Fellow afiber's

[zak123]

Just a quick one are there any long term effects taking flecinide ? I take 50mg morning and night !

[Hidden]

Can't answer that myself but I do same dose too. Could google but choose not to. Pills and pacemaker doing a good job keeping me going so will continue

[Goldfish_]

Reducing your risk of atrial fibrillation and its consequences

[Finvola]

I have taken 100mg twice daily for two and a half years and for me too the main effect is the total suppression of the miseries of AF and the damage which it can do to my heart.

Long term use is a personal choice as we are all so different, our AF varies, the dose needed varies and side effects which may occur with one patient are absent in another. So I think that there is no straightforward answer to your question.

A drug as powerful as Flecainide is bound to have side effects but if I can live with them, then I'll certainly use it long term and believe that the benefits outweigh any disadvantges.

[Thomps95]

It's small dose - probably not going to hurt you. Flecenaide worked beautifully for me for 3 years. The main thing to watch is that if you do get a breakthrough then there is a chance the flecenaide will organize your AF into flutter - and flutter can be persistent even if your AF is paroxysmal. This happened to me (twice) and the second time I needed cardioversion. Now I need to get a flutter ablation so I can resume taking flecenaide (it's scheduled for March). In the mean time, I'm taking sotalol because I know that flecenaide tends to push me into flutter.

[Hidden in reply to Thomps95]

Thanks for posting Thomps95. I am approaching my 3rd anniversary on 200mg Flecainide per day, working very well and thinking about reducing the dose, however I will now discuss flutter with my cardio first. Hope your ablation goes well.

[Jonathan_C]

Over the last two years I have taken slow release (one capsule a day) and normal flecainide (tablets twice a day). I now take 100mg of the normal tablets twice a day (hopefully only for a few more months as I recently had an ablation).

Besides how it slows my heart rate during exercise and slows me down (e.g. slower jogging pace), I think the biggest effect for me is anxiety. I think some people find the anxiety overbearing. For me it is a little niggle there that I am aware of, but it doesn't get in my way. I often think i am in a-fib, but check my pulse with a HRM and see i am fine - and i think the reason for thinking i am in a-fib is anxiety caused by the flec (that's my new theory).

I have also learnt from taking different doses that the dose of flecainide affects where your exercise threshold line lies. For me its not a incremental thing - i reach a heart rate at which i can't push myself anymore and its like boom - i have to stop, 5 beats below the line I am fine. On 200mg (daily) that line was at about 145bpm, on 100mg its at about 160 bpm. I can do almost anything I want (except high intensity stuff) at below 160 bpm so a lower dose wasn't noticeable for most of the exercise i did.

If my a-fib could have been controlled by 50mg 2x daily of flec i don't think I would have been given the ablation and I also think I would be able to do 99% of the exercise I would if I wasn't on it.

[Jonty_13]

Yes, you need to check out the side effects. It's a very toxic drug and not ideal for long term. Its a personal thing and you need to balance it with the management of symptoms. But I suggest that you need to take a personal informed decision. I have decided to have 3rd ablation, and aim to be drugs free if I can. Also look at lifestyle, diet, sleep, vitamin c, magnesium deficiency, exercise, avoid NSAI drugs and others. I am slowly improving I think by doing this. 18 months into this journey. Don't just accept drugs is my view but that may not be right for you. All the best Jonty

[Rellim296]

There have been various discussions about flecainide's side effects and if you put 'numb feet' in the Search AF Association box in the top right hand corner there are a couple of posts by jennydog and others that raise the subject.

50mgs twice a day is a low dose of flecainide. Some people take 150mgs x 2.

[dmac4646]

You might find this helpful

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Clarap60 in reply to dmac4646]

Thanks

Very reassuring article

[Bob56]

I'm no fan of drugs and am disappointed that over the course of 25 years of having AF I have had to gradually add to the pills I am taking. I have and still do take vitamin supplements and believe lifestyle changes and diet can really help with some of the problems which are often bedfellows of AF like high blood pressure..Having said all that, I took 50mg Flecainide twice daily for virtually 25 years with no discernible side effects, and until a couple of years ago it kept my AF at bay very sucessfullly. I was always told that over time the AF would probably break through and need more drastic action, and I did indeed go for an ablation last year which has largely been successful. We all react differently to different medication, but, for me at least Flecainide was and is a very important part of my A F control.

[cbsrbpm]

Took flex for 12 years without noticeable side effects, then my af progressed from paroxysmal to persistent so then moved on to bisoprolol. Am due 3rd ablation in a couple of weeks.

[barbara2]

I have taken Flecainide for 10 months and feel that it has affected my memory. Not many people list that is a side effect, though, so the poor memory could be due to something else. I do know it is not imagined and is very real.

Recently decreased flecainide from 100 twice-daily to 50mg twice daily and thought that memory improved with the lesser dose. Have had an ablation, so am decreasing Flecainide doses slowly with the doctors permission. I may ask to lower the dose to 25 mg… If that even exists... And eventually take it away altogether, and see if it results in memory improvement.

[zak123]

Thanks for the reply's fellow afibe'rs some very usefull information ! The memory thing is something that is happening to me !!!!!!

[barbara2 in reply to zak123]

I'm sorry to hear that Flecainide might be effecting your memory, too, but it does make me hopeful that this is the reason for my dull memory, and that ending Flecainide, might make the memory improve. That would be SO nice! All the best to you...

[yoyo_again]

Hmmm, I have had 3 ablations now. last one October 2016. I take bisoprolol 2.5mg daily and 50mg flecanide morning and evening daily. Have been told I can stop Flecanide now by a cardiac specialist nurse but am frightened to. I get so exhausted at work (58yr old) I need a nana nap at 5pm each evening for 45 mins and if I lie on my left side I always feel arrhythmias. Has happened daily for a month or so, feel irregular hear intermittently day & night albeit not racing. Need to discuss at my 3 month post procedure apt but waiting for appointment.