Any experience with Multaq?

Hi pace-mates. Does anyone out there have any experience with the drug "Multaq"? I tousnds like such a superhero name. It is my new anti-arrhythmic, and I wondered if anyone else has used it successfully.

Thanks!
amyoswag

3 Comments

Multaq

by golden_snitch - 2009-11-09 01:11:00

Hi there!

Hasn't been approved by EMEA in Europe, yet, but it might be by January or February 2010. I know that it received FDA approval in July this year. Don't know anyone in the U.S. who has used it successfully, yet; on the contrary, some members in this forum said that they had lots of side effects and stopped taking it.

The thing is that for a long, long time everyone has been looking forward to Multaq (Dronedarone), expectations were really high, but now it has turned out that this drug is not nearly as effective as Amiodarone. It was reported that there are less side effects than with Amiodarone, but it's: efficacy for safety. My EP, who's in the advisory board of Sanofi (pharmaceutical company), said that he's very pessimistic after he got the first results of the trial in which Dronedarone was directly compared to Amiodarone. I am currently taking Amiodarone, and both my EP and I were hoping that the Dronedarone would be available for me soon, but now it seems that he is more in favour of sticking to a low dosage of Amiodarone; he thinks the Dronedarone won't work for me.

However, when one hasn't taken Amiodarone before, I would still try the Dronedarone first, and if it really doesn't work, then the Amiodarone.

There is also this problem that EPs don't know how to switch patients from Amiodarone to Dronedarone. I attended a conference lately, and this issue was discussed there: every EP who spoke had a different approach. While my EP said that he would suggest a break of four weeks before starting Dronedrone, another EP said he's in favour of two weeks...

Good luck & let us know how you are tolerating the drug and if it helps you!
Best wishes
Inga

Thanks!

by amyoswag - 2009-11-09 10:11:49

I've been using it for about 2 weeks now, and it really cuts down on the palpitations and that feeling like I'm on the downward part of the roller coaster. It takes about an hour after I take it for it to feel "regular", but then, all am meds are a bit of a battle for me. (And if you take it every 12 hours, there's not really a "no am" option.)

I think it's helping, but it's hard to say. I'm still having a "post-shock" adjustment. I get panicky for awhile after I get shocked. I have to get used to doing everything without waiting to get shocked again, like resetting my defaults.

I am wondering if some of the anxiety is a side effect or just from getting zapped. Every beta-blocker I've been on makes me feel like I'm at "Woodstock" in the 60's. (I wasn't there, by the way, I'm just guessing.)

I see my EP on the 17th, and I think he's going to refer me on to the University of Michigan. We have great cardiologists and EP's here, but they just don't know what's wrong with me, as I don't fit any category. I'm just so darn special!!!

I'll keep you informed on the Multaq...so far, it's very smooth.

Jumping in here

by bluelyon - 2009-11-20 11:11:40

Hi, I just joined this forum thinking that I would ease in, but my pacemaker was placed on Friday, and then my EP also put me on Multaq. I was given two doses while in the hosptal (neither were given with a meal tho they should have been according the medication's physician instructins included in the samples I was given). Since I did not receive the meds with a meal then I think the effect on me was not as severe as the one I had last night after taking it with my evening meal of Chinese food (so plenty of fat - also part of the dosing instructions). After taking the drug in hospital, I had the symptoms below, but not as severe. According to the insert, taking the med without food only allows for 4% exposure vs 15% with food. In addition, as a woman my exposure goes higher, according to the clinical trials discussed in the insert.

Within an hour of dinner I started to feel warm all over (like a niacin flush) and nauseous. This started in slow waves, and as the evening progressed got worse and worse until I was feeling that way more than not. I tried to sleep but the feeling just would not let me. My heart rate was up even though I wasn't doing anything.

So in addition to trying to sleep comfortably with a newly inserted pacemaker (and making sure my cat didn't step on it while walking across the bed), I was laying there - heart jacked up and flushed all over, along with just an icky woozy feeling. When I'd get up, I'd get chills.

Whether this is related to the medication, I don't know. My body may just be in overload since the last two weeks have been crazy: Ablation of 8 spots in my heart on Nov 6, then two emergency room admissions with rapid heart rate, and then the pacemaker (for, yes, bradycardia - I'm a mixed bag).

Anyway, I called my doctor's office this morning and told them everything and told them I was going to step off Multaq for now. I think I can only handle one thing at a time.

You know you're wired when...

You need to be re-booted each morning.

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