Digitalis Toxicity Symptoms

Digitalis is a type of prescription medication that is used to treat heart patients. Digitalis toxicity results from complications that can arise from this type of therapy. In some cases, digitalis toxicity is caused by acute ingestion of the medication. It can also result from lowered tolerance to the medication, but usually results from abnormally high levels of it inside of the body. There are some symptoms that are often linked to digitalis toxicity.

Changes in Vision

• Changes in vision are very common symptoms of digitalis toxicity. These vision changes include blurry vision, alterations in the perception of colors, seeing bright patches or lights, halos surrounding objects and blind spots located in the field of vision.

Common Symptoms

• Some highly common symptoms of digitalis toxicity are disorientation, confusion, appetite loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abnormal pulse and heart palpitations.

Less Common Symptoms

• Some rarer symptoms of digitalis toxicity include swelling all over the body, lower output of urine, extreme frequency of urination during the night, reduced consciousness, and having difficulty breathing when lying down.

Signs

• People can discover that they have digitalis toxicity in a variety of ways. ECGs (electrocardiograms) record the heart's electrical activity, and can display an array of different arrhythmias. Also, the heart rate might be irregular, and it could be extremely slow or extremely rapid. The levels of serum (whether digitoxin or digoxin) could also be regular, or too high.

Prevention/Solution

• To avoid experiencing uncomfortable digitalis toxicity symptoms, it is advised that persons undergoing this therapy regularly get their digital levels monitored and analyzed. It is also a smart idea to regularly monitor the levels of blood chemistry. Blood chemistry levels can show conditions that increase the risk of the development of digitalis toxicity and all of its various symptoms.