Anti-arhythmics for ectopics?

[CurlyPretzel]

Hi just wondering whether anyone here takes Anti-arhythmics to successfully treat their ectopics. Just had my appt with cardiologist and he thinks it is unlikely beta blockers will help in my case (to be confirmed with stress Echo and yet another ECG in a fortnight) and that the only treatment option would be Anti-arhythmics. He didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about that working either. So just wondering!

[Dee5165]

Sotalol, (from what i read) is both beta blocker and anti-arrythmia. It did not help on my Afib except to bring my BP and HR to a low rate. I reduced it to 80 mgs from 120 mgs 2 x per day and added Magnesium taurate/Glycinate, Hawthorn Berry and Wild Alaskan Fish Oil. That worked!

[CurlyPretzel in reply to Dee5165]

Thanks!

[Dee5165 in reply to CurlyPretzel]

BTW, I also read only a percentage of Magnesium is absorbed into your system and the remainder is lost in urine. Good Luck!!

[CurlyPretzel in reply to Dee5165]

Yes I read that too. I am taking magnesium. My cardiologist is quite old-school. He said "I have never heard of magnesium having any benefit for the heart".

[Dee5165 in reply to CurlyPretzel]

Most Doctors are not familiar with natural supplements. That is not their expertise, especially "old school." Pharmaceutical Salesmen bring drugs to Doctors to use on patients. Now that less expensive and natural Covid treatments have been hidden from the public, and death and side effects from vaccines hidden as well, I sincerely believe these drugs are pushed on patients for monetary reasons. I prefer to do my own research and what is best for my body. My results to date have shown so far I have not been wrong.

[CurlyPretzel in reply to Dee5165]

I did almost ask him if he had ever heard of Google and point him to Sanjay Gupta...

[dh1120]

I did. I couldn’t take beta blockers. I first took Flecainide for 8 months and I thought it was a miracle drug. But then my PACs and PVCs starting working through it and I couldn’t tolerate a higher dosage. So my EP switched me to Multaq. It worked for 6 months until they started working through that too. I just would have too many of them in a day. So I had an ablation 8 weeks ago and have been off of all meds.

[CurlyPretzel in reply to dh1120]

Thank you that's really useful to know and interesting. I have been told I don't have enough for an ablation to be on the cards (early days anyway - only had them six weeks). 4% is not enough for them to worry about I guess. But it is definitely having a detrimental impact on my life. Anyway, you have given me hope that if he does suggest them it may help. I have a stress Echo on Friday to try to identify where the problem is so he can pick the correct course of treatment.

[dh1120 in reply to CurlyPretzel]

I would definitely try them if they suggest them. I would have anywhere from 8000-10,000 PACs in 24hrs not counting the PVCs. There were other medications but he said for my age(47) with a healthy heart they had too many harsh side effects. I am still healing from my ablation but the episodes I do have are tolerable. I have no regrets doing either.

[CurlyPretzel in reply to dh1120]

Yes I definitely will. I have almost, but not quite, forgotten what it's like to feel normal. I have about one day a week where I get a few hours off from the blasted juddering and thumping and I feel like a new person.

[dh1120 in reply to CurlyPretzel]

I feel your pain, I truly do. I pray you get the relief you need.

[Visigoth]

I had dreadful ectopics which were more debilitating than my paroxysmal A fib but since I’ve been on amiodarone they’ve pretty much gone away and I feel well again!

[CurlyPretzel in reply to Visigoth]

Oh wow that's great to hear. Have just had confirmation from stress Echo that my ectopics go away when my heart rate goes up so I am pretty sure we won't be going the beta blocker route.

[Visigoth in reply to CurlyPretzel]

That’s good to know and great that you can exercise quite happily! A lot of people have great success with breathing techniques to get their ectopics to go away and I’m sure there’ll be others on this forum who can advise you better than I can. There’s also a video on YouTube by Dr Sanjay Gupta of York Cardiology - in fact he’s done a lot of videos on ectopics.

[CurlyPretzel in reply to Visigoth]

Thanks yes I have watched most of his videos. The breathing thing helps a little sometimes. Cardiologist was a bit confused why I feel like my ectopics get worse when I am stressed but not when I exercise. So if I feel the stress building the breathing helps but most of the time they happen most when I am at rest and I don't find it helps so much then

[Kellylou1712 in reply to CurlyPretzel]

Hi CurlyPretzel, I am exactly the same as you, I suffer from PVCs and I actually have these occur in bigeminy a few times a day for about 10-15 seconds at a time. They can wake me from sleep and make it impossible for me to go back to sleep. My cardiologist has said that I have a sinus arrhythmia meaning my heart rate speeds up when I breathe in and slows down when I breathe out - when it slows down on the breath out my hearts secondary pacemaker kicks in to say 'Is this okay? Should we be slowing like this?' and chucks out an ectopic beat. So like you I struggle because beta blockers for me make them worse. I feel that unless the burden of them worsens to tens of thousands I really have no escape from them. I can't constantly exercise or keep my heart rate escalated - I'm 29 and the thought of living like this for many more years to come is a little daunting I can't lie - I feel every single one.

[ETHEL103]

Me too.They're awful.