Fast heart rate

[Chiliconcon]

Hi everyone, I’m new here and so glad I found this forum. To start with I had an ablation for AF about 6 years ago. About 2 weeks ago my heart rate went to 190 and went to ER. They ended up shocking my heart to get it back in rhythm. This was on a Friday morning. I was sent home and it happened again on Sunday morning so back I went. This time they gave me some kind of medicine in my IV which almost completely stops your heart then it starts back up again. Not fun at all!! They were going to send me home again so I got upset and walked out. Sunday night, 8 hours later it happened again so my husband took me to a different hospital where they did the same procedure but then admitted me. Ended up putting me on Sotalol 80mg twice a day. My question is have any of you taken this med for any length of time? My PCP said I shouldn’t stay on it for very long then a nurse friend of mine said a lot of people have been on it for years. Just needing some input. Sorry for the long post 😞

[BobD Volunteer]

Sotalol is just one of many drugs which can be used in such cases. It had two functions. anti arrhythmic to try and retunr your heart to normal ssinu rhythm (NSR) and beta blocking to slow it down. Big question was what diagnosis did you get.?

[Chiliconcon in reply to BobD]

Thank you for your reply. From what I can understand, I have both of these problems so hopefully this will help me 🙏

[ijregner]

I have been on it for only 5 months. Some insignificant symptoms in the beginning. It has reduced my heart rate during an episode but has not put me back in NSR. I always go to my pharmacist if I have drug questions - smarter than Docs when it comes to drugs (in my experience)

[Chiliconcon in reply to ijregner]

Thank you. I agree, most pharmacists make more sense than the doctors!

[Clarrie]

I have been on Sotalol for approximately four years now and following having a pacemaker just had my dose upped to 120 mg twice daily as I was in AF and my HR was fast when I had the pacemaker fitted. Still get episodes of AF but now every couple of weeks instead of every week.

[Chiliconcon in reply to Clarrie]

I too have a Pacemaker but they only put me on 80mg twice a day. I’m in stage 3 ( close to 4) kidney failure so some meds are really bad for me 😞. Thanks for replying to my post.

[Clarrie in reply to Chiliconcon]

Sorry to hear you have kidney failure. Take care

[Sharc]

I’ve been on sotalol for almost two years and it works well for me. I started out at 120mg twice a day and am now down to 40 mg morning , 80mg evening. At first I had side effects such as fatigue but it eventually improved. It’s kept me in NSR so I don’t mind taking it. One day I’d love to be medication free.

[Chiliconcon in reply to Sharc]

Thank you. I’m praying it will continue to help me too. We are in the middle of moving from Florida to Tennessee so I will be getting a new Cardiologist as soon as we’re settled. Praying I won’t have to make another trip to the ER before then !