Hello. Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern. Amiodarone is one of the most effective, thus far known, antiarrhythmic agents, that can be used in arrhythmias produced by various areas of the heart muscle and works great even in a diseased heart. There are no medications without down-sides , and every doctors carefully weighs benefits against risks, when we are talking about starting a patient on a certain medical therapy. Amiodarone takes some time to give effect, and that is why it is taken in large (loading) dosage when started. There are some strategies as how to give the loading dose of amiodarone (six grams), the followed strategy depends on your doctor s opinion. Indeed, amiodarone has side effects. The most important ones are those on thyroid, liver and lungs. Almost exclusively, our greatest fear is the side effect on the thyroid gland, since amiodarone has 30% of iodine in its composure. Let this aside, the benefits on converting or rate-controlling an atrial fibrillation are fare more favourable. If the side effects of amiodarone are documented some time during the treatment, it should be discontinued, and alternatives are available, such as propafenon, flecainide or sotalol, each of them also with their own profile of side-effects. Amiodarone takes up to 45-60 days to wear off from the system, because it is largely deposited in the body soft tissue. My opinion is that starting you on amiodarone was a good decision and it is the most used drug in converting atrial fibrillation. I hope I was helpful. Wish you a good health and good luck with the procedure. Kind regards, Dr. Meriton