Fast heartbeats and flutter do not react to medication

[Jacqlihe]

Have had two ablations so far for afib and flutter

None , and I m not exagerating none of the twelve or thirteen types of medication or combinations I have been given have worked,

bottom line they make no difference to heart rate or rythm, and produce dire side effects

Sotalol and Flecanaide landed me in hospital in quite a bad way

When something doesn t work they just prescribe more

Some have actually brough on bouts of afib

I have reluctantly agreed to a third ablation but have had 150bpm heartbeats again for two and a half weeks ia differentbsort of flutter I m told

m not feeling too bad on this ( had another month long bout before christmas then a cardioversion )

my specialist wants me to try and get the rate down whilst waiting for the ablation, we agreed i d take a small sose of cardicor ( which has minor side effects) before going to bed to see if this timing uminimised the side effects and did something

Waiting for the cardicor which the pharmacy had to order I took the same dose of the generic bisoprolol which I already had wednesday evening

my dog woke me up at 2.30 am very worried ( and possibly avoided disaster) as I felt awful, felt awful 18 hours yesterday until it wore off no change in 150bpm

Went to see my doctor who says if I can get cardicor, it might work better

I m climbing walls, we seem to be going round and round in circles id take the stuff if it did any good but its the same story over and over again no change in symptoms( and yes I ve been religiously through the whole gamut of drugs

No idea when they will do this ablation but think i m just going to have to put up with the 150 bpm

Sorry for the long post, but has anyone had similar and if so how have you coped, or am I the one silly exeption no drug works on?

[Hidden]

How about a further dc cardioversion? Have you been given Disopyramide....its the only drug which works for me .

[Jacqlihe in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Yatsura,

My Ep would rather do the ablation whilst i ve still got the flutter as it would help his mapping -great (!) although I do understand- but had a cardioversion on December 18 th which only gave me a month flutter free so I m not dreadfully keen either

Have never has Dysopyramide what type of drug is it?

[Hidden in reply to Jacqlihe]

It's an anti arrhythmic sodium channel blocker class 1a agent. It is quite an old drug not used so often these days. However it is particularly useful if the AF is thought to be of vagal origin.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for your ablation. Must admit that I suffered more with A flutter than I did with Afib so you have my sympathy.

I also found that Flecainide made me worse !

Sandra

PS I would do as RosyG has suggested and push for an early ablation date. The A flutter ablation is quicker and simpler to perform

[rosyG]

I always feel rotten when my pulse is as high as yours is now so appreciate how you feel. Flutter is supposed to be easy to ablate so I would work on pushing for a date0- keep ringing up to say how bad you feel- let us know how you get on.

[Hidden]

This is unreasonable. Your GP should insist on an urgent ablation. It would be sensible not to mention you don't feel too bad as you say above. That is subjective and it's more important that sustained tachycardia of this degree over weeks is not advisable.

[Jacqlihe in reply to Hidden]

I am pushing and letting them know how inefective the pills are( they do know)

Cath lab availability seems to be the issue here my ep seems game to do it asap

[Hidden]

I don't know who decides waiting list priorities at your cath lab, but I wonder if they fully understand your situation. Is your GP actively advocating for you? Does she feel cut out of the loop?

Your GP has the power to demand admission for observation for her patient in situations which are not acute but may become so soon if left much longer. That will often bring on an attack of common sense, when the extent of the problem becomes apparent to the duty consultant.

[Jacqlihe in reply to Hidden]

Hello Oyster, thank you so kindly following my post

Everyone is worried about my heart rate, fortunately I seem to cope with it, but we are all very concerned it doesnt go on and on,my GP is in the loop, saw her on Thursday, and both my very efficient cardiologist who is fully aware of things and the brilliant EP who will do the ablation are pushing as hard as they can and I got a further email last night to confirm this

obviously at the slghtest change in my symptoms I expect it will be a&e and possibly another cardioversion ( groan!) which could cause massive problems

The infuriating thing about me is that none of the medications do anything ( tried, tested, over ren years not just a tantrum!! I) but all produce very nasty side effects! including Amiodorone, so much as all the above would like me to have temporary help , it doesnt work,

i just wondered how many other people have this problem, i refuse to believe i am unique and somewhere I suppose was hoping someone had a nother, unknown drug that helped!

[Hidden]

Your situation is not unlike mine. As I mentioned earlier the only drug that has any degree of effectiveness is Disopyramide. (Some cardio do not like prescribing this I've been told.) Its worth mentioning. I believe there is a note on my hospital revords ' resistant to all drugs and ablation!' I have had 17 cardioversions ....last one 9 months ago....so this saves time when I present at A&E .

[Jacqlihe in reply to Hidden]

Hi Yatsura,

I am SO glad i ‘m not the only one drugs won t sort!

It s the relentless fight with people trying drugs “just to see “if it will bring it down and the waste of time

Brilliant that they have actually put it in your notes

I will ask my cardiologist about Disopyramide

I hope this next ablation does sort me

brave you having 17 cardioversions, but I suppose if thats the answer ....

Thank you so much for coming back to me

Jacquie

[Icenae]

Like you, no drugs work for me. I have had 3 ablations. Then tried taking magnesium which seemed to really calm my heart. Nsr for several months. I recently had a bad spell of afib again until i added in avgood multivit and mineral supplement. All calming down again now. Might be worth a try. Look on other posts here re magnesium. And at Dr Sanjay Guptas you tube. I always felt i have an imbalance at the bottom of it all. Good luck.

[Jacqlihe in reply to Icenae]

Thank you Icenae, That is very interesting, its reassuring to know others face the same problem with drugs, and I been meaning to look at Dr Gupta’s utube stuff for a few months, I do believe magnesium is important too, and i believe he has spoken a lot about the relation between AF and the nervous system

magnesium historically upsets me but I have been pouring a couple of cupfuls of Epsom salts in my bath every night, which is supposed to deliver a small dose I will investigate mineral and vitamin supplements, thats a very good idea , I think I would try anything to see if it works, I ve had so much frustration and feeling dreadful on prescription drugs

I do take vitamin D , as when I was tested for it I was at 25% of required level!

I do hope this ablation sorts things out but intend to do some very serious lifestyle modification, to try and keep on track, but I don t drink, or smoke , so am running out of ideas

I lost four stone after my first ablation, but have put some of it back on due to the ( useless!!) beta blockers so that s the first chore!

This latest flutter stuff is very tedious as I was getting quite fit and actually losing weight after my last ablation, (which was for AF ) although they did do a flutter one too first time round,

This latest crisis was brought on by some unneccessary, and stupid stress

( ridiculous!)

[Icenae]

I find magnesium means more trips to the loo but I can put up with that. Just think of it as cleansing ☺️. But can indicate you should have a lower dose or alternate days

There was an interesting post on here with a link to a report on the quality of mag supplements. I am now taking Lifeextension magnesium caps. 500 mg as their purity was good and not too expensive. Bought from Amazon.

I am making sure I get enough b vits and calcium etc too after last episode

Well done on the weight loss I cant seem to lose any Am also on bisoprolol 2.5 - 7.5 daily But as it doesnt seem to have any effect on rate control I try to have the lower dose.

[Jacqlihe in reply to Icenae]

My EP wanted me to try bisoprolol1.5 for a few days- tried it two days, (again although i told him its does NOTHING ) made me so very unwell even at the small dose that i have stopped forthwith- effects lasted 12 plus hours by the way total panic!