Re: Irratic use of Flecainide

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/1/2002 9:20:15 PM Pacific Standard Time,

bobbyr@... writes:

<< Glad to hear you are back in NSR! I, too, was found to be normal in all

respects other than the afib, except for enlargement of the atria as

shown by echocardiogram. I suspect I had been in afib most of my life >>

Thanks, Bobby! I, too, am glad to be back in sinus. I'll take all the sinus

moments I can get! I know for certain that I have had afib for at least

eighteen years, but like you I suspect that I may have had it from childhood.

Afib seems to be genetic in my family so I guess it was inevitable that I

would respond to the many possible afib triggers in my life. I'm just trying

to cling to sinus as much as I can to avoid the rewiring of my heart by afib

as occurred with my older brother. By the time he found out he had afib, he

was in it permanently, making it too late to do anything about it except

surgery, to which he is adamantly opposed. He may have had afib since

childhood, also. Your success with Flecainide offers me great hope that I

may have similar success with the drug if Atenolol and Verapamil fail to

control my afib. Thanks for sharing your experience.

in sinus in Seattle (with a big grin!)

[Guest guest]

Glad to hear you are back in NSR! I, too, was found to be normal in all

respects other than the afib, except for enlargement of the atria as

shown by echocardiogram. I suspect I had been in afib most of my life,

as I had always, as long as I can remember, had the " irregularly

irregular " beat. After my cardioversions and being in NSR for a few

years, the ECG as interpreted by the machine shows " Normal Sinus Rhythm

with Enlarged Atria " . The past two years, the " enlarged atria " part has

gone away (same equipment, but that part may be meaningless).

Re: Irratic use of Flecainide

In a message dated 1/1/2002 5:36:41 PM Pacific Standard Time,

bobbyr@... writes:

<< Flecainide is a bad news if you are a post MI patient (heart

attack). But if you are otherwise normal, it is not any worse than

other drugs.

>>

It's wonderful that Flecainide keeps you in sinus the majority of the

time.

I can only hope that it would do the same for me. My cardiologist said

that

I would be a good candidate for Flecainide because I have no heart

problems

other than afib. The echocardiogram showed that my heart is completely

normal structurally and in every way except for the afib. (I mention

this

partly to allay fears about prolonged afib damaging the heart

structurally by

causing enlargement or other problems. I have had afib for nearly

nineteen

years, but my heart is still basically sound.) The cardiologist said

that

anyone with any kind of heart problems other than afib could not take

Flecainide.

By the way, I am now back in sinus as of an hour ago. At 1:00 a.m.

tomorrow

morning, I would have been in afib for eight days. I am thankful that I

didn't break my previous record of ten consecutive days in afib. I have

once

before been in afib for eight straight days, and twice have been in afib

for

six days. This afib episode was about 7 and three-quarter days.

Whenever

my afib episode lasts longer than three days, I begin to get nervous

about

whether I will return to sinus spontaneously as I always have done in

the

past. My cardiologist thinks that I will continue this pattern

indefinitely:

in and out. Since the afib episodes are so closely tied to stomach

upheaval, I am hoping that if I can resolve the stomach problems, I will

lessen the frequency of afib. As my stomach symptoms stopped tonight,

my

rhythm returned to sinus.

in sinus in Seattle :<))))