PD and Atrial Fib

[jcanavera]

We've been fighting the battle of Atrial Fib for years prior to Patty going on dialysis.  She was on warfarin for many months.  Back in 2015 she developed calciphylaxis  which is not common for folks on PD.  It was a pretty nasty battle but with 3 a week IV treatments with sodium thiosulphate for 5 months, surgery, and long term wound care, the calciphylaxis was beaten back and all that is left today is the scars from surgery to remove the dead tissue and small lumps which continue to get smaller with time.  The doc felt that there is a tie to warfarin and dialysis which can promote caciphylaxis so that drug was removed.  She has tried the warfarin replacements which all seemed to have side effects.

She also takes amiodarone which is its own evil drug which helps the afib but has interactions with antibiotics that she needs to fight UTI issues.  Bottom line the heart doc wants to implant a device which will eliminate the risk of clots forming in her heart during an afib event.  Once that implant is in and functional he plans to put in a pacemaker along with deactivating her hearts electrical triggers which should in effect stop the afib and allow her to get off of amiodarone.  We now hear that she needs to go on an anticoagulant for 45 days after getting this implant.  Warfarin is out of the question due to the calciphylaxis.  We lucked out and came out of that nightmare and want no exposure to that again.

I am curious for any of you on PD with afib.  Are any of you on a non warfarin anti coagulant and if so what is it and what has been your experience?  What's your dosage and have you had any side effects?  They are trying Eliquis 2.5 mg 2x a day as a solution.  She tried this drug once before and developed some significant back pain within 3 days of this drug.  She stopped it and the pain subsided.  That was about a year ago.  We are trying again soon.

Jack

[Tío Riñon]

I'm on PD too and I've been fighting Atrial Fib since a procedure last year.  They put me on Warfarin also.  I asked my cardiologist about switching to something like Eliquis and was told that since I am up for transplant, it isn't an option.  Warfarin is reversible with short notice prior to transplant surgery while Eloquis is not.  However, I can switch to it post-surgery.

I was also prescribed Amiodarone and recently had tests to confirm that my lungs haven't been scarred or otherwise harmed by the medication.  One of my specialists said that we might have to consider a pacemaker if the a-fib couldn't be controlled.  However, we tried cardio-ablation and that worked!  My heart is in normal rhythm again. 

Good luck with your situation!