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.