Hospital stay for dofetilide loading

[lovetogarden]

Wish me luck. Heading to the hospital tomorrow for a change in meds. Have been on sotalol for a few years and it really wears me down, particularly in warm weather. It’s also started to fail more often. New med is dofetilide, I know that’s not available in the UK, I’m in the US. My EP has been suggesting the switch for a while now. But of course the 3 day hospital stay has put me off. Finally ready to get it over with and see if it works and gives me back my energy. I have about 500 books on my kindle, at least 30 hours of Netflix downloaded to my iPad and a knitting project. Lol! I guess I have enough to keep me busy.

[Hidden]

Hope all goes well and you feel better soon. Hope you don't mind me asking why is it a 3 day hospital stint for a change in meds? Good luck

[lovetogarden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you falco1! Don’t mind you asking at all.👍 This med can prolong your QT interval, which is dangerous. So they make you take the first 5 doses in hospital, where they monitor and adjust dosing. From what I understand, if it works it’s a great med, used by a lot of EPs in the US. Sotalol has the same danger and supposedly needs a similar in-hospital observation for higher doses, though I didn’t go through that when I went on it. This all scares me a bit (a lot!) but willing to give it a whirl if it helps stop my tachycardia AND gives me back some energy!

[Hidden in reply to lovetogarden]

That makes sense why you need a hospital stay. Hope all goes well😀

[Hidden]

I wish you luck with the new meds. I can understand your reluctance to go into hospital. Sounds like you are well prepared. Enjoy your reading/viewing/knitting.

[lovetogarden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Rayswife. Bag is packed with more entertainment than I’ll have time for! 😂 Now just hoping for a quiet room. Though that rarely happens.

[Jalia]

Will be thinking of you! Hope all goes well. Do please keep us informed. I wonder when this drug will be licensed for UK.

[lovetogarden in reply to Jalia]

Thanks Jalia! Waiting for the call to go to the hospital. Hope they have a room today. I too wonder if the med will get wider approval.

[etheral]

I have been taking dofetilide for 3 years now and fortunately have experienced no breakthrough arrythmias or side effects. The hospital stay was boring, but between Netflix, Kindle, social media, and takeout food went by quick enough. I converted from Afib to NSR while being loaded with dofetilide and avoided a Cardioversion. Best of luck to you. Dofetilide has been a life saver for me 👍👍.. etheral

[lovetogarden in reply to etheral]

Thanks for sharing your experience Ethereal. So good to hear others have been successful w this med. Happy you’re doing well on it. Takeout food at the hospital! I like that idea. 😂

[lovetogarden in reply to etheral]

Do you take anything in addition to the dofetilide? Any beta blockers?

[etheral in reply to lovetogarden]

I take carvedilol 10 mg every other day if my pulse is over 90. Only end up taking it occasionally as my pulse normally runs 60 - 70. Also take eliqus 5mg every 12 hours.

[lovetogarden in reply to etheral]

Thx! Glad that works well for you.

[Snowgirl65]

I had a 3-day hospital stay too when I went on dofetilide. I've had no problem whatsoever with the drug ever since.

[lovetogarden in reply to Snowgirl65]

Thank you for sharing Snowgirl65. Great to know it’s working well for you. Any side effects?

[Snowgirl65 in reply to lovetogarden]

I've had no side effects whatsoever. (And by the way lovetogarden, I'm a gardener too.)

[lovetogarden in reply to Snowgirl65]

I like the sound of no side effects. Just saw your ablation post. So sorry about the broken wrist! What a bummer in gardening season. Hope that heals quickly. Are you still on metoprolol? That is the med that is doing me in right now. Also interested that you were treated at Cleveland Clinic! Wow, #1 facility! I’ve had thoughts of having a consult there if I can’t get things under control w my local EP.

[Snowgirl65 in reply to lovetogarden]

Yea, it wasn't fun with that broken wrist -- good thing the major planting was finished; just garden maintenance now. Back to "our" pills: Yes, I'm still on metoprolol. One of the pills I take (that, dofetilide and xarelto) make me sleepy about 45 minutes after taking, but it quickly passes -- I don't know which one causes it. Cleveland Clinic is the best. I had to fire my previous EP in the suburbs because he wouldn't do anything more for me -- limited expertise, I assume. It'd be worth it, in my humble opinion, to get a second opinion there. CC does mapping and ablated the vein behind my esophagus that my previous EP couldn't do.

[lovetogarden in reply to Snowgirl65]

We’re in similar climates, love that the heavier work can be done in the cooler spring weather. My garden is in a maintenance mode now too. Though I have lots of pots with things that need planting.

Sounds like you had amazing luck w CC! strange that your other EP wouldn’t do anything for you. Interesting about the vein behind esophagus! Tricky. I really like my current EP. I did quit 2 previous ones. One who didn’t want to do anything for me. The next was eager to do ablations, but eventually was unwilling to listen and was downright rude & dismissive, didn’t like questions. 3rd one listens (usually!) and seems very skilled. He did 3rd ablation and repaired what I suspect the other doc hadn’t done well.

[Snowgirl65 in reply to lovetogarden]

I guess it's like throwing dice, finding a good EP. You had quite a few who didn't listen. My previous one clearly didn't like when I questioned some of his information. He said he "tried" to ablate the vein behind the esophagus, but when my current EP went in to do my ablation in April, he said there was no scarring whatsoever with that vein, so my first doc obviously never even attempted it. I was disappointed that I had that a-fib episode after breaking my wrist, but my EP said it fell outside the 3-month blanking period -- by a week -- so I have to stay on pills until my next appointment in late November. Keeping fingers crossed -- for both of us -- that we stay a-fib free!

