I’m taking flecainide to prepare for the cardioversion. I’m in persistent afib with heart rate rage usually 70-90.
I started to take 50mg yesterday for two times a day and I felt straight away hot, pins and needles in my hands and feet. My heart rate is a bit faster than usual and I feel very very tired, which could be also the effect of the heart rate.
I’m thinking about keep taking it until tomorrow and if I’m still feeling like this, maybe I should call the consultant?
It doesn’t feel right, not sure about what to do.
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En85
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Please contact your cardiologist straight away. I suffered very badly on Flecanide and it sent my symptoms into a tailspin then it’s been suspected but not confirmed that I suffered an adverse incident bc of this drug. Side note: it’s a hugely popular drug and I know for many people it works immensely well for and they’re in the majority but for the minority, please get yourself checked asap.
Happy to share more details but don’t want to scare you…
I too became very unwell on Flecanide was admitted to hospital where it was stopped immediately. I agree this drug very popular with cardiologists but one size doesn’t fit all.
My cardiologist is actually quite reluctant to prescribe it but left me on it as it had been prescribed by the hospital and I didn’t appear to have any issues. He would not have initiated the use of Flecainide.
Thank you! I called the consultant nurse, she said if the symptoms are mild to keep going and I can have an ECG tomorrow at lunch, just to make sure it’s not messing with my rate.
'Pins and needles' is one of the side effects of Flecainide and it would be a good idea to contact your consultant or his/her secretary to get advice. Best wishes.
Flecainide is a drug that requires monitoring because of it's potentially pro-arrhythmic effects. I would contact your Consultant and describe symptons. They will probably ask you more questions and may let it go for now, or may want to bring you in for an ekg. If you get stuck with the front office, personally I'd ask if I could come in for an ekg, just to be on the safe side.
that’s what they suggested. I’m going tomorrow in for an ECG. They suggested to keep going in the weekend, but I said I have zero problems from my afib, if the cure is the problem I’d rather stay with my permanent afib heart rate and keep doing my things.
Not sure anymore I want to take it this evening, my heart rate is around 100 while usually is on 80/85. I’m a bit scared it will rise more. The nurse suggested to take it this evening and tomorrow morning my 50mg, but now I’m not sure it is a good idea. Also they suggested to give me beta blockers to correct the effect of flecainide, which I answered “I’d rather not taking anything and not having the cardioversion”. I don’t see the point in taking tablets to correct the effects of other tablets..
Ideally you take the ekg at the dose that is causing symptons, so they can tell if that dose is too high, but if you don't feel safe then call them to discuss. Are you on any beta blockers now? For safety reasons, always a good idea to take beta blockers or calcium channel blockers with Flecainde. It's the nature of the drug.
It is not untypical to take Flecainide together with a BB. Its just because of the tendency for the HR to increase. You're keeping them informed, which is what matters. Personally I feel a bit worried that you've had a lot of responses here that might make your fear escalate. Check the medication leaflet for side effects - pins and needles, headaches and a feeling of something a bit weird going on we're all ones I experienced. But - for me - worth it in the end. However, I did take my Flecainide in tandem with a calcium channel blocker to keep the rate down. Flecanide can put your heart back into rhythm and the BB or other partner drug keeps the rate in control. Hope this helps rather than the opposite
When I first started onflecanaide I had a few side effects, my cardio said it takes time for the body to get used to it and to give it at least 4 weeks. I did and everything settled down. I am not saying it will for you but I am sure you will be ok until tomorrow. All the best 👍
now this is mentioned, I seem to remember getting mild pins and needles on occasions. It must be years now since I’ve experienced them so my body must have adapted - I’ve always been on the same dose.
It is standard practice to prescribe beta blockers to go alongside flecanide to guard against the possibility of atrial flutter being triggered. Alf is a fast rate arrhythmia, regular but fast. AFib is chaotic .I assume you had an echo cardiogram to check your heart structure before flecanide was given? Or given under observation in hospital?
It is a powerful drug,which helped me for a long time . Initial side effects which wore off .
When I first started Flec, my doctor described it as ‘re programming the heart’
Not sure I completely agreed with that analogy but hey ho.
I had a few side effects at the start and the docs told me to persist, and I was calling them almost daily out of pure anxiety. But now I get no side effects at all apart from no Afib episodes 🤷♂️
It can feel weird when you first take it I'm afraid. Remember it well! I'd check with cardiology as to whether it's OK to oudh through that. Remember it's also warm weather so keep hydrated and note CDreamers post today.
Its amazing how many people carry on taking a drug,thats giving them problems just because the Doctor prescribed it,my mum whos 88 is exactly the same,personally I've cardioverted myself,twice with 300mg flec & 10mg bisop & have no problems with it but we're all different 😉
I was put on Flecainide 50 mg bd, after having repeated bouts of afib through last summer(whilst on Bisoprolol). It has worked wonders for me but again some side effects. My cardiologist still persists I should have an ablation, he says Flec is a powerful drug , not great for long term and afib will break through eventually.
My very brief experience with flecainide began the same way yours did: I was told to start taking it (50 mg 2x daily) two days before a cardioversion.
On the second day of taking flecainide (the day before the cardioversion) I went running.
After running about a mile, I started to feel faint, glanced at my watch to see that heart rate had climbed to over 200 and switched to walking.
I was wearing a Polar H10 heart strap and the watch displayed its readout.
After I switched from running to walking, heart rate continued to climb until it reached 235 and then it started to slow. I was on the brink of fainting with my vision dimmed for less than half a minute.
The cardioversion seemed successful and my heart was in sinus rhythm in normal range afterwards.
I continued with flecainide that day and the next day for a total of four days.
But in the afternoon of the fourth day, I started to feel indescribably horrible. And on the evening of the fourth day, after I went to bed, I could hear my lungs making crackling and wheezing sounds with every breath. If I tried to take a deep breath, it felt like there was resistance as if I was having an asthma attack.
I stopped it with the last dose being the second dose of the fourth day and didn’t take any more flecainide.
Near the end of the fifth day I was feeling normal again as far as breathing goes and the sounds of wheezing and crackling in my lungs had left.
I’ve read a lot about flecainide and have learned that it has an “affinity for the lungs“ and that flecainide can cause a disease of the interstitial spaces in the lungs. That disease is called, appropriately, “interstitial lung disease.“
I’ve also read that flecainide is highly reactive, and it reacts with a very long list of supplements, other medication‘s, and therefore I think it’s just too dangerous for me to take.
Some people take flecainide and it doesn’t bother them like it bothered me.
You’re unique, I’m unique… Everybody’s different and unique. Flecainide is highly reactive to some of the things we uniquely ingest in the normal course of our lives.
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