Tikosyn

[John S]

Has anyone been taking Tikosyn? My electrophysiologist just started me on it this past weekend. I didn't tolerate Sotalol very well, so my cardiologist felt Tikosyn would be the way to go. Apparently the FDA requires a 72 hour hospital stay whenever a new patient starts Tikosyn. I had to battle to get a few days' supply from the hospital, but now I'm all set with CVS Pro Care, the only pharmacy where you can get the stuff. I just wondered how it worked for other people.

Thanks.

John S.

 

[bvdr]

Hi,

For what reason are you on Tikosyn? How are you tolerating it so far.
Are you going to have to have close monitoring while you are on it? What problems did you have with Sotalol?

I am always interested in hearing how different people react to different medications so thank-you for opening this thread.

Betty(bvdr)

 

[John S]

Ticosyn

Ticosyn

Hi Betty,

I have had problems with arrhythmia lately--it put me in the hospital five times in 2002. My heart would run either too fast or too slow. I had a pacemaker put in on January 2, 2003 to take care of the bradycardia and started taking Sotalol to control the atrial fib. Sotalol caused me to have vivid, scary dreams and hallucinations, so my cardiologist agreed to stop that to see if it would help the dreams problem. It did, but we knew I would go into a-fib at any time. He decided to try Ticosyn to control the a-fib because it did not have the beta blocker component that Sotalol did. I had to stay in the hospital for three days while they ran EKG's on me to see if everything was working OK. Evidently it was, and they sent me home. So far so good!

John

 

[bvdr]

I'm not surprized.

I'm not surprized.

Thanks, I'm not real surprized by what you wrote John. I have had some major problems with arrythmias as well. It started a good 18 months before I finally decided enough was enough and registered as a patient in the same ER I had worked as an RN for many years. I knew it was atrial fib but I wanted to have it documented and find out the whys. We also got documentation of other arrythmias as well.

First drug I was given was IV Cardizem. ( a first-rate calcium channel blocker useful for many many things)

Then Digoxin was added. (to slow things down)
Then Atenolol was also added.(beta-blocker)
Then Nitro was added.
Then Flecanide was added.

This cocktail mix - along with the diuretic I have taken for my blood pressure for 20years - made me feel miserable. The Atenolol was discontinued and the Digoxin was also discontinued.
It helped. I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't concentrate and I was definetly more short of breath. Coming off some of the drugs helped.

Flecanide once also required a mandatory hospitalization but not any longer. I was monitored for several hours in the ER and then sent home. It has helped with the atrial fib but I go in and out on a fairly regular basis but for short periods instead of hours and hours.

How expensive is the Ticosyn? I have prescription coverage but I still am cost concious.

Thanks for your information. I hope it is still helping. How is your pacemaker doing?

Betty(bvdr)

 

[Ross]

Just a side note for everyone:

To minimize the risk of induced arrhythmia, patients initiated or re-initiated on dofetilide should be placed for a minimum of 3 days in a facility that can provide calculations of creatinine clearance, continuous electrocardiographic monitoring, and cardiac resuscitation. For detailed instructions regarding dose selection, see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION. TIKOSYN is available only to hospitals and prescribers who have received appropriate TIKOSYN dosing and treatment initiation education (see Dosing and Administration Section).

 

[John S]

Betty,

I just had this great reply written to you and inadvertantly closed IE. I'll start over.

Sounds like I got off easy compared to what you went through. I remember Toprol and Atenolol being used, but they slowed my heart rate too much.

Shortness of breath sent me to the ER a while ago, but after looking for everything from cancer to blood clots, they sent me home with no diagnosis.

My wife Kathy is an LPN and now works in a doctor's office, so she has access to good information and looks out for me all the time. Right now she is suspicious that Lipitor is causing my muscle problems, but the blood test they ran for that came back negative.

One quick story: when Kathy was working in a nursing home, a newly graduated social worker had just started a job there. The social worker was reviewing charts and kept seeing the notation, "SOB". Finally, she got really upset and said, "Why are you calling all these people 'SOBS'??" They explained it meant 'short of breath.'

My pacemaker seems to be working just fine. The recovery period after the surgery was longer than I thought it would be--I wound up staying home for a week. Gradually I was able to go back to swimming and weight lifting, though I've been too sick to do either for the last month or so.

I just have to be careful about "twiddle syndrome", that I don't play with it, or that the seatbelt doesn't lay across it (and of course the belt comes across my shoulder at exactly that point), or that our grandson (named Max, one year old) doesn't kick me there. All those things are manageable, though.

I'm not sure what the Tikosyn will cost. CVS Pro Care couldn't tell me, and my prescription coverage just changed today, so I'm not sure what the co-pay is now.

Thanks for your postings! You're making me keep up with the website--something I've neglected for a long time. If I keep up with you, I'll break out of the "Rookie" catagory soon!

John.