forgot to add..he is an interventional cardiologist..not sure what that means?

He probably wants his own tests done so he can decide the appropriate treatment. PIP is good if you are seldom in afib. You don't need to take a bunch of drugs to complicate the situation. An interventional cardiologist is a cardiologist that uses catheters to diagnose and treat. petey

Shanny, this sounds Great to me. I am an advocate for PIP for paraxysmal AF!

May NSR be on your calendar for another 3+ years!!!

Namaste, Carol

The approach your cardiologist prescribed is the same one my cardiologist and ep prescribed. My CHA2DS2-VASc is 1 and I have paroxysmal AF.

My cardiologist did say that when I was 65 I would be placed on anticoagulants.

opsyn

An interventional cardiologist is not the same thing as an EP.
EPs specialize in rhythm disorders...interventional cardiologists do cardiac caths and stents etc. They are specialists in the plumbing of your heart.
I think he gave you very solid reasonable advice. If you dont feel like he is helping you get the opinion of an EP.

Good to hear you have a new Dr! Keep asking questions and be sure to also check your Dr.'s credentials. Stress test and the other stuff he's doing sounds great!! :)

thank you so much everyone, i feel better now i have got some advice from you...i tend not to trust drs too much so i thought who are the best people to ask, the people who live with this...

im very happy to be coming off the flecanide, perhaps one day i will have to take it on a daily basis but at the moment i am happy with the PIP approach....

hope we all stay well...best wishes shanny

I would agree with marikay that I would suggest finding an EP. They are so specialized in what they do.

None of my docs ever suggested PIP, I learned about it from this forum like Carol told me. Seems like an excellent way to go, don't have to take those antiarrhythmics every day. Did he suggest it or did you bring it up? I wish I had known about this option before.

Yep Interventional Cardiologist do invasive procedures as their specialty.....but not necessairily ablations.
For the first couple of years after I had my first documented episode I did PIP and rarely needed it , then I had a couple ( 3 actually ) episodes in a shorter period of time and started the Flecainide twice a day as a routine and it has worked like a charm for me as a daily med and also as a PIP when I need it. I honestly believe that in your situation and in mine and in a lot of ours you and your dr can play around a little with what works for you since we dont have extended episodes and lengthy ones. You will get comfortable with all this soon Shanny , I can tell you are already doing better :)
jan

hi heart 2222, i have had the PIP regime in place since my first attack back in 2009...this time after my big AF episode the dr suggested that i stay on flecanide full time...

since i have only ever had 2 really big episodes i felt that was a bit of overkill and asked the new cardiologist could i go back to the PIP approach...he said so long as i stay on the aspirin for blood thinning he was happy for me to try this...

and jan thank u..im glad i sound better..im all honesty i still struggle with this..i feel like ive gone back about 3 years to the terror i felt with the first attack...but i know with time i will heal emotionally again..and i just have to accept that this is an issue that unfortunately probably will progress...

hopefully though not for a long long time....big hugs everyone...shanny

FWIW: It's pretty interesting that in my multiple ER experiences over the last few years (on several occasions) whenever I mentioned "flecanide" I received varying responses that ranged from:

"What, never heard of it."

to

"Boy I haven't heard of that in a long time."

to

"Your Cardio/EP, is using some old school stuff here, we have some better med.s we use now."

Lol. True stories.

:)

Did they mention what the better meds are, Thomas?

Certainly doesn't instill confidence in your EP after comments like that in the ER, Thomas!

Personally....I trust and feel safer with the old school meds. Seen too many new meds that didn't work out so well.

" Personally....I trust and feel safer with the old school meds. Seen too many new meds that didn't work out so well. "

Right on Marikay. While all drugs need to be FDA approved to be somewhat safe the real test is 10 years or longer in actual use by tens of thousands of different people. Then you know what the real deal is. Rick