Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.

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Heart, Blood & Circulation
/ Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Antiarhythmic drugs

ohioafib
ohioafib
If you recall from my first post last week I had PAF starting early 2014 with episodes every few weeks, slowly increasing to having them almost every day in early January 2015. Regular doctor doubled my metoprolol to 50 mg twice a day and I still had 3 episodes the next week. Then I got sick on a Saturday (food poisoning and a cold), and on Tuesday I went into an AFIB episode that instead of ending as usual continued on past the 48 hour window. Cardiologist put me Eliquis and said after 4 weeks we'd cardiovert me using meds and if that didn't work, they'd shock it back to normal.

Plot twist...my heart went back into normal rhythm this past Saturday night about 12 days after the Afib started. I saw the cardiologist yesterday and an EKG confirmed I was not in Afib. He also said that the stress test I had the prior week was okay. He said we could now try the antirhythmic drugs any time instead of waiting the 28 days.

I told him I'd rather wait until March like we were going to anyways and I'd monitor the afib and see how frequently it occurs in February. I'm on Eliquis anyways so if I'm in Afib again in March we can do the cardioversion as planned. He agreed to that plan.

I guess I'm not looking forward to trying these antiarhytmic drugs if I don't need to. Does anyone have any thoughts on my decision? I've heard people say the side effects are worse than being in Afib itself, although I'm sure that varies from case to case. And once I start taking them I"m probably not going to get off of them. So I didn't see what waiting a month could hurt. With the 50 mg of metoprolol 2x a day I can barely tell when I am in Afib, so it's not unbearable. I can't see a downside to waiting but I'm fairly new to this.

Meanwhile my heart is still beating fine. It's been awhile since I went 3.5+ days without any Afib, so I'm kind of mystified. I'm trying to figure out what might have changed....the doubling of the metoprolol took a while to kick in? Dropping the lisiniprol after the doubling of the metoprolol did someting? I've taken half a xanax every night to relax and that did something? The food poisoning and cold combination did something to my body that took 12 days to recover from and now I'm back on my normal a few times a week afib? I lost about 10 pounds between the sickness and being much stricter on my diet? Was it something I haven't eaten this week? A combination of everything?
marikay234
marikay234
Your decision is not wrong....seems very reasonable.
I waited until my episodes were becoming more and more frequent, metoprolol had been upped and upped to 200mg a day and I was fatigued from that, afib pretty much took over my life.
I was afraid of antiarrythmics and also didn't much like the idea of ablation, but I was ready to try anything. Found an EP and he suggested flecainide first. I was expecting it to fail and instead it gave me back my life. I take 75mg of flecainide twice a day. No side effects, was able to cut metoprolol dose in half and feel much better. And best of all afib went from an episode every 2-3 days to 2-3 in the first year on flec. Since then, no episodes in over 2 years. I wish I hadn't waited so long.....but still I had to be ready. I think you will know when you are ready.
acdcfan
acdcfan
ive been on them for couple years .for the most part worked very well. i think most the time afib comes from stress at least in my case i know if do have afib it converts lot easier now taking the pills . didnt have any problems with them metoprolal the one just drags me down and you seem fine on that . but everyone is differrent
Hwkmn
Hwkmn
Ohio, its a tough decision and one that most with AF struggle with. To go on standing meds or have a PIP on hand. Most doctors will want you on standing meds with anti arrhythmias. If you tolerate it well, yes, youre body will not want to give it up easily. I wont tell you what to do, but I was faced with the same dilemma. For me it was easy because Metop tho easy to tolerate, never kept me in NSR. When I was put on an increased dose of Flecainide 200mg, I wont say it didnt work, but I did not tolerate it well.I had the same healthy fear you now have, my body would get addicted to it. I chose to use as a PIP, and have used once with quick success. If your heart is healthy with only 1 AF episodes, and you dont like meds, your decision wont be met with alot of resistance. No doubt the fear of this condition exasperates it and increases our anxiety. You can always go back to standing meds, no shortage of those around.
As for sickness and diet causing AF, every episode Ive had was preceded by illness or overindulgence.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have been taking Sotalol for a couple of years and my a-fib episodes have been sporadic. Recently I had a tooth extraction with local anesthesia and antibiotics which really upset my stomach.One week later episodes became more frequent and afterwards I felt weak and dizzy. All came to peak during the last snowstorm while visiting friends in CT. After most of the night in a-fib I nearly blacked out and we made the decision to go to a local EMC center. My heart rate was in the low thirties and I was shipped to hospital. Sotalol was not working and I am now taking Dofetilide (Tikosyn). I was discharged after 4 nights. My heart rate jumped 20 beats and is steady. I think I had luck with me not being on Cape Cod (Phone connections to Cape were out) I could not even get in touch with my doctor. Here I was treated by top cardiologists in a well known teaching hospital. I will see the EP tomorrow and find out how this is working. My other options are pacemaker or last resort ablation. The EP seems to be very experienced. Still have much anxiety and concern about finding a new home and selling the old one. First things first, cannot stop the snow falling but looks like things will fall in place. Greetings Marya
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