I have now been diagnosed with atrial fribullation and cardiologist believes this it what causeed my heart attack in April. Said he thinks always had but not noticed but its became more severe. I’ve had two bad episodes recently where pill in pocket bisoprolol didn’t work so they want me to take Flecainide all the time now.Does anyone else take this medication ? If so how do you get on with it please? I’ve read about several possible side affects and I’m concerned about them.
thanks
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Tadpole16
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Hi, I take Flecainide. I have been on it for almost 2 years. It was prescribed for SVT after an unsuccessful attempt at ablation. I take 200mg a day it is capped at that as I have a pacemaker. The only problem it caused when I first started taking it was with my kidney function. It dropped lower than it would normally be but then I have CKD anyway, but after a few months my kidney function went back to where it would normally be for me. Otherwise I have had no other side effects.
Hi there ...i take flecanide everyday , I started on 50mg twice but reduced it to 25mg twice and 0.75mg of bisoprolol once a day..it has worked really well for me and I don't seem to have any side effects that I notice at the moment either...I also changed my lifestyle greatly form intense excercise to moderate which I believe has also really helped .. but there are a lot of people on flecanide who it works for really well , and some it doesn't work as well...I think your best bet is to try itand see , chances are you will be just fine once your body gets used to it ..all the best....
A similar story, I had a heart attack in 2019, eventual conclusion that the previously undiagnosed and untreated Afib caused a small transient clot.
I was placed on Flecainide, 50mg - am and 100mg - late pm, as my Afib exhibits a “vagal tone” and is more like to occur, late evening and early morning.
4 years in, I can’t say, I have had any noticeable side effects to date. Initially after a few small AF episodes which corrected naturally to NSR, I have been “Afib free” for 3 years + . I attend my annual GP healthy heart clinic and so far, my blood works have been fine.
I have the option of using “emergency PiP” too. In the event of an episode, take an additional 100mg of Flecainide and 2.5mg of Bisoprolol. The idea being to push my heart back into NSR asap before needing to go to A&E. I am pleased to say, so, far, I have never had to use it.
Overall, I am pleased with the Flecainide and exercise combo, it does appear to keep me stable. The next discussion is whether to stop the daily medication and see if I can maintain NSR naturally with a PiP backup.
Hi, I take 50mg of Flecainide twice a day, am and pm. I tried to take double this at first but I became very shaky and breathless and I had a tremor in my arms and hands. The dose was lowered and now I feel well, a very slight tremor in my hands occasionally, on some days I feel tired or better described as feeling weary. I have taken this for 2 years and so far the AF has overridden the Felcainide once and I had to be Cardioverted.
I take 50mg Flecainide twice daily, been on this dose for 9 months. I was reluctant to take it initially but I have found it helps with the AF. If I do have an episode, it is short lived which I can cope with. On the downside, I feel tired and this could be a side effect. I am seeing my consultant next month and will check with him.
Hi Tadpole 🙂 I came across your post after searching for Flecainide on this site.
I was prescribed this drug a few days ago, after a spell in hospital due to frequent and prolonged episodes of PVCs (extended periods of bigeminy and trigeminy and a 10% burden rate in between).
I'd previously been on 2.5mg of bisoprolol, which had helped with the PVCs enormously. But after contracting the C virus in July, my symptoms came back, and despite increasing my bisoprolol dosage, continued to worsen.
I had my first dose (50mg) of Flecainide while in hospital and I'm glad I did, as I experienced some of the side effects (shakes, cold sweats, racing heart, shortness of breath) but then it all calmed down after an hour or so and I've not had the same reaction to any subsequent doses. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
It seems to be helping with the PVCs, the long spells of bi- and trigeminy have stopped, thank goodness, and the irratic heart rate has also stabilised. I'm hoping that this is the start of better, more stable things to come.
hello, I've been on Flecainide for many years, and as I cannot take Amirodorone it is the only anti-arrthymia I can take. It works very well, I took 100mg twice a day, also a pill in the pocket if my AF persists my cardiologists doesn't like this, so am now on maximum 150 mg twice daily. I have now put my name down for a Av node ablation, so will rely on my pacemaker, but hopefully if successful, will be weaned of Flainide. Hope this helps, good luck.
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