Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 I finally got my appointment with the EP and after reviewing my history he wanted me to try a rhythm control medication before recommending ablation. I have been on Cardizem LA for a couple of years but it seems to be losing its effectiveness. First he wanted a nuclear stress test, because it seems flecainide is problematic for abnormal hearts. Had the stress test and all OK. About 10 days after the stress test I was going through customs in Toronto to re-enter the USA and the agent had a little apparatue on his belt that looked like a pager, which started to beep and flash. Turns out I was still radioactive. I had no idea they had such detectors, or that they could be so sensitive. Thats about the first good news I have experienced on the homeland security front. Anyway, I started on flecainide,50 mg twice a day, last Tues. I have been having Afib about every 7 to 9 days lately. At about 2:00 AM this morning, exactly 9 days since the last episode, I had the feeling that my heart was straining to go into fib and just couldn't make it. It was a really peculiar feeling, that lasted about 2 minutes. Then again at 5:00 am it felt like it was struggling to race but being restrained, like trying to run when you are being held by bungy cords. My pulse rate did get a little irregular but there were no skips or doubles. This one lasted about 10 minutes. The good news is that I stayed in NSR. The list of potential side effects for flecainide is pretty daunting, but so far all I have had is two brief spells (<10 min) of very slight dizziness, and my occasional single skipped beats seem to have stopped. Pretty hopeful overall. I wonder if I will be able to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. Murrayv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray - I'm on Tikosyn, and I still drink wine and definitely eat chocolate, although I did give up both recently during a period of several weeks when my heart felt " fragile " ... Since you've just started the antiarrythmics, and you do say you feel like your heart is still TRYING to fib, I would personally wait until your heart has settled down and remembered how to beat normally for long periods of time, before I would tempt it with something that might be a trigger. I probably waited a few months after I started antiarrythmics before I started drinking again (always in moderation). I had been in afib for 6 weeks solid, though, prior to starting rhythm drugs, and my heart definitely needed to remember how to beat normally.. it took a few months before I stopped having odd beats and teeny runs of afib... I know that's not what you want to hear, but you'll probably be better off if you give your heart time to settle into a NSR routine.. .. I do love my wine and chocolate, but not as much as I hate fibbing.. Stef snip: I wonder if I will be able to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. Murrayv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray - I'm on Tikosyn, and I still drink wine and definitely eat chocolate, although I did give up both recently during a period of several weeks when my heart felt " fragile " ... Since you've just started the antiarrythmics, and you do say you feel like your heart is still TRYING to fib, I would personally wait until your heart has settled down and remembered how to beat normally for long periods of time, before I would tempt it with something that might be a trigger. I probably waited a few months after I started antiarrythmics before I started drinking again (always in moderation). I had been in afib for 6 weeks solid, though, prior to starting rhythm drugs, and my heart definitely needed to remember how to beat normally.. it took a few months before I stopped having odd beats and teeny runs of afib... I know that's not what you want to hear, but you'll probably be better off if you give your heart time to settle into a NSR routine.. .. I do love my wine and chocolate, but not as much as I hate fibbing.. Stef snip: I wonder if I will be able to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. Murrayv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray - I'm on Tikosyn, and I still drink wine and definitely eat chocolate, although I did give up both recently during a period of several weeks when my heart felt " fragile " ... Since you've just started the antiarrythmics, and you do say you feel like your heart is still TRYING to fib, I would personally wait until your heart has settled down and remembered how to beat normally for long periods of time, before I would tempt it with something that might be a trigger. I probably waited a few months after I started antiarrythmics before I started drinking again (always in moderation). I had been in afib for 6 weeks solid, though, prior to starting rhythm drugs, and my heart definitely needed to remember how to beat normally.. it took a few months before I stopped having odd beats and teeny runs of afib... I know that's not what you want to hear, but you'll probably be better off if you give your heart time to settle into a NSR routine.. .. I do love my wine and chocolate, but not as much as I hate fibbing.. Stef snip: I wonder if I will be able to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. Murrayv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 > > > Murray - I'm on Tikosyn, and I still drink wine and definitely eat chocolate, although I did give up both recently during a period of several weeks when my heart felt " fragile " ... > > > > Since you've just started the antiarrythmics, and you do say you feel like your heart is still TRYING to fib, I would personally wait until your heart has settled down and remembered how to beat normally for long periods of time, before I would tempt it with something that might be a trigger. > > > > I probably waited a few months after I started antiarrythmics before I started drinking again (always in moderation). I had been in afib for 6 weeks solid, though, prior to starting rhythm drugs, and my heart definitely needed to remember how to beat normally.. it took a few months before I stopped having odd beats and teeny runs of afib... > > > > I know that's not what you want to hear, but you'll probably be better off if you give your heart time to settle