Strange Headaches

[Fight-the-good-fight]

Hi there AF warriors,

Once again I call upon your learned experience in relation to drugs prescribed for AF.

My prescription is as follows:

2 x 60mg Diltiazem daily

2 x 150mg Dabigatran daily

1 x 20mg Atorvastatin daily

Normally no side effects with any of the above.

50 to 100mg Flecainide as a PIP

I experienced an PAF episode at 5.00 am this morning, HR was 102 (not too high) I took 50mg of Flecainide, thankfully HR reduced and NSR resumed within 1 hour.

This is my 3rd Flecainide, last 2 no side effects.

However, all day I have felt weird. Whenever I touch my scalp it feels tender as though my hair hurts?

I have previously had such sensations but they have not lasted as long as this.

I am wondering if the combination of medication is causing nerve endings to be sensitive? Plus I feel drowsy.

Can AF play havoc with your sinuses?

It is not a pleasant sensation; I am reluctant to take a paracetamol as this will no doubt increase the drowsiness.

My BP is fine 116/76 HR 64. Drinking lots of water, walking in the fresh air, eating well.

Thank you. ☺️

[JaneFinn]

Hi, love your name, by the way!

Sorry I can’t offer any thoughts on the medication as I’m on different beta blocker and anticoagulant, and I can’t use flecainide, but as you’ve used them all together before, and this hasn’t happened before, I’d have thought it might be unlikely to be the cause? Hopefully someone on here will chip in, but also, might be worth asking a pharmacist about potential effects?

It occurred to me that that sensitive scalp, as though my hair hurts, is something I get that has been diagnosed as migraine. There’s no headache as such, but it’s often in conjunction with a weird displaced kind of feeling, sudden tiredness and sometimes a bit muzzy. Or it can be just cranial tension that leads to the nerve-ending painful scalp thing. I do find that after an AF event I have been extra tense and this can have an effect on my neck and head afterwards.

But of course there may be other causes too of the weirdness you’re feeling (is it still there?) and I think that when we have new symptoms it’s always a good idea to check it out with someone medical?

Take care - and do let us know. Jx

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to JaneFinn]

Thanks for your response Jayne.

That sort of ties in with my symptoms, no real headache to speak of, but a painful scalp when touched and not always in the same place. My head feels fuzzy and my face is a tad warm. Plus, I feel tired.

My temperature is normal. For the last hour I have been sitting with a covered ice pack on the back of my neck. My BP is elevated, which I attribute to stress and anxiety. HR is 63.

I will not take any further BP readings this evening.

I have never experienced migraines, I always assumed flashing lights and bumping sore head.

As I alluded to, I have suffered these symptoms before, but not to the extent I have today. Even more confusing and disappointing because Flecainide halted PAF within an hour which is a first.

I may take a paracetamol before bed. If my symptoms persist I will contact my doc.

I wonder if migraine can be a symptom of AF?

[secondtry]

I doubt it is the Flecainide but that said when I started taking it daily many years ago for the first 3 months I felt 'weird' - nothing specific. You don't say how many AF episodes you are getting, my cardiologist preferred daily Flec to my preference PIP when I was getting 2 episodes per week.

[Bagrat]

I have had this sensation. The only med we have in common is flecainide, which I take every day. I've never tied it to medication but used to get migraines with banging head and nausea till the menopause when the actual headache bit stopped. I did still get episodes of feeling spaced out and very nauseous, and still do occasionally along with acute fatigue.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

I would take Avorastin down to 10mg . It works as well as 20mg.

Statins can do some weird things to you. Are they necessary?

If your "without food" cholesterol test is 5 and your god cholesterol is 1.5. Your cholesterol is 3.5 and great. Too low a cholester will affect nerve endings.

Another is B12. Do get your level. As we age some like me get into B12 deficiency. Take under tongue like Solgar 1000ug 100 nuggets sublingual. I take 3-5 a week only. 1 x day.

At say 65 you should have a level of 700-800.

Check it out. We all need cholestorol to live.'

cheri JOY. 75. (NZ)

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi Joy,

I have been prescribed Atorvastatin because I have small calcific plaque with mild stenosis. Statins prescribed to halt progression…

In the UK a lot of health practitioners have started to prescribe statins to over 65’s as a preventative measure as most people have age related calcific plaque.

My actual blood cholesterol levels are fine.

I have a B12 injection every 12 weeks.

I have been taking statins for about 6 weeks.

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to Fight-the-good-fight]

Hi there you there

I just thought that stains can cause problems as they change the flora in your stomach.

As I take Thyroxin I can not take large amount of statin. Post ca thyroidectomy.

My Pharmacy Chemist agrees with me that statins are unnecessary.

My heart specialist wanted my cholesterol at 4. It's about 5 so I don't take them.

Unfortunately for clinics it is a money making earning side of medical.

Do some research with others and medical Pharmacists, mine studies natural therapy as well. Her husband has AF through sleep apnea.

Whilst anti-co.agulant is very important statins are a choice.

You need to stop statins when taking the anti-viral COVID treatment. And it interferes with thyroxin.

Reading the list of your meds I thought the statin would be a more likely culprit to try to eleviate your head issue.

Meachaches and migraines are horrid. I got sinus problems earlier in my life but when I spent some time in dry humidity and lost it!

No trouble with the low dose 120mg Diltiazem.

Take care - it's your choice.

cheri JOY

[Singwell]

From what you've described - rhe flushed face, skin sensitivity and heat, I'd say Diltiazem is the culprit. You sometimes get a stronger reaction with it post AF because our BP is all over the place during an episode, and then usually drops. Look up the side effects of Diltiazem. I definitely used to get the flushing and heat rushes. Sometimes felt a bit like my skin was crawling. Not severe, but there. That said, you're on a low dose but it'll be a modified release if you're in the UK and the modified or prolonged release have a build up to their full action potential. And that's sometimes when you feel the effects. What time did you take your Diltiazem in relation to the start and finish of your AF episode? Your BP sounds OK - is it normall?. Just wondering why you're on the Diltiazem. Might be worth looking into that.

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to Singwell]

Thank you for your response Singwell.

Previously, I was taking 60mg Diltiazem daily.

When it comes to my BP I have a very sensitive reaction component. Whenever I enter any medical facilitiy, even the pharmacy, my BP elevates as high as 180/104, even higher in hospital.

It doesn’t reduce until I have been home for a couple of hours.

I have taken my own BP monitor along to compare readings, they are the same. So this confirms my monitor is ok.

This morning my BP was 117/77 (normal).

I am currently home monitoring BP for a week then I will present my results to my GP.

The other reason I am taking Dilt is to lower my HR. I am intolerant to Beta Blockers.

As of this week medics increased my Diltiazem to 120mg per day so maybe this is the reason for the strange reaction.

The morning of my AF episode I took 50mg Flecainide as a PIP, I reverted back to NSR within an hour. Three hours later I took my usual morning 60mg dose of Dilt, thereafter 60mg in the evening.

In addition, 20mg of Atorvastatin was prescribed last month (to halt progression of, mild calcific plaque) Blood cholesterol is fine.

Ever since my PAF episode on Wednesday, I have experienced this weird sensation of flushing, scalp sore to touch, even running my fingers through my hair.

Yes, uk based so Dilt modified release.

As a rule, I don’t like taking meds, but understand the reasons why.

Cheers.