6 months on imbruvica. Irregular heart beat

[Antiquer]

Hello. New to this site. Hope to get to know all of you. Have had cll for 6 years. Started treating 6 months ago with imbruvica. Last 10 days irregular heart beat. I see Dr. Onwednesday. Expect atrial fib. Have you had it? How was it treated. No heart issues before. Eager to hear your experiences.

[cajunjeff]

I do not have afib, but know a great deal about it from helping manage it for my dad.

The first line of defense is pharmaceutical. There are two main types of drugs that control afib, one type controls rate and the other rythym. Which one you might take depends on the preference of your cardiologist. It is important to keep it under control because the longer someone stays in afib, the harder it is to control.

The next line of therapy is ablation therapy. Basically this involves a procedure where the doctor uses a heating instrument to burn and interrupt electrical pathways around the heart to stop afib. It’s not as invasive a procedure as it sounds and has the advantage of controlling afib without meds.

My dad managed his afib quite well after his ablation, and for many years before that with meds.

Afib is clearly a risk factor for ibrutinib, moreso for anyone with preexisting heart problems. Acalabrutinib supposedly confers all the benefits of ibrutinib with less risk of afib.

If you do have afib it would be wise to try to have your cardiologist consult with your Cll doctor to see if you can continue on ibrutinib and manage your afib or consider switching therapy. Like a lot of illnesses, afib is variable in how serious it is and how it progresses. Lots of people do well managing it long term.

[quizzical]

I've been on Ibrutinib/imbruvica for 30 months on the Flair trial and have developed an irregular heartbeat. But it's not afib, just an ectopic heartbeat and apparently nothing to worry about. Sometimes I'm aware of it but mostly it's no problem. Hope you get on ok.

[Antiquer in reply to quizzical]

Thank you. Will know more in a few days.

[duffymcgrif]

Same thing here. Starting on 3rd. year and love the test results. White cell count went from 197k to 14k. It seems that treating "AFIB" is now the "new thing". I don't mention it anymore and, like all other side affects with this med, hope it will eventually go away. I "Am Not" having them cut a piece of my heart out because of Afib. Good Luck.