Sotalol staying in body

[higgy52]

Doe's any one know how long Sotalol stays in body for, because taking it twice a day suggests it not long but don't know, Sotalol has been really good for me no A F since been on it and want to see how i get on if i stop it. Thanks

[Hilly22]

Hi higgy52

I don't take Sotalol myself but have read that it has a half life of 10-20 hours and it'll take about 4 days for it to be completely out of your body.

[higgy52 in reply to Hilly22]

thank you

[Hilly22]

P.S. Best to check with your GP before stopping any prescribed medication 😊

[ChampKind]

I was recently in hospital to take me off sotalol and they reckoned two to three days for it to be completely out of your system. I was on it for over 20 years with a very good quality of life. Now on bisoprolol which is slowing my heart rate down but I am having rythym problems. Too be honest I wish they had never taken me off the sotalol. Hopefully they will suggest something for me to take with the bisoprolol that deals with the rythym problems as my quality of life is not good at all just now.

[higgy52 in reply to ChampKind]

Thanks for that very interesting,

The reason i wanted to stop Sotalol for a while is i am booked in for a flutter Ablation soon, But in N S R at moment and i thought if i stop Sotalol and don't go into AF wont need the Ablation, but was in AF before started on 40 mg of Sotalol

[Bellaheart]

I have been on a high dose of sotalol for 16 years and it has been great. No side affects except slowing me down a bit when hill walking. Having no had no AF for 3 years I suggested to cardiologist I could stop it but he said not to as that what was prevented the AF. Also I have had a couple of episodes recently (very disappoInted) but seem to be be back to normal now.

[ChampKind in reply to Bellaheart]

Very similar story to mine. I have had two ablations which didnt cure me but improved my symptoms. They kept me on sotalol after that and that was over 20 years ago. I go hill walking, cycling, fishing, holidays and so on. However I am severely restricted after coming off sotalol. Actually very angry at the cardiologist, she said I shouldn't have been on the sotalol for so long but that was contradictory to what another cardiologist told me. They want to give me another ablation as they've said the technology is better now but I've refused as it could make me worse and my life was fine on sotalol.

[higgy52]

20 years thats the longest iv'e herd any one on it, Iv'e had 2 Ablations as well,

it;s a job to know what to do, witch ever one i choose Ablation or staying on Stalol for life,

who knows what is the best option

[Deronel in reply to higgy52]

Right! Sotalol is amazing, the way it stops afibs! I no longer have to check my pulse to see if an afib is starting! Afibs are a thing of the past! So glad for Sotalol!

[higgy52 in reply to Deronel]

what dose are you on , and how long you been on it, thanks

[Deronel in reply to higgy52]

Hello higgy52: Originally, I was prescribed the standard 80mg 2xday, but had an afib that would not quit. After many hours, was admitted to ER, where I stayed overnight until it finally quit. The attending doctor raised my dosage to 120mg 2xday. Haven't had another afib in the 2 years since!

I worried 120mg seemed high, but my cardiologist says not; " if it ain't broke don't fix it!" I live alone and work hard; still no afib, it's bliss!

[higgy52 in reply to Deronel]

brilliant for you long may it last, seems a good drug i'm on 40 mg a day, don't know why nice took it off there list

[Bellaheart in reply to Deronel]

I have been on 120 x 2 for about 10 years, no problems and my cardiogist gave me the same answer when I asked about being on it for so long.

[Deronel in reply to Bellaheart]

Thanks for replying! That's good to hear, because I haven't read of anyone else on 120 x 2. Most everyone seems to take 80 x 2. I appreciate knowing our dosage has been working for you for so long!

[Kaz747 in reply to Deronel]

I ended up on 2 x 160mg per day- maximum dose for AF but even that failed to keep my heart in check 😉

[ILowe]

I think you need to ask the Why question, and be persistent. Why stop sotolol if it is working for you? Sometimes it is stopped because the potassium levels become unreasonable. The other culprits are probably lurking-- creatinine and urea.

[ChampKind]

If they have an alternative to sotalol that does the same job then great, otherwise I need to put up with whatever nastiness sotalol causes if it provides a good quality of life. That is one thing I do not have on Bisoprolol just now is a good quality of life.

[sleeksheep]

When my cardiologist switched / started me on Flecainide ( he never prescribed Sotalol that was another Dr. - cardiologists registrar ) he said stop taking Sotalol that day and start Flecainide the next day. So its potency must be very short - 80mg x 2.

After my third yearly consultation I queried using Flec. as a pip but he said why change something that works. Which I had to agree is working extremely well.

I had stopped Sotalol when I first went into AFIB after the first cardioversion , no problem appeared for many months - cant quite remember now as it was over 9 years ago.

But then Sotalol never stopped me from going into AFIB and was never a well tolerated drug in my system.

So if its working and no side affects I personally would not mess with the solution.

Since stopping statins and perindopril , side affects I thought were due to the calcium channel blocker / flecainide have disappeared also . In my case the drugs I was on pre AFIB with no apparent side affect with the introduction of AFIB medication caused them to be counter productive in my quality of life . There was no information that this can happen which makes it all the more worrying when it does.