Anyone here take Meridia in the past? PVCs, etc

[lasseire]

Hi all,
Having seen that the FDA is pulling Meridia (for weight loss) off the market bec. of potential adverse heart reactions, I'm wondering if anyone else on this board took this med at any time?  I took it in 2007 for about 6wks to lose weight. That's actually when my PVCs all started (well at least when there was documented sustained PVCs, I'm pretty certain I've had them off & on randomly prior to that, but never showed up on EKG, etc.)  At the time, none of my Drs. (including cardios & an EP) felt it was a contributor as Meridia works on serotonin, not as an amphetamine.  I did stop taking it, though, bec. it freaked me out.  I continued to exercise & do weight watchers and lost 50 lbs.  I took it again briefly when my weight loss stalled in 2008, but only for a few weeks again.  No noticeable PVCs, but it didn't really help my weight loss.  I've lost 25 lbs more since on my own.

So now it's 2010 and the PVCs are back with a vengeance - more work-ups & everything is basically the same BUT I now have PACs as well and my echo showed i have a mobile intra-atrial septum, which I did NOT have in my previous echo.  When I asked the dr. about it, he said I must have had it all my life & when I pushed again abt it not being on previous echo, he said they 'must have missed it', especially if I was 40 lbs heavier.  ????  Seriously?

Yes, I am an anxious patient, but I also am curious if the Meridia could have caused that damage & if that in turn has led to my increased PVCs/PACs/floppy septum??  I'm not on any meds for any of this bec. they keep assuring me that none of this is life-threatening, but if a drug I took 2 years ago caused damage that's just showing up now, should I be worried longer-term?  Assuming it was the drug and not just aging or random. : )

Like I need something else to worry about - I already worry that the PVCs/PACs will do me in. *sigh*

Thanks!

[Mom2four85]

I tried to find one of the studies or recalls where it listed arrythmia's and all I can find is the part that points to "heart disease" but doesn't go into specifics -

the main study was cited and the FDA says this: "Researchers looked at 10,000 patients who were obese and over 55 years old with a history of heart disease or type 2 diabetes and other risk factors. In preliminary results reported to FDA in mid-November, researchers found that 11.4% of patients suffered Meridia heart problems, including heart attack, stroke, resuscitated cardiac arrest and death, compared to only 10% of patients given a placebo. The researchers reported that the result was higher than expected."

however, I did find a FDA Patient safety news clip from Mark Burnett MPH that talks about the cardiovascular risk with Meridia. It says Meridia is contraindicated in patients with a history of heart disease which includes - CAD, STROKE, TIA, Arrythmia's, CHF, PAD & uncontrolled hbp (unless I'm misunderstanding this clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCTL6UgkkCU&feature=player_embedded

I would definitely talk to the dr that prescribed it if possible and tell him you've had these problems and ask about this.  

I know for my mind I needed to have someone be responsible for at least part of what was wrong with me - a dr who sees an EKG and ignores many thousands of pvc's needs to learn from his mistakes...unfortunately that won't happen in my case - he's sitting in his posh office counting money and I'm $359,000 in medical debt.  Part of it's my fault for taking medication I know, but I pay daily for that decision I made :P

[jumps off her soapbox] hope someone else can shed some light on this for you

[lasseire]

From what I read and understood from my Dr. was that they were prescribing Meridia to all kinds of pts because it "supposedly" didn't have the same cardiac affects as an amphetamine; that may be where they ended up giving it to people with previous heart disease, assuming it was safe, when in fact, it wasn't.

The study I read did mention arrhythmia as a possible complication, which was why I questioned this.  My main concern isn't a lawsuit per se, it's that if having taking this drug, can it cause MORE problems for me further down the road? The long-term after effects of taking it vs. the immediate term, I guess.
And should I be worried about that?  
Thanks again!

[Mom2four85]

ahhh I should have read the recall; I went back and read it; but I have a question - "almost a year after studies showed the drug increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of heart disease"

what defines heart disease?  

If it's true from the beginning it was clear the drug raised blood pressure and heart rate; why prescribe it to patients that already had heart disease when it can't be prescribed to these patients under the current labeling.

am I the only one confused by this?

[itdood]

The study I read said Meridia increased risk of CAD and stroke in folks who already had CAD and/or stroke.   Nothing was mentioned about arrhytmia.  

[Mom2four85]

I'm not sure; but you may need to get in touch with someone about the meridia situation, but be careful what you post or say just in case they check on you - and if you find you do have a problem lawyers will check it out - and what you say or post can and will be used against you, so just be cautious.

Having said that, I went through a similar thing as you - I took Phentermine for the first time in 2006, it worked so I went to my dr over 4-5 years and did a program 3 separate times.  The last time in Dec 2008 - Jan 2009, I felt horrible and had to changed meds and go off the program.  Forward to June 2009 I have heart problems and 50,000+ pvc's and other stuff all unexplained.  My dr showed me my files from the previous time in April 2007 where I had tons of pvc's (bigeminy & trigeminy) at that time and should have never been on amphetamines, they told me it was likely the cause of my problems.

I've spent over a year in court and between lawyers trying to prove that was what caused my problem; it's been difficult and some things I've told my dr over the years were taken out of context and used against me.  Last week, I finally settled out of court for what I had to pay my attny and a portion of my deductibles because it's been so stressful on me to go through this on top of being sick.

Look up Meridia recall and then Meridia lawsuit and find the company (Morgan & Morgan maybe they do alot of class action lawsuits) that intake you and have you tested or looked at to see if it's related to Meridia.

Also the other thing I learned is watch the statute of limitations, alot think it's from the first time you find out you have the problem but it's not in alot of cases - it's from the date the incident occured.

Just some ramdom ramblings from someone who's going through this =)