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gemini07 
Hi people, i am currently taking atenolol and i have an appointment this week to see my cardiologist, he want's to start me on Flecinaide. I am a bit nervous about starting this new medication, i have read about some of the risks and it look's scary. Can someone please put my mind at ease?
Comments
Before I got my mini maze surgery (july9) a doctor tried to get me to use it and it did work but i stopped b/c I had stomach pains. Now after the surgery, a went to chronic a fib so the surgeon put me on amiodorone but it made me feel worse so I stopped that and decided on my own to try the flecanaide again. So far I'm not in a fib but my heartbeat is very high (124) and my blood pressure is very low about 89 over 59. The surgeon said If it doesn't go back to normal by the time my next appt. they will need to cardioconvert me. He wanted to do it on my last appt. but I said I'd rather wait. I also been on atenolol for years and it makes me so tired. Good luck and God Bless you!
macnut50
i have been on flecainide for the past 5 yrs. yes, there can be some arrythmia side effects, but these are supposedly quite rare. this drug has worked well for me, i've only had a handful of brief runs of a-fib, (lasting minutes) since starting it. my current med "cocktail" is flecainide 50 mg bid, metoprolol 50 mg bid, lisinopril 10 mg once daily, and coumadin 5 mg once daily. (coumadin because i'm post ablation)
mwinburn
Hi Gemini,
I've had AFIB for 4 years. During the first three I was not on Flecainide and the condition gradually worsened ( more frequent episodes, lasting longer). I've now been on Flecainide for 1 year and voila, no AFIB at all, thank God & flecainide. I too was nervous about going on Flecainide because of all the listed side effects. But given the number of people on it on this website alone, I think the negative effects are rare. I am on regimen simliar to mwinburn's. To wit, Flecainide 150 mg, Metoprolol - 50 mg and Lisinopril 5 mg 1X daily. I am also on coumadin, but that as you probably know is to reduce the clotting risk should I go into AFIB for over 48 hours.
Steve9