flecanide

[marykhall3]

I am suddenly very depressed. Can flecanide have anything to do with this. I dont think I have ever been truly depressed before. I have had grief when my daughter died but nothing like this. I have many stressors in my life but this seems disproportionate. Just got a pacemaker 5 weeks ago. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[SRMGrandma Volunteer]

Glad you are reaching out if you are feeling depressed. Of course my first concern is whether or not you are so depressed that you are thinking of hurting yourself. If your depression feels that hopeless, please go directly to an ER. If it is something less dramatic, then we can chime in to be helpful. Anxiety and depression can be a side effect of flecanide, though not the most common. That said, there is not a small number of cardiac patients who struggle with depression. It's a lot to handle, and when you have other stressors, as you mention, maybe it is getting the best of you. Many cardiology departments have therapists on the team because depression is so common with heart problems. There are lots of ways to feel better, whether it is cognitive therapy, learning to do meditation and yoga, or antidepressant medication to get you past a rough patch. Better days ahead. Don't suffer silently.

[marykhall3 in reply to SRMGrandma]

Thank you for checking on my status. I am not going to hurt myself. I might Run away to florida where the sun shines. LOL I am in Ohio miserable grey skies in the winter mostly.

[SRMGrandma Volunteer in reply to marykhall3]

Oh, I totally understand the gray skies problem, I am next door in Pa.! It's a struggle in the winter to be sure! Hope you are feeling better today.

[marykhall3 in reply to SRMGrandma]

Thank you!

[Eliza1 in reply to marykhall3]

I live in sunny Florida and was on flec for few months. Didn't know it could cause depression and anxiety however I did become very anxious and depressed but thought it was due to the extreme nausea I got from being on it and not being able to eat. Did get off it and back to eating thank goodness. It was a very bad drug for me. I did have ablation that has been a Godsend for me.

[marykhall3 in reply to Eliza1]

Thank you soooo much!

[Hidden]

I've had that with another rhythm control drug. I became deeply depressed, something i do not suffer from other than bereavements etc. Came off the drug, back to normal within a day, took the drug again, straight downhill.

My EP changed me over to another drug which worked well.

Hope you feel better soon.

Koll

[marykhall3 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much!

[Vony]

So sorry to hear you are feeling this way. You should go and see your GP and tell him or her exactly how you feel. Perhaps this is a delayed reactive depression to having been ill and ending up with a pacemaker? But you do not need to tolerate feeling this way and things will get better as there is so much that can be done to alleviate and get rid of depression. You have suffered enough without putting up with this as well so make an appointment tomorrow. You can make an emergency appointment for mood and emotional distress. Emergency appointments are not only for physical problems. I work as a psychiatric nurse and also have experienced severe anxiety which i found harder to live with than physical illness. You are not alone. And things will get better. Sending you positive and healing thoughts and i am so sorry for the loss of your daughter too. You have had a lot of pain. xx

[lingooz]

Hi, sorry you feel so bad, and so sorry for loss of your daughter (I have two and can't imagine) I echo Vonny's thoughts, see Gp, mine gave me sertraline which I took for a year after diagnosis, which affected me deeply, it took 5/6 weeks to kick in, but was marvelous, stopped of my own accord as hate taking any drugs (only on warfarin) but was great crutch until I felt stronger,

Take care and sending hugs x

[marykhall3 in reply to lingooz]

Thank you so much!!!!

[Jonathan_C]

How long have you been taking flec and feeling this? and what dose? When i started on flec i become incredibly anxious (maybe others would call that depressed) but once my body got used to the flec the anxiety went away.

I was on 200mg and recently changed to 100mg/day and the change in dose (even going down) brought the anxiety back. But I think its now settled and the anxiety has gone.

[Hidden in reply to Jonathan_C]

Hi Jonathan, I am planning to go down from 200mg Flecainide to 100mg but nervous of the consequences. May I ask how you introduced the lower dose and whether you had any initial adverse effects?

I have Lone PAF, 62yo, healthy in all other respects and been on the Flecainide for 2 years now.

[stargazer61 in reply to Hidden]

I went for 3 doses of 50mg every 8 hours, then down to 1 50mg every 12 hours but i'm doing it under my own steam. Seems logical, and i could only get 50mg tablets on that day from the pharmacy, and i felt so well not having the morning dose that it just felt right. It is scary doing it yourself, i'm trying hard to listen to the wisdom of the body/mind/heart - easy to say if you're tablet-free, i'm so tired and woozy i can't think straight a lot of the time!

[Hidden in reply to stargazer61]

Thanks Stargazer, totally agree you have to try to tune into what the b/m/h is indicating.

[marykhall3 in reply to Jonathan_C]

I am on 100mg bid and have been for months. When I went on it I came off of Paxil as it is contraindicated with it. Now I am trying Paxil again with EP follow along. I took paxil before for sleep issues and had never been depressed/anxious before at this level.

