I'm a 61yr. old woman with PAF diagnosed 10 yrs ago. Episodes were becoming more frequent, and I was already up to 7.5mg Bisoprolol daily, not feeling good and neither was it controlling the AF. I started 120mg Sotalol, twice a day, 3 weeks ago, as a direct replacement for Bisoprolol.
i've had 2 AF episodes during that 3 weeks and my head kind of aches, but not in a normal headache way and at times I am feeling a bit depressed and just not 'myself'. Maybe this description is too vague for anyone out there to identify with as Sotalol side-effects, but would be interested to hear.
I have never yet been offered an anti-arrhythmic drug, maybe that will be the next thing to be tried if Sotalol is deemed to be not helping much.
I live in Central Scotland, and the cardiologist I have seen twice in the last year has given me the definite impression that she is not a fan of catheter ablation, well, maybe as a last resort, certainly not an immediate one, although when I ask my GP if it's still an option, he says yes. I have asked my GP how I get to see an EP, but he tells me that in Scotland, it is most likely that the Cardiologists themselves are the ones who would do an ablation (Obviously not the one I have been seeing - she is not a consultant but an ex-GP who is specialising in Cardiology)
This same Dr is not wanting me to be anticoagulated yet as I am deemed to be low risk,apart from having AF. This is despite my saying my mother had a major stroke at age 65. Since her's wasn't due to AF but CHD (from which I don't suffer) I was told my mother's stroke history was not relevant to me and my risk.
I do know that the 'leading lights' on this forum are very much FOR everyone with AF to be anticoagulated, and, knowing what a bad stroke did to my mother, it does worry me. However, I also have a bleeding worry. 15 yrs ago, I suffered a rectal haemorrhage, found to be due to diverticular disease. I gather it was an unlucky occurrence of a vessel running through one of the diverticulum (pouches) of the intestines.
I have not suffered anything similar since then, although I stay away from Ibuprofen, as I suspected that it could have been a trigger to the bleed.
The chances are that I would be fine an a NOAC (although I should feel even happier when there is a prescribeable antidote)
It feels as if it comes down to a choice of which condition I would find worse - a bleed or a stroke.
AF may be a mongrel, complex condition, and it sure faces us with difficult choices at times.
Any thoughts would be helpful,
Helen