[lovetogarden in reply to Snowgirl65]

That’s really upsetting that your first EP told you that he’d tried when he obviously hadn’t! 😢

[Snowgirl65 in reply to lovetogarden]

Yeah, no kidding!

[Sustainedvtach270]

Tank you so much for sharing! I have been on Sotalol since march. For the last few weeks I converted to afib a few times and have been tachy. My sitting heart rate is 50, I am very active (or used to be) and now I am 70-90s. Furthermore I am on vacation at the beach where I should be relaxed. I am watching my diet and taking food with magnesium to see if it helps. If not I will see my EP when I get back.

[lovetogarden in reply to Sustainedvtach270]

Hope you too can find a med that works. MyEP asked if I wanted to increase the sotalol, but it makes me so tired, I finally gave in to the hospital stay to try dofetilide. Time will tell. Hope you can enjoy your beach time!

[Jacnc]

I had the same thing done-the Tykosin has been so much better for me-I’m from North Carolina

[lovetogarden in reply to Jacnc]

So glad that’s helped you Jacnc! Feeling more encouraged hearing that. (I used to visit NC all the time. My parents retired to Sunset Beach area. They had 25 good years there. Loved the beach and miss it!)

[lovetogarden in reply to Jacnc]

Do you take a beta blocker w the tikosyn? I was surprised to find that my drbwants me on metoprolol too. It’s a difficult drug for me. 😢

[Jacnc in reply to lovetogarden]

I take cardizen-not metoprolol , my Dr says it slows the heart to much for me .

[lovetogarden in reply to Jacnc]

Oh, that’s interesting! Maybe that’s an option for me as well. I’m home now from the hospital stay (longest 48 hours! Ughh…) just took dofetilide dose 6 a few hours ago. Feeling awful. Weak and woozy. Not keen to take my metoprolol dose. Called the cardiac nurse and messaged the dr, but no answer yet. Felt far better on sotalol! Ughhh…

[Hidden]

Hi hope you are enjoying your Kindle books and net flix films that you spoke about yesterday😀 Hope your treatment is going well. Take care.

[lovetogarden in reply to Hidden]

Still waiting for the first dose! 9pm.

[lovetogarden in reply to Hidden]

Home! Good to be out of the hospital. But feeling woozy. Not sure this drug is going to work for me. 😢

[Hidden in reply to lovetogarden]

Glad you are back home. Hope you feel better soon and the meds work for you. Did you get through all your Kindle books and Netflix Vids lol😀

[lovetogarden in reply to Hidden]

Lol! Predictably I didn’t do any knitting, watched about 10 minutes of a tv show download and didn’t even finish the book I was reading when I went in. 😂 But I did listen to several symphonies while I tried to relax and snooze a bit.

[Hidden in reply to lovetogarden]

Glad all went well😀

[NYCgal22]

I had an ablation for afib on Jan. 28 and was put on tikosyn...so far doesn't seem to bother me and no afib so far. The only other med I take is Eliquis. I spent 2 days in hospital due to checking QR level. Hoping the ablation got rid of my afib and can be off all drugs soon! Too soon to tell though. Good luck to you also!

[lovetogarden in reply to NYCgal22]

Wishing you luck with the ablation recovery! And good to hear that you had no side effects from the tikosyn. It still bothers me. Still getting tachycardia and other arrhythmias. But they don’t last as long.

[Islandee]

I'm new here and notice that your post was from 8 months ago. I just got out of the hospital for my 3 day load of dofetilide. They had to lower it to the lowest dose of 125. I do not feel very good and have had no relief from palpitations yet. I do not have afib but have atrial tachycardia, PACs, and ectopics. Are you still on dofetilide and if so how long did it take to work?

[lovetogarden in reply to Islandee]

Welcome to this group! So many great folks and tons of good info and support. I ended up on the 125 dose as well. It’s working ok-ish. I still have tachycardia events, but they resolve very quickly, usually just a few minutes. But given that I’m still having tachycardia, I’m not thrilled with the med. like you, I don’t feel great on it. Better than I did when I first started, but still get lightheaded and lack energy.

Did your dr give you an idea of how long it might take for you to get used to the med?

My dr has had nothing but success with it, so he’s baffled by me. Lol! But willing to consider other options. Have an appt with him this week. We’ll see what happens. Like you I have tachycardia and PACs (or PVCs, not sure which) Ablations seem to have banished the actual afib.

[Islandee]

Thank you for replying to my questions. The doctor told that it could take up to a month but that it would be unusual for it to take that long. This is only day 6 for me for me but I didn't expect to feel worse. I have dizziness, headaches and nausea. I have had 3 ablations, the first helped the tachycardia but not the palpitations, the 2nd try they couldn't find anything and the 3rd they found that the place they needed to ablate but it was right over the phrenic nerve so they couldn't do anything. My only option now is meds and I've tried almost all, beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. I was so hopeful this would be the one. I'm going to stay with this for a month until my follow-up and see what the doctor says. My palpitations are so numerous that I am unable to sleep without ambien and I don't want to keep taking that.

[lovetogarden in reply to Islandee]

Oh gosh, sounds like you’ve been through the mill. Like you, I’ve had 3 ablations. The last one finally zapped all of the afib, so it seems. But they couldn’t trigger the tachycardia. Sorry your ablations didn’t eliminate all the issues either. And sorry about the tikosyn. Initially I was taking it with metoprolol and that was making it even worse. Dumped that pretty quickly!

Hope you can hang in there for a few weeks and see if the side effects subside a bit. Let me know how you’re getting on!