HI Shanny,
When I started on Flecainide, I had an episode of afib( 75 mgs bid). The EP then added metoprolol (50 mgs qd) to the mix and no more problems. Flecainide has been keeping me mostly afib free for about 6 years. Good luck.

Hi Shanny , In step all of the flecainide peeps :) I am thinking Marikay should be along anytime. I have been on Flecainide for nearly 8 years, 50mg twice a day and an extra PIP dose for episodes but I can count on one hand the times I have needed to use that PIP dose , I have never had a single side effect with this med I will however tell you that when I started to take it, it took me 2 days of staring at before I could swallow one, several weeks of pulse taking obsession and *hearing and feeling* heartbeats I didnt like, did I really or was I just nervous ????? This has been an awesome drug for me and for some of my best buddies on the afib thread , I wish you the same luck and response I had and I would love to tell you to relax and have faith but I know its easy for me to say.......hoping you will Rock NSR in 2014 as I have done for a very long time !!!! jan

Hi Shanny,

Like you I so didn't want to go on flecainade! My specialist put me on 100mg slow release just over a year ago (well he prescribed it 2 years ago, but it took me a year to get the courage to start)

A day or two after taking it I went for a gentle walk with a friend and felt so weak I had to stop and sit down, my husband picked me up as I didn't think I could make it back. I feel scared, but went with it. I recall my heart very light beating and fast. It took an few days to come right and I had a kind of spacey feeling on and off for a long time, but that could have been an unrelated middle ear thing, I don't know.

Soon after taking it I noticed my episodes of rapid heart beat (I would wake in the night with it going 130 or so bpm) dropped to around 90-100bpm and my resting heart rate dropped from around 80 to around 60. I felt a lot calmer too.

Good luck with getting used to flecainide. If you are worried I would suggest you ask your specialist to put a halter monitor on you for 48 hours so you get an idea of what is really happening.

If they are the ectopic beats (I had those a lot too in the past) I managed to stop those (really!) I was also getting them a lot and felt fearful at every beat. I'd got so anxious about it that as I was trying to get to sleep I'd wake up falling with a huge fright. One night that happened to me about 20 times in a row so I consulted Dr Google and found some deep breathing exercises an Australian guy had used to beat his ectopic clusters. I can't remember them no, but I can let you know that they really did go away after I had done the exercises for a few days. Something about filling the diaphragm fully and not hunching so much.

Good luck - it's not an easy time, getting used to the mere idea of having a heart condition!

thank you everyone for your replies...still experiencing the beats but i think like a few of you have said that I'm being hyper vigilant to my heart....having really good hours in the day and then some bad ones..hopefully flecanide will work for me like it has for others...happy new year to everyone, i hope and pray that it is an awesome year for everyone...xx

Hi Shanny,
Jan and I have very similar afib experiences.
I have been taking 75mg twice a day for almost 3 years and I have been in NSR 99% of that time.
I do recall that when I first started flecainide I noticed alot of erratic beats as I got close to the time my next dose was due. I think this went on for a couple weeks so I think it may take awhile for things to stabilize. I do try to take my doses very consistently 12 hours apart. I have not noticed any side effects with it so far.

Hi Shanny,

My EP told me that Flecainide would make the afib WORSE if someone has afib and flutter (like me). That was about one month ago when I saw him and we discussed the drug option for my afib. My one week halter monitor showed that I had flutter and the afib.

So, you might want to talk to your EP and make sure that you do NOT have flutter in addition to afib.

Wish you best of luck.

Scott

I had afib with flutter, and took Flecainide for several years with no increase in afib.
I have since had an ablation, about two years ago, and thank God I have been afib free so far.

Hi Kasandra,

What you are saying is very interesting since my EP was telling me in technical terms why Flecainide can make flutter worse and send a person to ER as a result.

May be the result is different in different people and you were a lucky one.

I am very happy for you that you are afib free after your ablation. That is great.

Happy New Year,
Scott

Happy New Year Scott and everyone.
I still get a benign palpitation, so I am on a small dose of Sotalol which makes me very tired. But cannot stand the feeling of the palp. :)

Sotalol is what I am taking now since my EP did not really address my flutter during this ablation. He is hoping my atria gets smaller after a few months by itself and as a result my flutter goes away. We shall see :-)

Have a great weekend,
Scott

I pray that will happen too Scott. Have a nice weekend and I hope you will post soon your flutter is gone. :)
Sandy.

Kasandra,

Thanks very much. For now, I am in NSR. However, 2 days after my ablation, I went into a persistent flutter for which I went to ER. They had to cardio version me to get me out of it. Then, they put me on Sotalol so it doesn't happen again :-) So far so good. We shall see.

Thanks again for your well wishes.

Scott

Flecainide has potential to cause a serious arrhythmia due to QT prolongation. It is probably a good idea to get an EKG to rule out any complications. The prescribing doctor should be made aware of this.
Good luck and i hope you feel better soon!

I dont think anyone gets on Flecainide without a stress test and an echo or a stress echo cause the biggest criteria for taking Flecainide successfully is that you have a structurally healthy heart with good cardiac output and normal sized chambers, at least that was my experience . I do EKG's fairly frequently to check and send to my heart guy but I really dont know why since I know much better than an EKG if I am in sinus or not :) Happy Rhythm to all of us in the coming year and maybe some ADVANCES in treatment including that elusive antidote for the new blood thinners !
jan

Hi Aronia, Jan (The Flecainide Girl),

Thanks very much for clearing the cloud around the conditions for taking the Flecainide. Now, it all makes sense :-)

Happy rhythm and New Year to all,
Scott