Does anyone else’s AF appear to be running to a schedule? It usually starts on day 1, runs until day3 when it stops sometime during the day, day 4 is free then it’s back to day 1 again!
Sometimes but very rarely Flecainide will stop it after a few hours. Waiting to try Propafanone. Luckily my HR never goes too wild so I can ride it out.
For years I'd have an AF attack, lasting a day or two, every 4-6 weeks without fail. Once an attack had subsided I knew it would be at least 4 weeks before the next one and I could relax knowing I was safe for that period.
After 3 ablations, the pattern has changed. I now have perhaps 6 AF free months (mostly in the summer), then back comes the AF to stay with me for several months until I have a cardioversion.
It is so odd isn’t it. My EP said I would be better going into permanent AF as my episodes are so as symptomatic. He thought I would have a bad month then all would be fine. That was last November!!
I went to see one of my AF nurses today and asked about Propafanone, she said it's an old drug which has to be prescribed by a consultant and it's not a drug they put forward there. She reeled off the other choices Amiodarone, Flecainide or Sotalol. Huh, have tried them all and still my AF continued, so it looks like I'm stuck with Flecainide for now! She wasn't very pleased that I'd stopped taking my Flec & Metoprolol, despite my telling her they'd given me terrifying hallucinations and I'd been 6 month AF free without taking those drugs. Honestly, at times I half feel like doing my own thing and just taking Warfarin!!!
My cardiologist had no knowledge of Propafanone so asked the EP but as yet no reply. She did say Dronaderone was rubbish. Tried my first Diltiazem tablet this morning. Made me feel so sick.
I took propafenone for years. I wouldn't take it again, I didn't realise how bad it made me feel until I stopped and I was on the lowest dose. But BobD didn't have a problem so only way to tell is to try it yourself. I like Diltiazem!
Hylda - Donn't give up on the Diltiazem - you have to find the right brand. I have been on Viazem 180 XL for 4 1/2 years and have been find on it, Last month I had difficulty getting it and this month it is not available until the end of August. I had to get a different brand, they gave me Zemtard which made me feel awful, feeling sick was one of the side effects. Took for 3 days, gave up and had to get another brand. I have now been given Adizem, so far so good although it has only been 3 days. It is said that it is a hard to get the right one. Good luck.
Yes, when I had AF, I was one day with AF, then two days NSR, one day AF, etc. As I played hockey on Saturdays, I was very happy when I had AF on a Thu or Fri as I knew I would be AF free on the Sat!
In the end it was fixed by an ablation after the AF increased to about 80% of the time. As your AF is around 75% of the time, you might want to consider an ablation before it goes permanent and becomes harder to fix.
I have had afib since 2006. I was given Toprol XL. It worked most of the time, but would have an episode about every 6 weeks for a few hours to 24 hours. Would take another toprol xl, but would take a while to stop. My new cardio switched me to flecainide 100mg twice a day and I have not had an afib episode for almost 4 years. So happy.
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