Stopped Flecainide, update

[Budken]

I have been off Flecainde now for almost a month. Had two short episodes of Afib the end of the first week. Then nothing. I also noticed that the weird off balance feeling, I have had for at least a year, has gone. So I believe it was caused by the Flecainide. Last night I had a short half hour episode of something, but I do not know just what. I felt a head rush, and my heart rate went way up, 88BPM for about a half hour. It did not feel like Afib, and my heart seemed to be beating in normal rhythm, just faster. So not sure just what it was, it was not normal whatever it was. It came on just after eating dinner ( a large bowl of Cabbage Soup ). Seems I always get these ectopics after eating a big meal. I have never had an episode that did not happen until evening, after dinner.

[Hidden]

..... the culprit maybe food being eaten too late in the day, or food and/or ingredients aggravating /inflaming the vagal nerve thus triggering an AF event, or both ! The Vagal Nerve is a nerve in the central nervous system which acts like a communication super highway between the brain, to he heàrt and the digestive system ( the gut). Plenty written on this topic. Maybe check on line Dr. Sanjay Gupta, York Cardiology who does short videos with explanations of such things.

John

[mjames1]

Interesting about the off balance feeling. These drugs affect all of us differently and if medically safe, not a bad idea to take at least a brief vacation from a particular drug from time to time to see if the benefits are really worth the side effects and/or decrease in quality of life.

Do keep us posted about how it goes off of Flecainide. It's a topic of interest to a number of us who have been either experimenting with lower doses (I was down to 25mg, once a day at one point) or who want to get off it completely. As to those arrhythmia's, if they continue, you might want to invest in a home ekg device like the Kardia to identify the arrhythmia.

Food is a big trigger for a lot of us. Smaller meals can help as well as not eating too close to bed time, not lying down after eating, etc. I have also found the FODMAP diet helpful. You could also try gluten free.

Jim

[Sozo]

This was a year ago approx a month after being diagnosed with afib. I was not currently in an afib episode but my elect/cardi put me on Flecainide. It was terrible for me! Could hardly drag myself out of bed morning and from a short nap. It was uncomfortable with my breathing lying down and during the day was so lifeless. He cut down the dose and continued to do so when I told him it was no different. When finally I told him I would rather be in afib than to be on that drug. I went off of it completely! Those symptoms disappeared! I believe it did harm to me. I did read as well in article that it can in itself cause arrhythmia! Blessing your way!!