Re: Low blood pressure from Sotalol

April 17, 2006

Glad to hear you're bailing on the cardio... he still sounds like a

yahoo....hopefully your husband will get some competent help from the new guy.

I was on Sotolol in the very beginning... I hated every second of it... I went

through Tikosyn, which I loved, and am now on Rhythmol, which isn't so bad...

had a serious headache and hangover feeling for probably the first month, and

that's now either gone, or I'm just used to it, so don't notice any more

Stef

******************

We are waiting to see my husband's new doctor, an electrophysiologist, and for

him to do a cardioversion.

Jo Anne

April 17, 2006

Hi Jo Anne

Your Husband's ordeal sounds very similar to mine, it was only the

holter monitor reading that persuaded the doctor that I needed to come

off sotalol immediately and because they thought that my heart rhythm

could be dangerous I needed to stay in hospital. My BP was very low

83/42 at one stage; they were looking for internal bleeding or kidney

problems instead of the real problem sotalol.

Good luck in getting things sorted out.

ine

April 17, 2006

Jo Anne, I am glad that you are going to see another doctor. Sotalol

is no fun for someone who does not tolerate it well. I was on it for

almost a year and I was MISSERABLE the WHOLE time. My blood pressure

was always well below 100 and sometimes dropped into the 80's. My

heart rate was in the low 50's and would drop into the 40's sometimes.

I was like a zombie. Tired, cold, fatigued. It was ridiculous. It

sounds like your husband is experiencing the same thing. Finally, I

had to get very forceful with my EP before he would put me on

something else. He put me in the hospital for three days to go on

Tikosyn. I immediately felt better.

Good luck,

Lori

April 17, 2006

I'd feel safer with an implantable

atrial defibrillator.

--------------

Jo Anne, there is no such thing (to my knowledge) as an implantable atrial

defibrillator. Implantable defibrillators are for VENTRICULAR fibrillation,

which can kill in moments, NOT for atrial fibrillation. Yes, the atria tell the

ventricles when to beat, but the pacemaker is for the ventricals only and not

for the irregular beats caused by a-fib. Most pacemakers don't even have atrial

fibrillation suppression mode, and those that do don't work well (from reports).

You may not feel the a-fib with a pacemaker, but it's still going on and carries

the same risks. The pacemaker just makes the ventricles beat more regularly,

but the atria are still going nutso.

Toni

CA

April 18, 2006

Hi Jo Anne, Toni

Just to let you know that my Pacemaker has the AF suppression mode, it

is supposed to produce a rapid sinus rhythm when the heart starts to

fibrillate, however when mine was first switched on my afib went higher

than the pacemaker and caused me problems, luckily I was still in

hospital and it was switch off after 5 days. I thought it strange that

they did not let me home after the implantation obviously they wanted to

see how things went. My pacemaker is dual chamber with a lead to the

atria and the ventricle but I am still suffering a lot of afib, the only

thing the pacemaker is doing is stopping the bradycardia and is also

useful when I go for a pacing check to find out exactly how much afib I

am in. Last November it was 52%, I am going in 3 weeks time and am

expecting it to be higher.

I would doubt you will get a doctor to give you a pacemaker unless you

are bradycardic, I had to wait in hospital for three weeks after

stopping sotalol to make sure that it was absolutely necessary.

I have not heard of the an implantable atrial defibrillator maybe

someone else may have.

ine

Re: Re: Low blood pressure from Sotalol

I'd feel safer with an implantable

atrial defibrillator.

--------------

Jo Anne, there is no such thing (to my knowledge) as an implantable

atrial defibrillator. Implantable defibrillators are for VENTRICULAR

fibrillation, which can kill in moments, NOT for atrial fibrillation.

Yes, the atria tell the ventricles when to beat, but the pacemaker is

for the ventricals only and not for the irregular beats caused by a-fib.

Most pacemakers don't even have atrial fibrillation suppression mode,

and those that do don't work well (from reports). You may not feel the

a-fib with a pacemaker, but it's still going on and carries the same

risks. The pacemaker just makes the ventricles beat more regularly, but

the atria are still going nutso.

