Print this page
Email a friend
Was this information helpful?
100% said yes!
(1 votes)What do you think? Click "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
Amiodarone (also prescribed under the brand names Cordarone and Pacerone) is a medication designed to control abnormal heart rhythms. It can be a lifesaving drug, but it is especially prone to interacting with other medicines, especially those metabolized by an enzyme called CYP-3A4. Several of the cholesterol-lowering drugs, particularly simvastatin (also prescribed by brand name Zocor or in combination medicines called Vytorin and Simcor), are also metabolized by this enzyme. So are lovastatin (Mevacor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor). We suspect that these drugs would also interact with amiodarone. Red yeast rice might also be dangerous in combination with amiodarone.According to a new warning from the FDA, patients on amiodarone should not take any more than 20 mg of simvastatin daily or they may be risking a serious complication called rhabdomyolysis. In this situation, muscle begins to break down and the muscle breakdown by-products overwhelm the kidneys, which can fail. This is an extremely dangerous interaction that can lead to disability or death.
Anyone who experiences muscle pain, weakness, spasm, stiffness or tenderness while taking this combination of drugs should notify the prescribing doctor immediately. Safety monitoring may require a urine test. Some doctors will prescribe a different cholesterol-lowering medicine for their heart patients on amiodarone to reduce the likelihood of such an interaction.
Are there any natural alternatives? I've just been put on this drug and find that it gives me loose bowels.
I do take simvastatin, and my Dr. told me to take CoQ10 with it. He said it metabolizes better with the enzyme. Do you agree?
I have been on Amiodarone and Lipitor for just over two years, within the past six months I have been experiencing leg weakness and very low stamina.
This is slightly off topic.
I was on Amiodarone for eight years until I came down with acute thyrotoxicosis. Since then, after being treated for hyperthyroidism, I've become clinically hypothyroid and realized these symptoms are no different than how I was feeling while being treated with Amioderone those eight long years.
Knowing what I do now, I would advise anyone that bouts of arrhythmia are far more easy to take than the everyday disruptions (side effects) and common complications (thyrotoxicosis) of this drug.
The notions and meanings attached to the ancient Greek term 'Pharmakon' applies to many remedies, but Amioderone really taught me what it means.
I was put on amiodarone for heart palpitations, especially when I first lay down to go to sleep. I think that the medication did help my heart palps, however, within six months on the drug, my arms started turning really brown. For some time we didn't know the cause, but the doctor finally told me it was probably caused by the amiodarone, and sunshine.
The doctor eventually took me off the drug, before my face started turning dark brown. I was not told that I should be wearing long sleeved shirts, so consequently, I now have these permanently ugly dark arms, up to where my sleeves were. Beyond that my skin is white. Wish I had never taken it. Perhaps there was something better for my palps?