Generic Cordarone

Cordarone can be generically prescribed as amiodarone. It is also prescribed under the brand name Pacerone. Cordarone is used in life threatening conditions of the heart. It can be used to steady a heart that is suffering from ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. It is often prescribed to treat life threatening disorders related to the ventricles.

Because Cordarone has the potential for life threatening side effects, most patients receive this medication either in full or in part in a hospital. This medication is not appropriate for all patients and the prescribing physician should exercise extreme caution with concern to the patient’s medical history. Patients with a medical history which includes allergies to iodine or amiodarone, slow heart rhythms, AV block, or heart issues that cause fainting can not take this medication at all. Patients with a medical history which includes liver disease, vision problems, asthma or another breathing disorder, thyroid disorders, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, or an electrolyte imbalance may or may be able to tolerate Coradone. Patients should be very carefully monitored, usually in a hospital setting, during their first week of this medication.

Patients who are pregnant or nursing should not take Cordarone. The American Food and Drug Administration rated Cordarone as a pregnancy risk category D, which means that there is a high likelihood that this medicine will cause harm to a developing fetus. Breast feeding women are likely to pass the medication through their milk and cause harm to their nursing infants.

If the patient accidentally misses a dose of Cordarone, the dose should be taken as soon as possible. However, the dose should be skipped if it is almost time for the next dose. Taking a double dose of medicine to make up for the missed dose is likely to cause an overdose.

An overdose of Cordarone is very serious. Patients who are even suspected of taking too much of this medication should be taken directly to the emergency medical facilities. An overdose may present with symptoms such as light headedness, weakness, depressed heart rhythm, fainting, coma, or death.

Patients are likely to experience side effects. Side effects are segregated into two basic types, serious and mild. Mild side effects should be discussed with the prescribing physician right away and may include warmth and tingling sensations under the skin, weakness, uncoordinated movements, numbness, burning, tingles, or random pain, dizziness, fatigue, constipation, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction.

Serious side effects require immediate emergency medical care. These may present as blurry vision with a headache or painful eyes, wheezing, cough, tight chest, painful breaths, respiratory distress, tremors, restless muscle twitching, nausea with low fever, stomach pain, jaundice, dark urine, clay colored stools, and loss of appetite, feeling irritable and depressed with an inability to focus, swelling with rapid weight gain and shortness of breath, a new or irregular heart rate pattern that is cause for even mild concern, and allergic reactions. Allergic reactions include swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, throat, or face, hives, and difficulty breathing.

Cordarone can not be mixed with certain medications. The prescribing physician should be very cautious in determining the current medicines which a patient already takes. Patients should never take anything, including prescription medicines, over the counter medicines, herbal remedies, and vitamin supplements. Medications with known hazards include blood thinners, antibiotics, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, cyclosporine, digoxin, trazodone, simvastatin, fentanyl, loratadine, disopyramide, and clopidogrel.