Toni

CA

April 18, 2006

Dear JoAnn,

I currently take Sotalol and also have high blood pressure when I become

overly angry or excited but otherwise have blood pressure that is okay. When I

entered the hospital to start Sotalol, the E.P. also prescribed blood pressure

medication, which I questioned. This was begun at night and when I sleep, my

blood pressure is rather low.

Sure enough, at about 2a.m. the nurses came running into my room to wake me

because my blood pressure had dropped to something over 30 and said it must be

the blood pressure medication taken with Sotalol. Duhh! So they started an

I.V. drip to replace fluids and eliminated the b.p. med. At least I had

converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful for awhile, but now I'm in and

out of afib all the time and when we tried to increase the Sotalol by l/2 a

tablet twice a day, it had the same effect on my heart that my previous med had

had. I had to stop when walking upstairs to catch my breath and my heart just

felt weird if I did anything other than sit in a chair or lie down. So I

eliminated the add'l. l/2 tablet in the morning because of my acitivity during

the day and kept the add'l. l/2 at night. It seems to be working fine, but I'm

still in and out of afib but stay out longer.

It makes me realize how powerful these drugs are. To think that an additional

l/2 a tablet would cause my body to react that way..

J jakarasek@...> wrote:

Clear DayLast Monday, we went to our family doctor, and during his exam of my

husband, he found that his blood pressure was low---90/60. He commented that

certainly could explain my husband's feeling of tiredness.

Later that day, my husband had the somewhat ashen look that he had just before

he went to the family doctor and was originally diagnosed with atrial

fibrillation. He also was dizzy when going from sitting to standing.

I called the cardiologist's office. The nurse said laying down might help, and

he could go to the emergency room. I said it must be the Sotalol because it

will lower the blood pressure and my husband only had normal blood pressure to

start with. She said if the cardiologist doesn't call back, my husband could

skip the Sotalol that evening, and he should not drive. The cardiologist had a

staff member call back who only told my husband to go for blood tests the next

morning. My husband skipped the Sotalol that evening. The next morning, my

husband who felt somewhat better, on his own, took only half (40 mg, which had

been his first dose on which he had done fine) his current morning dose of

Sotalol, and had the blood test done. That afternoon his blood pressure was

normal--113/80.

Throughout this the cardiologist did not talk to my husband and only ordered

only the blood tests to see if he was bleeding although, by then, my husband had

literally managed his food into a normal INR the week before. The INR and blood

tests were normal. The cardiologist did nothing more.

We had been complaining before this to the cardiologist about the second and

higher dosage (160 mg/day) of Sotalol causing my husband problems for more than

a week. And the 160 mg Sotalol was not improving his rate or rhythm, never mind

putting him in NSR (which it was hoped to do). (Unfortunately, it turned out to

be reducing his normal blood pressure.) And my husband had done better with the

first and lower dosage of Sotalol of 80 mg a day.

We believe that if my husband had not skipped his Monday night Sotalol and had

not reduced his dosage himself to 80 mg a day, he would have passed out,

possibly hurting himself and/or been admitted to the hospital Monday night or

Tuesday. While I slept with my husband Monday night, it was an anxious sleep

because I was watching out for his having problems from the low blood pressure.

We saw the cardiologist Wednesday who complained that my husband wasn't

following his " orders " and wanted to do the cardioversion right away (on only 2

correct INR readings).

My husband's blood pressure and heart rate are still doing better than when he

was on 160 mg/day, but he still is in atrial fibrillation, which he has been

since before he was diagnosed 56 days ago.

We are waiting to see my husband's new doctor, an electrophysiologist, and for

him to do a cardioversion.

Jo Anne

April 18, 2006

Does anyone here LIKE Sotalol? Because it seems Sotalol, for want of a

better word, sucks pretty much across the board. My EP mentioned it to me in

case

my NSR turns back into afib. (I don't think he will do another cardiovert

without putting me on pills.) From my readings here, if and when I have to go

on antiarrhythmics ... he can stuff his Sotalol in his back pocket - sounds

like some of the others -dofetilide seems pretty popular here - are better.