[jeanjeannie50]

I've taken flecainide each day for the last couple of months and have not had any problems with it affecting my emotions.

However Digoxin made me scatty and I came to a point when I just wanted to sit and cry. Have never had anything like that in my life, stopped taking it and went back to my happy self.

Yes, the same as others on here I would say see your GP.

Big hug, we are all here for you.

Jean x

[CDreamer]

It is a distinct possibility that it is the Flecainide, please do go and see your specialist as soon as possible to discuss an alternative treatment.

[Jay10]

Hi Mary, I had a similar reaction when I was put on Flecainide. It is one of the side effects of this drug. I saw my doctor who was very supportive and he took me off them and put me on Seroxat for the depression. This drug takes a few weeks before you notice any improvement. He also Yellowcarded my reaction to Flecainide.

Do go to your doc and tell him how you are feeling and he can then help you.

Take things easy and try not to get too worried. By the way after my cryo ablation I now have Flecainide as a PIP with no problems.

All the best, Jackie.

[dmac4646]

been on Flecanaide for 5 years no obvious effects , would have been a lot more concerned when didnt have it - every one is different !

[Stephanietee]

Yup, agree entirely with everyone else. Depression caught up with me some years ago after some really tough times including bereavement. I had no idea I was depressed until a close friend thought I probably was. I just laughed at her, but then I developed weird physical symptoms and felt so dreadful I went to the doc who put me on Sertraline.. First few weeks were dreadful until it kicked in but then it helped me through a really tough time. Came off after a year. Moral of this story is it may not be the flecanaide but just life catching up with you and you need a bit of help to see you through. GO TO YOUR GP,,,,!!

Best wishes and love,

Stephanietee

[Vony]

How are you today marykhall? X

[Hidden]

I didn't feel good initially on Flecainide with depression/anxiety but with Mg/CoQ10 supplements (professional advice needed) and lifestyle changes I am almost back to normal after 2 years.

One general perhaps obvious observation, in case it helps you and others - the penny has dropped that when you are stressed everything is worse, noise, lights aches, in my case tinnitus etc etc. Once you can reverse that trend for the better those issues are easier to ignore.

Best wishes

[marykhall3 in reply to Hidden]

is this MG magnesium?

[Hidden in reply to marykhall3]

Yes Mary. I was prescribed an Mg compound called Nutri Muscles Ultra - contains Mg, Potassium, Taurine, Arginine plus others.

[marykhall3 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you!

[Jonathan_C]

for some reason i can't respond directly to your query.

I started on flec in October 2015.

When i was on 200mg I sometimes felt pounding heart beat, which is a known side effect, but I don't recall other side effects.

I changed dose about 8 days ago. Maybe I am paranoid because i know I am at greater risk of the a-fib coming back now, but I am feeling the pounding a lot more and other strange effects (similar feeling to what i experience shortly before getting a virus like flu). But these other effects could be caused by environmental factors and my lifestyle at the moment - i really don't know. I intend to share my experience of the change in more dose in a few weeks after I have more experience.

I feel much better when I exercise (than I do when sitting around as well as feeling better exercising on 100mg than i did on 200mg). According to my heart rate monitor I am in rhythm.

I am 42 and healthy. I changed dose because the 200mg was triggering my exercise induced asthma at quite low levels of exercise intensity.

[Hidden in reply to Jonathan_C]

Thanks Jonathan look forward to hearing more...all good hopefully. To be on the safe side, I would always say also consider supplements and take action to reduce lifestyle stress.

I have done Mg, CoQ10 and others all with professional advice and have been lucky enough to be able to adopt a whole raft of lifestyle changes. Many here are adamant they are not going to let AF dictate their lifestyle, I maintain there are plenty of positives of a changed lifestyle.

[Jonathan_C in reply to Hidden]

I am beginning to think the "side effects" are linked to a bit of dehydration cause by not drinking as much water as I usually do. And thats because i have been travelling.

[marykhall3 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you!

[Thomps95]

Aside from physiological side effects, I have an intuition there is a complex and mutually-reinforcing relationship between atrial fibrillation and depression (and emotional strain), and the daily reminder of your mortality in the form of "heart medication" doesn't help. Somehow we just have to come to terms with it.

In your case, given what you've described there might be a physiological issue too - so as others have suggested you probably should tell your doctor.

As a short (or long) term trick, you can "train" your brain to move to joyfulness by repeating self-affirming thoughts on a regular basis, just as you might do daily exercises. Thoughts such as "there are wonderful adventures ahead" "you are loved" "you are a good person" "I am happy" and so on. I realize it sounds corny and "hollow" - but, almost bizarrely, it works.

[marykhall3 in reply to Thomps95]

Thanks so much for helping!!!