Dr. David Haines answers the question: 'Medications And Heart Rhythm Risk?'
Question: Do certain kinds of medications affect my risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm?
Answer :There's certain mediations that have been implicated in the occurrence of atrial fibrillation -- digoxin digitalis is one of those. Paradoxically, that's also a medication that's often prescribed to slow the heart rate during atrial fibrillation. People are sometimes concerned about over-the-counter cold medications that have some stimulants in their formulation. Those can occasionally worsen a preexisting condition, but they are rarely, if ever, direct causes for the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.
