open heart surgery they would do a full maze and Atriclip on my LAA. The surgery went fine, no problems. They put me on high dose Amiodarone to prevent any arrythmias.
Post surgery recovery was ok at first, but my pulmonary function lagged behind the norm. 30 days of In & Out of the hospital a couple of times with breathing issues and edema. Finally a 911 call to the ER. The doctors debated if I had pneumonia or possibly amiodarone toxicity. They couldn't believe it was Amio because it happened so quickly. Finally they took me off of it. But as you may already know the 1/2 life of Amio is very long. It continues to attack for weeks and months after you stop taking it.
My lungs were barely working. 3 months in ICUs. The result was:
Intubated and put on a ventilator. When the intubation tube eventually caused sores in my mouth and throat we switched to a tracheostomy.
Amio induced polyneuropathy/critical care polyneuropathy. For a couple of months I couldn't move my legs and barely move my forearms. Rhabdomyolysis set in, I watched as my muscles dissolved away. My urine was as black as the darkest French roast coffee. Luckily my kidneys seem to be ok now.
I was put on Eliquis. my lungs hemorrhaged. They called in the hospital Chaplin to give me the Last Rites. But God had other plans for me! The doctors strongly suggested ending standard care and switching to palliative care and hospice. I was never going to walk again. I'd be in a care facility unable to get out of the bed. However there was a tiny chance that with intensive physical therapy I may be able to use a wheelchair and maybe even walk a few steps in my home. I chose physical therapy.
I stabilized and was transferred to another hospital to be weaned off the Trache, the feeding tube, the ventilator. However in the discharge instructions Eliquis was put back on my meds list. 10 days at the new hospital and my lungs hemorrhaged again. The hospital Chaplin was called in for Last Rites again. And again God decided he had other plans for me. The doctors strongly suggested ending standard care and switching to palliative care and hospice. I was never going to walk again. I'd spend the rest of my life in a car facility. I chose to do intensive physical therapy.
I was accepted into the Shirley Ryan Ability lab in Chicago to rehab.. Amazing staff, amazing facility. They saved me in more ways than one. I went in unable to move my legs. I graduated by getting into a wheelchair and making it to the bathroom and back to the bed. The staff threw a party! I went home with hope.
5 months later I thought I was on the way. Then a pain in my abdomen. Emergency gall bladder surgery. It had turned necrotic-gangrenous. It turns out Amio toxicity causes liver damage and can (rarely) attack the gall bladder. I'm tired of being the rare exception!
Today, almost 2 years later.... I have about 1/3 of my previous lung volume. Breathing is still a big issue, but I'm working on it. I've gone from unable to get out of bed without a Hoyer lift and deposited in a wheelchair to walking up to 3 miles a day. My wife has been by my side, my best advocate, the whole way.

I read FDA black box warning labels now and memorize the side effects to watch for. Rare side effects have a new meaning to me.

I have taken this medication could not tolerate 200mgs so now on 100mgs (my request to doctor) seems okay but causes me to be tired and shortness of breath (sometimes)

I would not tolerate it at all and ended up with lung toxicity. I can do very little without panting. It's not my "normal" living at all. I also noticed I was not seeing as well. I recently had my eyes checked and definitely can see a change for the worse. I now see that could also be a result of amiodarone.