3 week update.

[tom0985]

3 weeks since my first appointment with the cardiologist and 2 weeks since he added flecanide and rivaroxaban which resulted in the PAF stopping within a day. I went back for my 2 week appointment and on the basis the flecanide has stopped the AF episodes with reoccurrences, he is happy to see me now I’m a further 6 months to make sure everything still ok in addition to stopping the 5mg of Bisoprolol which I am on with immediate effect (don’t take any further tablets from now) keeping me on Riva for 6 months not so much for my stroke risk as I’m 36 and otherwise healthy but should AF come back and then I’m prepped for an ablation. Also happy for me to go on holiday to USA in 2 weeks time which is good news but no rollercoasters.

[jeanjeannie50]

I'm pleased to hear that all is sounding good for you Tom. Have a nice time in the US.

Jean

[steve60]

You're lucky to be offered an ablation at such a young age. I've been told to wait until I'm at least 65 and I'm in permanent AF

[Elli86 in reply to steve60]

Wow that’s crazy. You need to speak to someone else steve. I’m 35 and had one in august. So far so good. The younger you are when you have it the more likely it is too work from what I’ve been told 👍

[steve60 in reply to Elli86]

Apparently in the NHS your chances of getting an ablation are based on the cHads2vac score and currently until I hit 65 (which gives a score of 1) I am at zero at the moment which does not put me at anymore risk of stroke than someone without Afib. Apparently

[Elli86 in reply to steve60]

Yeah my chadvasc score was and still is zero. I’m off all meds since yesterday 😁👍 sounds like need to see a new cardio/EP as my operation was done through nhs. To be honest my first cardio told me I shouldn’t have an ablation as chances are I’d end up with a pacemaker 🤦‍♂️ I see a private EP for £200 and he suggested ablation straight away and pushed it all through with nhs for me. If ablation is the route you want to go down then maybe try it that way 👍

[Elli86]

Good news Tom.

So your cardio has now stopped the flec and you just take bisop now? 5mg? Did he tell you why that dosage? Only asking as I only used to take 2.5mg and used to cut that down to 3/4 with no problems. Obviously everyone is different and there’ll probably be a reason why it’s that high but they usually start you on a lower dose and then work their way up if the dose is not working. Otherwise you could be taking a higher dose for no reason when your af could have been kept in check on a much lower dose with far fewer side effects.

Anyway glad you’ve got the ok to America! Enjoy mate 👍

[tom0985 in reply to Elli86]

Thanks Elili. Sorry didn’t explain that to well. He’s stopped Bisoprolol immediately, so I’m not taking any of that as of now. I am only taking 50mg twice a day of flecanide for the AF. Should I have an epsiode again he said take 5mg of the bisoprolol I have and then another 5mg if it’s not gone within 4 hours. Strangely I did a lot of stop start work on my bike this morning which pushed my heart rate up quickly which put me in to AF for the first time in 2 weeks. Lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Don’t think that had anything to do with not taking Bisoprolol as hadn’t even reached the normal time o take the tablet by that time. Think I need to slowly build my HR up when exercising as opposed to low then fast.

[Elli86 in reply to tom0985]

Personally I would wait for my body to adjust and get used to the tablets etc before attempting the exercise. I’d give it a few weeks. I used to do my exercise bike while on bisop 2.5mg and could get my heart rate up to around 140/150 and keep it there for around 45-an hour with not too much issue. Used to do an ultra slow 10/15 minute warm up on there though and like you say get my heart rate up slowly. What rate did your heart get up to when it went into af do you know?

I’m hoping to get back on my bike soon 🙏🙏 got to let my heart adjust to the lack of medication for a while though. Just gonna stick to my daily walks until I’ve adjusted. Maybe 2/3 weeks and see how I feel.

[tom0985 in reply to Elli86]

I’ve been on flecanide for 2 weeks now so thought it would of been ok to push it, maybe not….if it’s the reason like you said, give my body more time to get used to flec then I guess that’s a good thing 😀. I’m not sure exactly what my heart went up to but I think 140 was the highest reading I took off my monitor. What’s your blood pressure readings like? I seem to be anywhere from 117/75 - 130/85

[Elli86 in reply to tom0985]

My average is around 113/78. Highest I’ve ever recorded is 122/86 that was a one off though. So blood pressure doesn’t seem to be an issue for me. If anything I’ve only ever been too low as opposed to too high.

When I had ablation done my systolic dropped to 70 so they had to keep me in overnight. I’ve never felt so rubbish in my life so kept getting the nurse to dose me up with whatever it was they were pumping the IV full of 🤣🤣 did the job though.

Exercise on the meds is more than doable you just have to find and work around your new limitations. This can take a while. I started out just doing long walks and then progressed to slow progress on the indoor bike. Like I say got up to an ok standard in the end which was in the lead up to my ablation. Personally I found that sufficient rest in between workouts was MASSIVELY important. If I did too much in one week then I would end up in AF. I used to do a bike workout followed by light weights on Monday, 5/6 mile walk Wednesday and then another bike workout and weights on friday. If I ever felt unexplainably tired one day then I would skip the Wednesday walk and just rest till the Friday. Feeling tired was a sure fire clue that I was going to go into af at some point unless I rest 👍

[tom0985 in reply to Elli86]

Thanks, interesting what you say about overdoing it. Last week i did 7.5 mile combo of walking and bike riding and the next day i felt whacked and a bit on edge so took it easy for a day or two to get back to how i was feeling pre exercise. Very aware that i need to keep exercising though as it does more harm than good and don't know how my blood pressure readings are in context but want to keep them as low as i can.

[Elli86 in reply to tom0985]

Keep at it Tom and you’ll find your limits. Don’t over do it and listen to your body. If your tired then rest and you should be ok. Good luck 👍

[Cos56]

Glad to hear that! I just passed my exercise and nuclear stress tests. Now I can go on Flecainide 50 mg twice a day. Thank goodness cuz my episodes are getting closer together. I take metoprolol 25 in morning and 12.5 at night.I’m a little nervous about it and hopeful the episodes end. I get an EKG next week to check things out. Maybe I’ll be lowered from the metoprolol? I’m so on Eliquis 5 mg twice a day.

Looking to hear from you and those with my experience.