into a NSR routine.. .. I do love my wine and chocolate, but not as much as I hate fibbing.. That sound like real good advice. Thanks Stef. Murrayv > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 > > > Murray - I'm on Tikosyn, and I still drink wine and definitely eat chocolate, although I did give up both recently during a period of several weeks when my heart felt " fragile " ... > > > > Since you've just started the antiarrythmics, and you do say you feel like your heart is still TRYING to fib, I would personally wait until your heart has settled down and remembered how to beat normally for long periods of time, before I would tempt it with something that might be a trigger. > > > > I probably waited a few months after I started antiarrythmics before I started drinking again (always in moderation). I had been in afib for 6 weeks solid, though, prior to starting rhythm drugs, and my heart definitely needed to remember how to beat normally.. it took a few months before I stopped having odd beats and teeny runs of afib... > > > > I know that's not what you want to hear, but you'll probably be better off if you give your heart time to settle into a NSR routine.. .. I do love my wine and chocolate, but not as much as I hate fibbing.. That sound like real good advice. Thanks Stef. Murrayv > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray: You are on a pretty low dose of Flecainide and that's good for low side effects. If you look at the potential side effects for virtually any drug it will scare you. Fortunately virtually nobody gets all of them and many people get only slight effects and many times those go away with time. I suspect your dizziness will go away over time. Are you still taking any of the other drugs you mentioned? Hang in there. It sounds like it's working for you. I now take Flecainide after Amiodarone quit working after 4 years and it took about a month for some of the side effects to adjust. Gordon > Anyway, I started on flecainide,50 mg twice a day, last Tues. I have > been having Afib about every 7 to 9 days lately. At about 2:00 AM > this morning, exactly 9 days since the last episode, I had the > feeling that my heart was straining to go into fib and just couldn't > make it. It was a really peculiar feeling, that lasted about 2 > minutes. Then again at 5:00 am it felt like it was struggling to > race but being restrained, like trying to run when you are being > held by bungy cords. My pulse rate did get a little irregular but > there were no skips or doubles. This one lasted about 10 minutes. > The good news is that I stayed in NSR. > The list of potential side effects for flecainide is pretty > daunting, but so far all I have had is two brief spells (<10 min) of > very slight dizziness, and my occasional single skipped beats seem > to have stopped. Pretty hopeful overall. I wonder if I will be able > to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. > Murrayv > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray: You are on a pretty low dose of Flecainide and that's good for low side effects. If you look at the potential side effects for virtually any drug it will scare you. Fortunately virtually nobody gets all of them and many people get only slight effects and many times those go away with time. I suspect your dizziness will go away over time. Are you still taking any of the other drugs you mentioned? Hang in there. It sounds like it's working for you. I now take Flecainide after Amiodarone quit working after 4 years and it took about a month for some of the side effects to adjust. Gordon > Anyway, I started on flecainide,50 mg twice a day, last Tues. I have > been having Afib about every 7 to 9 days lately. At about 2:00 AM > this morning, exactly 9 days since the last episode, I had the > feeling that my heart was straining to go into fib and just couldn't > make it. It was a really peculiar feeling, that lasted about 2 > minutes. Then again at 5:00 am it felt like it was struggling to > race but being restrained, like trying to run when you are being > held by bungy cords. My pulse rate did get a little irregular but > there were no skips or doubles. This one lasted about 10 minutes. > The good news is that I stayed in NSR. > The list of potential side effects for flecainide is pretty > daunting, but so far all I have had is two brief spells (<10 min) of > very slight dizziness, and my occasional single skipped beats seem > to have stopped. Pretty hopeful overall. I wonder if I will be able > to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. > Murrayv > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2005 Report Share Posted October 29, 2005 Murray: You are on a pretty low dose of Flecainide and that's good for low side effects. If you look at the potential side effects for virtually any drug it will scare you. Fortunately virtually nobody gets all of them and many people get only slight effects and many times those go away with time. I suspect your dizziness will go away over time. Are you still taking any of the other drugs you mentioned? Hang in there. It sounds like it's working for you. I now take Flecainide after Amiodarone quit working after 4 years and it took about a month for some of the side effects to adjust. Gordon > Anyway, I started on flecainide,50 mg twice a day, last Tues. I have > been having Afib about every 7 to 9 days lately. At about 2:00 AM > this morning, exactly 9 days since the last episode, I had the > feeling that my heart was straining to go into fib and just couldn't > make it. It was a really peculiar feeling, that lasted about 2 > minutes. Then again at 5:00 am it felt like it was struggling to > race but being restrained, like trying to run when you are being > held by bungy cords. My pulse rate did get a little irregular but > there were no skips or doubles. This one lasted about 10 minutes. > The good news is that I stayed in NSR. > The list of potential side effects for flecainide is pretty > daunting, but so far all I have had is two brief spells (<10 min) of > very slight dizziness, and my occasional single skipped beats seem > to have stopped. Pretty hopeful overall. I wonder if I will be able > to drink the occasional glass of wine or eat a chocolate again. > Murrayv > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.