going off Flecainide

[tinhouse]

Anyone experience heart rate increase on going off Flecainide

[di-london]

Hi tinhouse, yes, my father did and it also caused him an increased blood pressure that he needed to take other medicine to bring it down. The EP first didn't believe him as he did it is meant to do the opposite, i.e. low blood pressure and reduced heart rate, but there are always opposite side effects with all heart meds. He is now on atenolol. Hopefully you will find a replacement drug that works for you, too.

[secondtry]

Hi Tinhouse, are you willing to provide more details: have you started reducing Flec, if so how much were you on and how quickly have you reduced it and the results. My expectation is that an increase in heart rate is logical until the body readjusts over a longish period.

I am on 200mgs/day at present and hope to start reducing next Spring and therefore am interested in anyone else's 'reduction' experience. From what I have read here and my own vagally mediated PAF condition, I will be reducing the first 100mgs very very slowly. If all goes well the last 100mgs a little bit quicker. I haven't considered a timeline or discussed it with my cardiologist yet but as I will have been on it for 4 years, I don't expect the run-down period, even if no hitches, will be much less than 18 months.

Thanks for posting.

[Bagrat]

July 2016 under GPs supervision I reduced my Flecainide . I started by taking 50mg am and 100mg pm ( previously 100mg twice a day) because all three noticeable episodes had been at night. I did this for 8 weeks. Actually for the first few days I took About 75 in the morning ( but GP didn't know that bit.) September GP said 50mg twice a day. Again evening dose I did 75 for a few days. Have now been on 50mg x 2 for over a year. Several stressful events but no obvious AF. Feel generally ok but still have to actively address anxiety with meditation and mindfulness.

My feeling would be it's the ladt bit of the reduction that should be the slowest. I wasn't aiming to get lower than 50mg twice a day

[Finvola]

I'm the fly in the ointment, I'm afraid.

I have PAF and take Flecainide 100 x 2 daily. My two attempts last year to reduce had to be abandoned because of ectopics and bouts of tachycardia which my EP said were AFlutter caused, oddly enough, by the Flecainide itself.

I reduced in steps of only 25mg on my second attempt. After 5 months on 150mg I was having daily runs of AFlutter and had had enough of it! So strange that the higher dose doesn't cause me any problems.

[tinhouse]

I am 2 and half weeks post ablation and been off Flecainide for four days...my doctor said I could discontinue med. I was down to 50 mg bid and then just went off it. My heart rate and blood pressure increased. Is this only temporary...I heard heart rate can increase after ablation and maybe Flec was holding it back. Have not had any afib or flutter just resting heart rate anywhere from 80-100...lower when sleeping. I am so focused on my heart, it drives me crazy. I should be thankful that the 140 bpm flutter is not there anymore, but so worried that this increase is flutter