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← Return to Afib/dangers of eliquis
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@shebattine Yes....but....if they prescribed a drug that killed even 4% of its patients they'd have the FDA, the Law, and every person who died would have an estate lawyer who would sue the bejaysus out of the pharma company. So, yes, every drug has its unfortunate cases, and ethically and legally the company must disclose even the rarest of adverse events, but we're talking less than 0.5% of all cases, much less even. The drug is safe for the huge, bloated, majority of users. The drugs you need to worry about are Rhythmol (amiodarone) and Tikosyn, both of which require heavy monitoring for toxicity and/or a three day hospital stay while they start you on it (Tikosyn). But, both are still on the market, being prescribed, and literally thousands are taking it......today! So, flecainide is a safe and effective drug. Some find they can't 'stomach' it, or it does weird things, even makes their arrhythmia demonstrably worse. If that happens, try another drug.
Replies to "@shebattine Yes....but....if they prescribed a drug that killed even 4% of its patients they'd have the..."
@gloaming I erred. Rhythmol is propafenone, not amiodarone. Sorry. But it isn't the former that one should normally worry over, it is amiodarone. I took it for seven weeks, and was grateful that it got my heart's rhythm under control. But most grateful not to have had to continue taking it beyond the wean-off.
Sorry for my mistake.
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@gloaming
You are right about all the warnings about drugs and dangerous side effects. However, sometimes drugs are dangerous for some based on their heart disease. I cannot take Flecainide because I have a genetic structural hear disease, Apical HCM. But, I successfully was loaded with Tikosyn in September of 2023 and have no side effects. My cardiologist says the dangerous, possibly deadly side effects almost always happen soon after starting the drug which is why a three day stay in the hospital is neccessary when starting the drug. By the way, that three days was a piece of cake, just very boring. My QT interval is checked on ECG at my yearly visit to the HCM clinic at Mayo. As I was in persistent Afib for six months with no meds helping with rate, I was very thankful that Tikosyn was available and works for me. Ablations are tricky with HCM. Often takes more than 2 so am hoping to avoid that as I am 82 years old.
By the way, I agree with you about Amiodarone - I refuse to take it. We all have to make the medication decision for ourselves. Personally I would prefer to be free of all meds, but alas my heart says otherwise.