Your input Bob, would be appreciated, as I know you have the ectopic problem as well.

[Annaelizabeth]

When these occur, is it just a question of sitting it out until they go away of their own volition. My pill in the pocket is Sotolol, but that is for when an AF episode strikes, and not for these arythymias. Am I correct? I take Warfarin, sustaining minimum of 2.5 INR level. Anna

[BobD Volunteer]

Hi Anna, yes they are pretty horrid aren't they. Good you are on warfarin. My PIP was propafanone which did control the ectopics very well so you could try the sotolol as there is no reason to say they will not work. It is all trial and error with these things. Mine got so bad late last year that they were every third beat 24/7 but they stopped after a couple of months. It may have been the reflexology type thing (Bowen Technique) which I had since it was so sudden when it went. I had just been offered an appointment with my EP in London for the next day as well but didn't take it up as there was nothing to see.

Bob

[barnes12 in reply to BobD]

Hi bob ectopics how does one know if you have them what does it feel like karen

[BobD Volunteer in reply to barnes12]

Hi there Karen, ectopics are those "missed beats" that make you think your heart has skipped a beat. In fact what happens is that the electrical impulse occurs before there is any blood in the ventricle to pump so when the ventricle contracts there is nothing to pump so you get a "gap" . Ectopic in medical terms means out of place. WEhen I had my bad ones they were happening every third or fourth beat so it went bump bump-----bump bump bump-----bump bump etc

Bob

[barnes12 in reply to BobD]

Thanks bob don't think I get that

[Annaelizabeth]

Bob, since posting to you I have taken one sotolol, the ectopics have stopped thank goodness, leaving me feeling pretty dreary for the rest of the day. Not a complaint - observation! Your wife must be a saint, every third beat 24/7 for a couple of months?!

Thank you for taking time to reply, greatly appreciated. Anna

[Hidden]

My problem is ectopics as well. In the main I got them after eating and when lying down and after 30 minutes or so they would just go, and I learned to just expect and ignore them.

But as I was getting them all the time, I didn't like the idea of what it might doing to the mechanics of my heart, So they tried me on Disopyramide which has worked well, but is not a pill in the pocket as it takes some time to get in and out of my system. I haven't had any ectopics since taking this. Propafenone worked on me as well but had side-effects I couldn't tolerate.

Koll

[Offcut]

I am on 2 x sotalol 80 mg and 125 mg Digoxin and warfarin permanently and still get the occasional episodes. I have got used to them and if it is a bit of bad one I slow down to a crawl. I also have low O2 which does not help.

Be Well

[Maitha]

I was also on sotalol to control SVT and ectopic beats , actually it did help little with the ectopic beats , after my third ablation I'm having them a lot , and they offered me metoprolol which was not suitable for me unfortunately , so I'm not on any medication right now rather than warfarin .

The doctor want to monitor me and see if I need to take medication for them or not , actually I'm suffering these days , hope they will be less by the end of my ablation recovery.

Doctor opinion it doesn't worth to be on sotalol for long term due to its side effects just for ectopic beats ,

Maitha