Flecainide for AF

[cloudday]

how to stop taking feclainide safely?

[Hidden]

Most of us are not medically trained therefore it would be unwise to offer advice for making changes to prescribed medication……much safer to ask your doctor and/or check the information leaflet………

[cloudday in reply to Hidden]

Thanks!

[Hidden in reply to cloudday]

I have heard many medics say there is normally no need to wean off Flecainide but always with the proviso that people check with their doctor because everyone’s circumstances can be different……

[cloudday in reply to Hidden]

Thanks

[secondtry]

Good question. I have been reading every post on this aspect for some time. My recollection is that the majority of medics, once they have decided that you can reduce the dose, they suggest you go cold turkey without any sliding reduction. However, as and when I decide to do it and assuming I still haven't read anything negative I will be asking my cardiologist if I can reduce it very slowly (over a year), particularly the first 100gms from my current 200mgs. No medical backing to this just seems to me to be common sense.

[cloudday in reply to secondtry]

Thanks

[Singwell in reply to secondtry]

I'm weaning off it right now. Cutting my dose by half initially was not good! Maybe by mine us supposedly the lowest effective dose. I'm on 75 a day at present 50mg AM and 25 PM. I'm using a pill cutter.

[secondtry in reply to Singwell]

That's good, 75mgs is very low. May I ask what persuaded you to start reductions and from what level?

[Singwell in reply to secondtry]

Of course. I was only ever on 50X2. It didn't stop the AF altogether - I was getting it roughly once every two months. I had RF catheter ablation 11 weeks ago and once I'd been stable with no events for 5 weeks the arrythmia nurse suggested coming down off the meds to see how I do. So far, so good 🤞🤞

[listerines]

Again check with your own medical professionals, but i had this situation recently (as post 2 months ablation and wanting to see if heart would hold without medication) and my ep advised that there was no need to titrate (reduce) flec as no research showing any reboind effects. That said the ep and the afib nurses advised that some patients prefer to wean off slowly over 2-4 weeks re: mental health reasons (i chose to wean off flec over 4 weeks).Keep safe

[cloudday in reply to listerines]

Thanks

[Palpman]

When I was on 50mg x2 Flecainide I landed up back in hospital with bad ectopics and palps.

The dose was too small and had caused the anomaly so it was upped to 100mg x2. This dose works fine.

Now if I had to wean off it the I would have to take the decreased dose of 50mg again and it causes arrhythmias. No way will I do that. Cold turkey for me.

[cloudday in reply to Palpman]

I was on flec for three weeks and it was making my AF worse. Since my appointment with the NP is a bit away and phone calls take a while to be answered I decided to go cold turkey. Thanks Palpman.

[Hindmarsh]

I was taking flec. for years. Feeling very unwell and found an EP who said it was wrong for me and to stop IMMEDIATELY which I did. No problems!

[cloudday in reply to Hindmarsh]

Thanks

[Snowgirl65]

My not very bright EP at the time had me cold turkey from Flecainide and put me on another drug. I soon after had the worst a-fib episode in my history, ending up calling an ambulance for myself; was in the hospital for 2-1/2 days as they drugged me with various meds to bring me back to normal. Ended up being cardioverted and everything was peachy again. EP claimed he "warned me"; he definitely did not. I've since fired him, and a few years later, have a new EP who's done a radio-frequency ablation and all's well (knock on wood).

[belindalore in reply to Snowgirl65]

Crummy Drs always blame the patient don't they? And I'm sure in his notes somewhere he has made a comment that you are a hysterical female. Drs do that when they are inept and don't have any answers or trying to cover their mistakes. It was a common practice decades ago to just declare a woman being hysterical and a travesty Drs still do it in this day and age. 😠Thank goodness you have a good Dr now. They seem to be few and far between these days. Wishing you well.

[Snowgirl65 in reply to belindalore]

You're so right! Best wishes for you too.

[cloudday in reply to Snowgirl65]

Thanks

[Lucybod]

Well I stopped immediately it caused my heart to slow down so much they had to give me cpr . No after effects after recovering. Now have Less ectopics

[cloudday in reply to Lucybod]

Thanks

[terryw]

Hi clcloudday. With the agreement of my GP I use to move my Flecainide dose between 50mg and 150mg twice a day depending on whether I was in AF without any problems. I decided to remain in continuous AF and a Cardiologist and an Electrophysologist agreed that I could stop Flecainide. I had no side effects. Looking at the other posts you will see that we are all different.

TerryW

[cloudday in reply to terryw]

Thanks terryw

[Singwell]

Hi - you say that the Flecainide is making your AF worse. Higher heart rates, or more often? For many of us, if we don't also take a rate controller together with the Flecainide, then it has a tendency to make the heart race. It controls rhythm, not rate. If you're not on a rate controller, this might be worth looking into.

[cloudday in reply to Singwell]

Thank you Singwell. I will certainly look into this.

[Singwell in reply to cloudday]

I only know cos my EP told me when getting ready for ablation! I mentioned coming off the meds and he said - it's not safe to take Flecainide without an AV node blocker. And that means either a beta blocker or the Diltiazem I'm on, which is a calcium channel blocker. It also helps my BP.

[cloudday in reply to Singwell]

Thanks Singwell. I'll ask the NP on my next appointment

[Thomas45]

After taking Flecainide 150mg X 2 a day I was found to be in persistent AF. The consultant told me to stop taking them. I ignored his advice and asked a GP, who is very knowledgeable about AF. He said, just stop. And added, don't worry, you won't die before your time. So I just stopped. That was about six years ago.I would ask your Gp or pharmacist.

[cloudday in reply to Thomas45]

Thanks