Followed apt after ablation a wk ago.

[Delrosario]

As i posted last week my ablation took 10 hrs. Doctor said there was alot of work and they had to stop ablated because of so much burning was being done . He increased my metropolol from 25 mg once a day to twice a day. He still has me on flecanaid 100 mg twice a day. In a month he wants to see me to check if ive had episodes of afb .He will decide then to take me off flecanaid and put me on amiodarone. Im scared of this medicine . Has anyone been on it any bad side affects. Im still haveing short episodes but not long ones. I know there is a 3 month window period for my scarring to heal. Just shareing my update to see what feed back i get.

[jeanjeannie50]

If given a choice I'd stay on the Flecainide rather than go on to Amiodarone. That drug didn't work for me and also damaged my thyroid, as it has for some others on this forum. I'll now have to take pills for life to rectify that. Ten hours is a long time for an ablation, I thought my first one was long at six hours, were you under sedation or a general anaesthetic?

Jean

[Delrosario in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hi jeanjeannie, Yes he wants to change it because im still haveing episodes of afib. He wants to try it see if i will go back to rythym. He said for 6 months . First he wanted to try metropolol 25 mg twice a day for a month. Im still haveing short ones but they dont last. I go back to see him in a month. I just want to feel better already im tired of always feeling tired no energy. I will see next month what he says. Yes i was completely asleep. I had a very bad first week afterwards pain on my throat , stomach problems couldnt eat, lots of headaches but im better now.

[CDreamer]

Hi Delrosario - there is no doubt that this medication can give you very serious affects - such as thyroid dysfunction as Jean describes, however, it is also the most successful drug for keeping the heart in sinus rhythm.

My husband has been on a fairly low dose since February with no obvious affects so far, but it’s not a drug either of us want him to be on longer term.

It brought him back from AF and HF when cardioversion failed and he has been in NSR for some months now with much improved function - but it was a drug/treatment of last resort as he was out of options.

It’s a difficult decision. Did you ask why? There are some side effect which Flecainide can also induce, including other arrythmias so I think it is worth asking for the reasoning of your doctor. I would also ask for how long does he want you to take Amiodarone - if for a very short period for a good reason - I would consider it but if you do then ensure your GP does regular blood monitoring.

Best wishes CD

[Delrosario in reply to CDreamer]

Hi Cdreamer, yes he said Amiodarone would bring me back to rythym which he thinks flecainde wont . It really hasnt helped i still have episodes not long lasting like before though. Ive just read so much of this med it scares me which i told him but he said it would be a short time. He doesnt like to use it much only when he thinks its best. I can really talk to him and come with my concerns his a very good doctor he listens. Thank you for your reply.

[CDreamer in reply to Delrosario]

I don’t how long you have been taking it but it took 4-6 weeks to work for my husband who was in persistent AF - which then went into episodes of NSR - then back to AF and finally into NSR 99% of the time.

[grandmadogs]

I had a successful ablation over a year ago. Previously 2 failed cardioversions for persistent AF. I was on amiodarone for 7 months in total, some before and some after the ablation. I was lucky and had no side effects other than intolerance of the sun. Also no lasting damage and I have had regular check ups to confirm this. I am now starting to relax. Good luck with whichever route you take. My cardiologist is against being on amiodarone for more than a few months.

[Flossie72]

Hi Delrosario,

Last Christmas I had a particularly bad episode of Afib, hospitalising me for 6 days. After an amiodarone drip, I was then put on tablets and given a cardioversion. I was very scared of this drug as I had read so much about the adverse effects it can have. I was given an ablation at the end of June. I hoped this would mean I could stop taking the tablets, but no. I was finally taken off them at my 3 month post ablation review. Every consultant I saw, told me they were the most effective treatment for arrythmia, and I was on them to keep my heart stable for as long as possible. I took them for ten months.

They worked for me - so far, and I had no side effects at all, however there was the nuisance factor of extreme sun sensitivity to think of this summer.

I hope desperately that I won't need to take them again, but I accept the fact that I may.If you take them, make sure you have regular blood tests and are monitored carefully, and I'm sure you will be fine.

Good luck, Sue

[56-er]

Amiodarone is only for short term. It has serious side affects. I was on it until ablation, maybe for two weeks.

[Delrosario in reply to 56-er]

Yes, 56er he said it was short term 6 months or so. Im doing really good im still on flecanaid right now but i can feel short episodesnot bothersome like before. He did say there is a 3 month window after ablation for the heart to heal.

[Haymaker42]

I was on amiodarone for about 7 months. 4 months before ablation and 3 months after. It was the only drug that would keep me in NSR. I had no problems taking it and no side effects from it.

[inezelsie]

I took amiodarone for 4 months last year. It worked great for the afib, and continued to work for 5 more months, but in May I got a terrible respiratory virus with endless sneezing and coughing for 3-4 days, and I went back into afib. I tried amiodarone again for two months, and stopped taking it when my pulse wouldn't go below 98. It has slowly crept up, but is still between 100--110. As long as it stays at this rate I'm not taking anything for it. My thyroid was affected, but went back to normal when I stopped.

[Hidden]

Try this. It might do more good than the medicine.

-------------------------------------------

After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer

PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:

Cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-7-28

[Delrosario]

Neil Molton, I am on blood thinner Xarelto . Im feeling good this second week of recovery has been good. Thank you.