Paroxysmal Af,flecanide side effects.

[B9999]

Hi I am a 46 year old male on flecanide for Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation,I would before hand have episodes of fast AF around 100+.The drug works well alongside my candesartan however one strange symptom I do have is tinnitus,just wondering if it is drug related or irrelevant to my meds...thanks for any comments

[Tako2009]

Hi - I have tinnitus which started after I was diagnosed with P-AF - I think other people have reported the same side effects- I take Flecainide 50 x 2 per day and am pretty sure it’s the culprit but doctor will probably disagree and say it’s just my (old) age! You are much younger than me so I would agree it’s probably the Flec causing it.

Otherwise I tolerate this med ok and it seems to keep the AF controlled so at the moment I prefer to put up with the tinnitus and keep my heart behaving!!

Liz

[B9999 in reply to Tako2009]

Hi thanks for the reply it’s nice to know my thoughts were correct,and as you say if the drug is working it’s probably better to put up with the tinnitus.I am on the same dose as you without any issues.

[Frances123]

Flecainide causes tinnitus I’m afraid. I didn’t know until I saw a locum GP re my tinnitus a year ago and his words were “well you know flecainide causes tinnitus” Erm, no says I. GP was surprised I didn’t know or had been told. Mine is there all the time but luckily I have days where it’s barely noticeable. If you go on the tinnitus website they do have suggestions that can help you cope with it. I hope it isn’t too bothersome for you.

Frances xxx

[BobD Volunteer]

Pulsatile tinitus where you can hear you heart beating in your head is acommon side effect of AF so don't blame the drugs. I have it and never take flecainide.

[B9999 in reply to BobD]

Lots of opinions on here,however for me it’s definitely not my heart beating as I have had this in the past.This is tinnitus and I have researched the know sites regarding this thanks.

[Hidden]

I had it from long before I started on the Flecainide.

[Thomas45]

I took Flecainide for 12 years without having any tinnitus. Most of that 12 years I took 150mg X 2 a day (I am 6' 7" tall and was 19 stones (261 lbs)

[Tapanac]

I had tinnitus before I went on any tablets or was even diagnosed with AF.

Tinnitus is most usually caused (in layman’s terms) by those little hairs way inside your ears flattening, again sometimes through loud noise. Mine was dancing near music speakers and my boss dictating on an audio machine on a train so had to have it turned up high to hear him. Lots of reasons for Tinnitus and not always drugs. Even if it were, better to be fairly AF free than tinnitus free, eh. Happy healthy new year and try not to worry and ignore the noises in your ears if you can as eventually you will get used to it and hopefully not notice.

[Palpman]

Flecainide caused a whooshing sound especially when walking up steps.

I have had tinnitus for eons that is caused by the brain to hide unwanted persistent background noises albeit somewhat unsuccessful.

[B9999 in reply to Palpman]

I had the wooshing before I was medicated,however the tinnitus is a new and constant thing

[Hidden]

Try this. If it works for you, since you are so young, you might be able to reduce your afib episodes to zero, or at least decrease their severity so that you might not need meds.

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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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). 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 (afternoon) 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??

I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.

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:

https//cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...

[B9999]

O my a lot of helpful information and study I now have to do,thanks for your input.

[AllyAF]

On flecanide 3 years ago and no side effects but only on it for 8 months as had ablation which solved the problem.