Anyone have experience with amiodorone as an arrhythmia treatment?

I do not have experience with amiodorone, but I do have a high burden of PVCs which led me to a Facebook group for PACS and PVCS. There are a few people on there who do have experience with that amiorodone, as well as other pvc meds, ablations, etc… I recall one person taking amirodone who avoided an ablation because she took that and she’s been on it for about a year I believe.
Good luck.

I was on Amiodarone for just under a year. I was prescribed it after receiving a biventricular pacemaker. I had experiended continuous Ventricle Tachycardia during the surgery.
Amiodarone is an amazingly effective drug for the treatment of arrhythmias. It also has some fairly significant side effects. I think I may have experienced all of them, including worsened hypothyroidism (but not lung issues) , during the time I was taking the drug.
I was on the standard (in North America, anyway) maintenance dosage of 200 mg, daily. I was taken off the medication when I could no longer tolerate the side effects.
But, because of ongoing SVTs, both sustained and non-sustaned varieties I am now experiencing, I may have to go back on the medication, at least for a short duration. If that happens, I will be asking to be put on the lowest dose possible.
My advice to you is to ask the lowest possible dosage - 100 mg. or lower if possible. In Europe and Britain, 100mg. is the maintenance dosage used, not 200 mg. In studies, 100 mg. has proven to be as an effective dose as the 200. You can always titrate up, if need be.
Please remember that my experience with this medication may not be yours. We are all individuals. But do give it serious consideration. All of the side effects I experienced were resolved after I stopped taking the medication.
All the best.

Thanks for relating your observations and kind advice. My symptoms seem to abate for a few days or weeks (continuing my meds) then breakthrough for a week or so. Really frustrating.

So sorry to hear of your troubles! I have had Afib for about 4 years now. No ablation as of yet have been able to control with medications. I'm on 50 mg flecanide twice a day 12.5 carvidalol twice a day! All I can say is tread lightly with the amiodarone! Definitely do your research it is a high black box drug! Almost killed me 😱 definitely listen to your body and pay attention side effects!

Well I was on Flecainide for 7 years and just recently went back into A-fib and almost passing out. Usually when I would go into A-fib I would take the max of flecainide and would recover within a few day's and then go back to my normal dose which was 100mg twice a day. However this last episode the flecainide did not work. Had a cardioversion which lasted one day so they put me on a heavy dose of Amiodaron 800mgs a day for one week and then nocked it back to 400mgs a day and now I'm on 200mgs a day and staying in sinus rhythm. Going in on the twelve of June for a third ablation. Haven't had any problems with Amiodaron although large doses is not good long term you have to be checked every 6 months for liver damage. Hope that helps and good luck.

You can read about amiordarone if you google the correct syntax. It's pretty much the biggest hammer there is for arrhythmias. It's also quite toxic, and has to be carefully monitored.

The way it usually works is that there is initially a 'loading dose' of between 600 and 800 mg for about a week. That means two potent tablets each day for a week. Then, you go on a maintenance dose that might be weight-dependent, not sure about that, but in my case if was 400 mg, so 200 mg BID. Depending on your condition, and its recent treatment (in my case it was a week after my first, or index, ablation, and I went into intractable and rapid AF), I kept the maintenance dose for three weeks, after which I was to taper with a single 200 mg tablet PO for two more weeks. Your prescription might be considerably longer for reasons I don't know.

The drug really works. I wasn't keen to begin taking it, but the alternative was AF upwards of 180 bpm. Nobody can live at that rate for long, so amiodarone it was. It is potentially dangerous for the lungs and for the kidneys, as examples, so the ideal strategy would be to maintain you on the drug until you can be corrected via catheter ablation or a pacemaker, or some other strategy that will allow your heart to function quasi-normally without it.

I was on it for over a year. Went from loading up (1200 mg) to the average dose of 200mg. I had absolutely no issues with the drug and it worked wonderfully. That being said, the comments above mentioned that it is toxic. They are 100% correct. It will cause internal damage over time. You will have to be monitored and certain intervals to make sure that your health is maintained properly.
Getting off of it scared me at first, but after my switch to Sotalol everything has been pretty good.
Just my two cents.

Why did you go off amio? FWIW I tried sotalol while in hospital after an ablation that got complicated. It lowered my RHR to below 30bpm which greatly disrupted my sleep.

I was on amiodarone for 90 days after an ablation. I was concerned especially after reading reviews of patients that had bad experiences. But I did as the EP told me and it worked well but I was happy when I was able to stop taking it. My advice? Don’t read the reviews and do as your EP directs.

I was on amiodarone while in the hospital for afib and a cardioversion. Turns out, amio is the only medicine I am allergic to. My mouth and lips began to swell up and I started itching on my hands. No more for me and they tag it as an allergy for any procedures since. Just be wary.