Tulsa World: Prescription eye drops may have caused abnormal heart rate

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Prescription eye drops may have caused abnormal heart rate

By PETER GOTT, M.D. Newspaper Enterprise Association
Published: 10/5/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 10/5/2009 8:26 AM

Dear Dr. Gott: In May 2001, I suddenly developed an irregular heart rate. It would sometimes go two or three beats and then miss one. At times, my heart rate was only 41 beats per minute. During the summer, I contacted my family physician, who ordered some tests. It took until October 2003 for the mystery to be solved, and it wasn't my physician who discovered the problem. My drug company changed my glaucoma eye-drop medication from latanoprost to travoprost.

Dear Reader: Glaucoma is often treated with beta-blocker eye drops because the condition is essentially hypertension of the eyeball. It should be treated by an ophthalmologist and monitored closely, since it can cause permanent changes to vision or even blindness.

You say you were changed from latanoprost (a prostaglandin analog) to travoprost (a synthetic prostaglandin analog). After this change you indicate your symptoms disappeared. But you then mention a third medication, timolol maleate (a nonselective beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agent) as causing heart symptoms.

In my experience, if one class of drugs causes side effects, others in that class will, too. This is not always the case, but more often than not, I have found it to hold true for my patients. A situation I believe to be more likely is that the timolol-causing side effects ceased when the medication was changed to travoprost from latanoprost.

It is important to know what medications are being taken, what the dosage is, and the date they were started. Any changes, either in medication or dosage, should also be noted, along with the date of the change. If side effects occur, this may make it easier to identify the cause. I say may only because some people will suddenly develop adverse reactions to a medication they have been taking for many years.

Write Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave. 4th floor, New York, NY 10016.

By PETER GOTT, M.D. Newspaper Enterprise Association

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