Lil

In a message dated 4/18/2006 9:00:26 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,

hillgazer@... writes:

At least I had converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful for awhile,

but now I'm in and out of afib all the time and when we tried to increase the

Sotalol by l/2 a tablet twice a day, it had the same effect on my heart that

my previous med had had. I had to stop when walking upstairs to catch my

breath and my heart just felt weird if I did anything other than sit in a chair

or lie down

April 18, 2006

having been on three antiarrhythmics now.. I will rate in the order of love to

hate:

LOVED dofetilide.. no side effects whatsoever. NSR for 15 months SOLID. You

have to qualify to take this though.. no kidney dysfunction and good QT

interval...

Tolerate Rhythmol... initial hangover headachy feeling.. went away after about

a month. Still left with chronic tiredness, mental slowness and being cold.

HATED Sotolol... it made me so depressed and ill feeling.. it was worse than

horrible...was on it for 6 weeks or so, and then begged to come off. seemed to

keep me in NSR, but that was back when I was only having episodes every few

months anyway... My dad took it too, and had to come off for the negative side

effects. Some people don't seem to be bothered at all.

cnetwork@... wrote:

Does anyone here LIKE Sotalol? Because it seems Sotalol, for want of a

better word, sucks pretty much across the board. My EP mentioned it to me in

case

my NSR turns back into afib. (I don't think he will do another cardiovert

without putting me on pills.) From my readings here, if and when I have to go

on antiarrhythmics ... he can stuff his Sotalol in his back pocket - sounds

like some of the others -dofetilide seems pretty popular here - are better.

Lil

In a message dated 4/18/2006 9:00:26 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,

hillgazer@... writes:

At least I had converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful for awhile,

but now I'm in and out of afib all the time and when we tried to increase the

Sotalol by l/2 a tablet twice a day, it had the same effect on my heart that

my previous med had had. I had to stop when walking upstairs to catch my

breath and my heart just felt weird if I did anything other than sit in a chair

or lie down

April 18, 2006

I am a newer member of this board and would like to reply to this letter

regarding Sotalol. For many months after I was put on Sotalol I had trouble with

light-headedness and feeling faint. When I last saw my new cardiologist I

mentioned to him that I felt I was overmedicated. I was also on Benicar HCT. He

suggested I cut the Benicar in half and within one day of doing so I felt ever

so much better. I had an ablation (mini-maze Microwave VATS) in July and am

still dealing with near constant Afib - in and out all day long. I see the EP

next Tuesday to see the results of my 2 week Holter Monitor test and to see what

he will now recommend. I feel that the Sotalol has quit working effectively.

I appreciate all the info I read on these posts - everyone's experiences helps

us all be a little more pro-active in our treatment and understanding. Many

thanks to all of you.

ann from Wisconsin

Subject: Subject: Re: Low blood pressure from Sotalol

Dear JoAnn,

I currently take Sotalol and also have high blood pressure when I

become overly angry or excited but otherwise have blood pressure that is

okay. When I entered the hospital to start Sotalol, the E.P. also

prescribed blood pressure medication, which I questioned. This was begun at

night and when I sleep, my blood pressure is rather low.

Sure enough, at about 2a.m. the nurses came running into my room to

wake me because my blood pressure had dropped to something over 30 and

said it must be the blood pressure medication taken with Sotalol. Duhh!

So they started an I.V. drip to replace fluids and eliminated the b.p.

med. At least I had converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful

for awhile, but now I'm in and out of afib all the time and when we tried

to increase the Sotalol by l/2 a tablet twice a day, it had the same

effect on my heart that my previous med had had. I had to stop when

walking upstairs to catch my breath and my heart just felt weird if I did

anything other than sit in a chair or lie down. So I eliminated the

add'l. l/2 tablet in the morning because of my acitivity during the day

and kept the add'l. l/2 at night. It seems to be working fine, but I'm

still in and out of afib but stay out longer.

It makes me realize how powerful these drugs are. To think that an

additional l/2 a tablet would cause my body to react that way..

---------------------------------

How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

April 18, 2006

Lil, you had asked for feedback about Sotolo. Personally flecainide worked for

me for many years. Sotolol worked for me for only a few weeks.

cnetwork@... wrote:

Does anyone here LIKE Sotalol? Because it seems Sotalol, for want of a

better word, sucks pretty much across the board. My EP mentioned it to me in

case

my NSR turns back into afib. (I don't think he will do another cardiovert

without putting me on pills.) From my readings here, if and when I have to go

on antiarrhythmics ... he can stuff his Sotalol in his back pocket - sounds

like some of the others -dofetilide seems pretty popular here - are better.

