A funny thing happened when I stopped my Beta blocker.

[Cyclebloke]

Hi all, first time post. I had an ablation for AF late last December. While I was free of any arrhythmias for the first week, I soon developed a lot of PVCs and PACs. My Afib was always well controlled and I never needed cardioversion. In fact, I usually didn't even feel it much, but confirmed it with my Kardia monitor. The PVC/PAC episodes on the other hand were quite pronounced and frequent. During my follow-up visit my doctor declared my risk assessment to be very small and lowered my ace inhibitor and removed me from the beta blocker. Almost instantly after stopping the beta blocker the PVCs/PACs stopped. In fact, I haven't felt the need to use my Kardia in weeks. Has anyone else had this happen or heard of this? I generally thought that beta blockers help with most arrhythmias, can they occasionally cause them? BTW, I did try flecainide prior to ablation and it proved to be pro arrhythmic for me, so much so I had to take myself to emergency where they stopped it. Thanks!

[Stinky1953]

Good afternoon cyclebloke. I've not had the PAV/PAC and beta blocker problem but I tend to avoid beta blockers altogether as I always end up with too slow a heart rate and feeling awful. But I've had problems with flecainide which tends to make my heart race. A&E once tried to cardiovert me with intravenous flecainide and heart rate went up to 210! Then I once tried it as a pip at home with similar affect.

[Pikaia]

Thanks for posting this Cyclebloke . I'm experiencing a similar situation. I didn't have too many PVCs (<1% of beats according to a 48hr Holter) while on diltiazem but after switching to an ACE inhibitor and Bisoprolol I've had a massive increase. My consultant suggested it was due to the beta blocker slowing my heart rate so I feel them more now, but I really think there has been an increase. My consultant has suggested changing beta blocker to carvedilol in the hope this reduces the PVCs.