Cordarone aka Amiodarone

Archeron

Hi there,
Someone I know has just been prescribed this medicine, and I took a look at the "possible side effects" list, and I got the fright of my life. Among the many many many possibilities, some of the scarier ones include: blindness, massive weight loss/gain, baldness, heart failure, liver failure, jaundice, vomiting, cramps, inability to walk, testicular swelling, muscle pain, impotence, severe nightmares etc etc. I know all medication has potential side effects, but this list looks like something from a horror film.
I googled the medication and there seems to be a lot of people out there who have had REALLY bad experiences with this medication. Has anyone got experience of it themselves and what it can do?
thanks

P.S. I'm not looking for medical advise here, just wondering if anyone in Ireland has used it and had any good/bad experiences. It seems to come up a lot on US sites but i find little reference to it in Europe.

wheresthebeef

i've administered it to lots of patients for use as an Anti-Arrhythmic. The last ward i worked on was a Cardiac care/High Dependancy ward, and a lot of patients were on amiodarone. during the 6 weeks i never saw any patients having a reaction or side effects to this medication, to my knowledge.
The list of side effects usually uses qualifiers like "rarely" "occasionally" or "commonly" to describe the likely-hood of the side effects, so perhaps muscle pain might be a common side effect, and blindness would be a very rare side effect. By rare, they could mean one in a million. For the drug companies, they have to list every possible outcome that taking the drug could achieve.
Some people don't react well to stuff, a packet of peanuts could kill someone very easily, but because its not a medical product they are not obliged to state this on the packet.
If you are worried about the possible side effects, and obviously if you experience any of them, you should speak to your pharmacist or doctor straight away.

British National Formulary wrote:

Side-effects


nausea, vomiting, taste disturbances, raised serum transaminases (may require dose reduction or withdrawal if accompanied by acute liver disorders), jaundice; bradycardia (see Cautions); pulmonary toxicity (including pneumonitis and fibrosis); tremor, sleep disorders; hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism; reversible corneal microdeposits (sometimes with night glare); phototoxicity, persistent slate-grey skin discoloration (see also notes above); less commonly onset or worsening of arrhythmia, conduction disturbances (see Cautions), peripheral neuropathy and myopathy (usually reversible on withdrawal); very rarely chronic liver disease including cirrhosis, sinus arrest, bronchospasm (in patients with severe respiratory failure), ataxia, benign intracranial hypertension, headache, vertigo, epididymo-orchitis, impotence, haemolytic or aplastic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, rash (including exfoliative dermatitis), hypersensitivity including vasculitis, alopecia, impaired vision due to optic neuritis or optic neuropathy (including blindness), anaphylaxis on rapid injection, also hypotension, respiratory distress syndrome, sweating, and hot flushes

DrIndy

Despite having a lot of potential side effects, it is also one of the safest anti-arrhythmic drugs available.

Almost all anti-arrhythmics for the heart have a side effect of causing a different arrhythmia which can be fatal, amiodarone has the least tendency to do this. It also has a very long half life and so the blood levels and hence the effectiveness and stability of someones treatment is optimised.

Side effects do occur, but doctors know to look out for them and treat them or switch the drug. Remember that almost everyone has no problems and side effects only occur in a minority of patients.

If you have any concerns about yours or other treatment, ask them to speak with the doctor prescribing the medication as to the benefits versus side effects of what they are getting

Traumadoc

Amiodarone has a long halflife and a wide side effect profile- thyroid, lung, liver eye and skin problems are the most commonly occurring serious side effects-
however it is a very good drug for stopping abnormal heart beats in that it stabilises the cardiac membranes in a number of ways.

Abnormal heart beats can cause side effects such as stroke - a far more serious problem.

Archeron

Hi all,
thanks for the info, its much appreciated. we found out yesterday that he was actually prescribed this medication in error (:eek: ) which is a tad worrying. On the plus side though, he doesnt need to take them now, so thats a relief, as we dont have to worry anymore.
Nice one everyone!!