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.
Before being hospitalized for AF, I was having palpitations (no doubt AF) for episodes no longer than one hour, usually about once a day. As soon as I was hospitalized and put on antiarrhythmic drugs, I was in AF about 50% of the time. After trying Flecainide (with no success) I ended up on Tikosyn, and now I have episodes of AF off and on throughout the day and night. I know this sounds like a dumb question, but can rhythm control drugs ever increase the frequency of AF? Honestly, I was doing much better before taking them.
I was given Rhythmol for rhythm control and it made the incidents of afib more frequent and more symptomatic. I was given Digoxin and Metoprolol to slow the heart rate. The Digoxin caused me to have dizzy spells and a pounding heart rate and severe headaches. The Metoprolol also caused more frequent afib incidents as well as insomnia and depression. My primary care doctor said the Metoprolol could not cause an increase in afib incidents, but my EP said it definately can in some people, although it works great for rate control in most people.