flecainide as pill in pocket.

[chickenmouse]

just an update on the post i sent yesterday, i had a call from cardiologist today after asking his secretary if he could possibly call me and he said to increase the bisoprolol first to 5mg in mornings then usual dose in evening so i will see how i get on with it and he said if it does not help then to take the extra flecainide, i dont really understand why he did not say this in first place but never mind at least i can see what happens, also he will send another letter to GP to monitor me . Thank you everyone for replying to me. xx

[secondtry]

May help if you conclude that with AF medics are guessing quite alot....that is educated guesswork! Reason being AF is v individual in contrast to a broken leg, where treatment can be pretty simple and consistent.

eg Over 12 yrs I have concluded my Lone PAF is vagally mediated from the brain to the heart and optimistically I am thinking if the brain can trigger it the brain can also stop it. So I am working on solutions but in the interim still taking Flecainide.

[Pommerania78 in reply to secondtry]

Specifically what are the solutions that you are adopting? Thanks.

[secondtry in reply to Pommerania78]

Nothing to report yet, but will advise here if anything positive develops.

[Tyson4ever in reply to secondtry]

let me know when you've found any 😁

[secondtry in reply to Tyson4ever]

Promise me you won't hold your breath!!

[Teresa156]

Hi Chickenmouse,

I totally agree with secondtry. Your cardiologist is applying guesswork here. He tells you one thing and is now going against that. When you are in sinus rythm, what is your normal resting heart rate? What is your normal blood pressure when you are in sinus rythm too, do you remember? The important thing to remember about bisoprolol is that it’s a rate control drug so, yes it will bring down your HR, but if you go back into rythm your resting HR will go much lower too. Do by all means increase your bisoprolol as if still in AF, you need to bring the HR down, as you can’t go against what he’s advised now.

I think you really need to get the advice of an Electrophysiologist still if you can, as they specialise in arrythmia. 50 mg fleconaide as a PIP is quite a small dose too, which works for some people. It maybe that perhaps you need purely a higher dose as a PIP, which they can advise on or any other possible solutions, rather than, I’m sorry to say, guesswork from afar.

Did you take that extra fleconaide in the end ?

[chickenmouse in reply to Teresa156]

Hi Teresa , my resting heart rate is usually 65 i have normal blood pressure ( thank goodness ) i rang the secretary of my cardiologist and asked if he could ring me which he did and he has now told me to increase the bisopropolol to 5mg in morning and stay on 3.75 for evening and if that does not help then to take the extra flecainide and he said he will send a report to my doctor again to monitor me so i will try the extra bisopropolol i started it yesterday, my rate has been fine all day but now it has gone up and fluctuates from 109-123 i can cope with that and am hoping it will go down again later on , no i have not taken the extra fleconaide yet but if i dont have much change in rate in evening then i will, i think he wants me to try the bisopropolol first . Its all very confusing because when i was diagnosed with A Fib 4 years ago at Halifax hospital they said that there was not any other tablet i could have or did not say i could increase either of the tablets just said if if kept getting fast beats it was ablate and pace to consider, 2 years later i moved house and hospital is now Burnley and cardiologist here is the one who has said to increase tablets and said to have an ablation , obviously different opinions.

[Teresa156 in reply to chickenmouse]

An ablation may be the way forward for you….it is worth progressing that if you want to. All the best.

[Qualipop in reply to chickenmouse]

I'm Burnley too; how long do you have t o wait to see any one? I thought alll cardio was BLackburn. That's where I wsa taken last time I had a bad arrhythmia. Been waiting now 18 onths for my referral to be actioned. Do they have an electrophysiologist? I'm just at teh start of the journey; getting an ecg today.

[Robv1954]

Flecainide as needed works for me. I have 100mg and 50mg tablets. I can take either to quiet things down. Good luck. BTW, I have been taking Flecainide for over 30 years.

[M-Lumino in reply to Robv1954]

That's really interesting to hear you have been taking flecanide for so long. I guess that is as pill in pocket? With or without a beta blocker? Thank you.

[chickenmouse in reply to Robv1954]

Thank you

[cloudday]

It is my understanding that bisoprolol is used to treat hypertension/heart failure/chest pain caused by angina. I do not have any experience with flecainide as PIP. When I started my journey with AFib I was prescribed metoprolol/flecainide. At the time both medications did not work for me. Metoprolol raised my blood pressure and flecainide caused my heart to beat very, very high. Made an appointment with the NP who got mad at me for stopping both meds on my own and told me not to come back until I had the results of sleep apnea/thyroid tests. I had both tests done but never went back to the electrophysiologist and his NP. Got a new doctor who put on amiodarone while waiting approval from the insurance for the cardiac ablation. I had the ablation which practically failed. For a few months I took amiodarone at 100 mg 2xdaily. It worked really well but when I was examined by my ophthalmologist, he said to talk to the cardiologist because it was hurting my eyes. So, I did, and the cardiologist said that it could be causing damage on other parts of my body. So, he prescribed metoprolol/flecainide at a low dosage. Then my blood pressure went low (I was taking Valsartan). I asked the doctor to take me off metoprolol. He did not want me to stop taking it. After a few months I became a wreck. I felt weak, tired, out of breath. So, I stopped it on my own recognizance. I continued with the Flecainide which to my surprise was controlling my Afib pretty well which to me it meant the ablation had done some good. But I was always so tired that I had to seek the help of Dr. Randall K Wolf to have the WMM. I had it done. I am still recuperating from it, and I am on the last week to stop taking flecainide. Before leaving the hospital, I was off Eliquis/Valsartan. My Hypertension is doing really well. I do not miss the tedious Eliquis that besides been so expensive (USA) it made me feel tired and was making me lose my hair. So, I am sorry for not being able to help you on Flecainide as PIP.

Cloudday