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

Failing Flec?

DBinIL
DBinIL
I started Flecainide (50 mg twice a day) in February in this year. It has worked wonderfully......I've had no side effects, no PAC's, and had begun to have more confidence and less anxiety. In the last two weeks, I've had a mild 5 hour episode that converted on it's own and a 30 second episode that converted with a strong cough. Both of these episodes were much milder than before and lasted a much shorter time.

I'm so afraid the Flecainide is failing now. I am thankful that the episodes are shorter than ever before, but I just want them to stay away completely.

For those of you that have taken Flecainide and failed with it, is this how it starts?
cindy7150
cindy7150
I'm not saying I've failed, but your story is very similar to mine. I also started flecainide in Feb and had 1 short, 1 1/2 event of Afib in August. I too feared failure, but I've been fine since. Another member of this support group answered me when I posted as you have, saying she's had quite a bit of success with 2 short episodes her first year on flecainide. Hopefully she will respond. I still have faith in the drug as does my cardiologist.
DBinIL
DBinIL
Thanks so much for your encouraging words! Let's hope that's the way it is! I know no one else with this condition, and it truly helps me to read this forum and know I'm not alone. I appreciate your post!

Anyone else.....please chime in! I'd love to hear from you!!
duder
duder
When I first started flecainide, it worked great for the first few weeks (at 50mg), then I started to have breakthroughs. They bumped the dose up to 100mg and that took care of things. I took 100mg all the way up to my second ablation, and afterwards dropped back down to 50mg. Now I'm off it completely, but I was so glad to have Flecainide. It kept me in NSR when nothing else would.

If you don't have any of the common flec side effects, ask your EP about possibly increasing your dose. Everyone's different, of course, but the increased dose worked for me.
McHale
McHale
sad fact is most AAR medications will either not work or eventually fail for most. Amnio is the only one that works but the toxicity will eventually kill you. Sorry but that the way it is with this insidious disease.

McHale
Hwkmn
Hwkmn
Damned if you do. Ive self converted with Flec as a PIP, thankfully, but as a standing dose, that and Metoprolol never kept me in NSR.
McHale is correct, most meds fail this condition for the simple fact that our bodies naturally reject a foreign or opposite healing, the meaning of "allopathic".
keepumping
keepumping
I worked up to 300 mgs per day and when that failed I went with rate control for a while. Did a cryo that failed, well I guess it did not totally fail as my heart rate in afib did come down below 120 most of the time and I am only in afib every 3 days for 12-24 hours, which is better than being in afib most of the time. You have to take what you can get.
McHale
McHale
I got ablated after I stroked out after Flec failed me.
Natale did my ablation, only man I really wanted to touch my heart.
AFIB free now 2.5 years

McHale
albNaNa
albNaNa
I'm on Flecainide after getting a pacemaker Nov 21, 2014. I had been living with AFib for a while but never told anyone I was having weird episodes. Plus had no health insurance. I've been on Flecainide, Metoprolol, and Eliquis now since Jan 2015. Luckily no problems even with all my stress. Today is my 52nd birthday so just happy to still be alive.
DavidNRockies
DavidNRockies
Happy Birthday, then !!