Lil

In a message dated 4/18/2006 9:00:26 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,

hillgazer@... writes:

At least I had converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful for awhile,

but now I'm in and out of afib all the time and when we tried to increase the

Sotalol by l/2 a tablet twice a day, it had the same effect on my heart that

my previous med had had. I had to stop when walking upstairs to catch my

breath and my heart just felt weird if I did anything other than sit in a chair

or lie down

April 19, 2006

I agree that Sotalol pretty much sucks across the board but I did go

back into NSR while on it. I started on Toprol which kept my rate

under control for about a month but didn't put me in NSR. However,

the day I went back the cardiologist, my rate was out of control (130

during the EKG). He switched me to Sotalol and within a month I

converted to NSR. I made another appointment because I couldn't

stand being on this medication. I have the same complaint as others,

low blood pressure, low heart rate, tiredness, loss of mental acuity

and memory (not a complete memory loss but I have a hard time

recalling things, they are fuzzy), depression and coldness,

especially at night. The cardiologist wanted be to stay on Sotalol

for about 2 weeks to get my heart used to being in NSR and then he is

weaning me off Sotalol while slowly increasing Toprol. We will see

what happens. I am thrilled to be back on NSR but I don't know how

much longer I can put up with the side effects of Sotalol.

>

> Does anyone here LIKE Sotalol? Because it seems Sotalol, for want

of a

> better word, sucks pretty much across the board. My EP mentioned it

to me in case

> my NSR turns back into afib. (I don't think he will do another

cardiovert

> without putting me on pills.) From my readings here, if and when

I have to go

> on antiarrhythmics ... he can stuff his Sotalol in his back

pocket - sounds

> like some of the others -dofetilide seems pretty popular here -

are better.

> Lil

>

> In a message dated 4/18/2006 9:00:26 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,

> hillgazer@... writes:

>

> At least I had converted to NSR and the Sotalol was successful for

awhile,

> but now I'm in and out of afib all the time and when we tried to

increase the

> Sotalol by l/2 a tablet twice a day, it had the same effect on my

heart that

> my previous med had had. I had to stop when walking upstairs to

catch my

> breath and my heart just felt weird if I did anything other than

sit in a chair

> or lie down

>

April 19, 2006

>

> Does anyone here LIKE Sotalol?

Hi Lil,

I did very well on Sotalol for about 6 years. I was started on

80 mg twice a day and for 2

years it kept me to only having an a-fib episode about once a month

for 2-3 hours. When

it stopped working (they all do eventually), I was upped to 120 mg

twice a day. Same

thing, it worked for 2 years. Then I was increased to 160 mg twice a

day. Two more

good years.

That all ended last May when the Sotalol couldn't be increased

any further. At that

point, my doc put me on Tikosyn. It never worked from day 1. I had

daily a-fib for most

of the day in the 3-day hospitalization. This decreased slightly

after about 3 weeks, but I

still would have daily a-fib for several hours.

I was very unhappy on the Tikosyn. Luckily I had a PVI ablation

on March 6 and that

seems to have cured my a-fib. But I should tell you that after the

ablation I was put back

on Sotalol 80 twice a day. My EP (Dr. Francis Marchlinski at the

University of PA) said they have not

had success with Tikosyn and he doesn't use it.

I wanted to present you with this information. With my

experience, I would suggest

you try the Sotalol first. Good luck!!!

Sharon

April 19, 2006

I'd be afraid to wean off an anti-arrythmic back to just rate control. There

are plenty of other antiarrythmics, such as Tikosyn, Rhythmol and Flecinide that

don't seem to have the horrible side effects of Sotolol. Tikosyn specifically

doesn't seem to have any side effects for anyone, and for some works extrememly

well, and for very long periods of time.

If the Toprol doesn't work, ask to be put on one of these other

antiarrhythmics instead, or in combination...

clarissagarvey clarissagarvey@...> wrote: