Sotalol - Does it work for you ?

Hi,

After 2 RF Ablations over the past 3 years the last one 6 months ago I am in tachycardia / flutter. Two cardio versions kept me out for a month each time. EP wants me to spend three days in hospital this weekend while taking Sotalol hoping that that it will keep me out of tach/flutter.
Any feedback and personal experiences with this drug will be helpful.

Thanks,
Tony

I have a friend who is is useful for her. I recently asked my EP why we never tried it as I was put on dofetilide (and spent 3 days in hospital getting on it)... He said b/c it has a bit of a beta blocker in it and I don't do well with those. My friend was never put in the hospital to try it. With Solatol it is recommended but not required- I think it is smart to do hospital though. BUT- have you tried any other med?? Flecanide? many others ...

Hi Tony,

I had my first ablation 2 weeks ago. I was out of afib for 4 days and then back into afib. They changed my medication from metropolol to Sotalol first for 120 mg am and pm. I was not put in the hospital, but I had to get an ekg 3days in a row after my first dose.

I took my first dose Wed the 4th at 7:00 am. Still in afib 2 hours later at the ekg. Then 4:30 pm with my Kardia apt I saw that I was back to normal in 50's. I have been in 50's HB ever since. So for me it worked to take me out of afib.

The problem is that it saps my energy. I just want to sleep and haven't taken a walk or even gone outside. Friday the 6th, the nurse lowered by dosage to 60 mg am and pm. (I have a pill cutter.) I m still in normal HB. My heart rate and blood pressure have not changed with the lower dose. But I still feel wiped out.

I am told to stay on lower dose for a month until the heart heals from the ablation and can hopefully stay normal by itself.

In sum sotalol worked to bring back to normal, but creates exhaustion and weakness for me.

As Carey said - Sotalol is the culprit.

I don't know about Flecanide? Does anyone have experience with this drug? is it a beta blocker too?

Many blessings,

Rattana :+)

Sotolol didn’t affect me and I’m overly sensitive. I was three days in the hospital for observation while starting the drug. It worked for me —while I am currently on multaq and getting 160s episodes every 8 days now.

Hi and thanks for the responses.

I do tolerate Beta Blockers pretty well, not too much blah from them.
Currently on 25mg 2x Metoprolol, Eliquis 5mg 2x
Dr. said to stay away from Flecainide due to some artery blockage I have.
Cursed with a plumbing and electrical problem :-(

I assume if it works it will not work for ever and a trip to Austin is in order.

On a side note Dr. Natale is doing a trial for Pulsed Field Ablations but only if it is a first ablation.
Too bad as I would really rather go with what seems to be the same results with less burning/scarring.

Tony

Quote
rattana
Hi Tony,

I had my first ablation 2 weeks ago. I was out of afib for 4 days and then back into afib. They changed my medication from metropolol to Sotalol first for 120 mg am and pm. I was not put in the hospital, but I had to get an ekg 3days in a row after my first dose.

I took my first dose Wed the 4th at 7:00 am. Still in afib 2 hours later at the ekg. Then 4:30 pm with my Kardia apt I saw that I was back to normal in 50's. I have been in 50's HB ever since. So for me it worked to take me out of afib.

The problem is that it saps my energy. I just want to sleep and haven't taken a walk or even gone outside. Friday the 6th, the nurse lowered by dosage to 60 mg am and pm. (I have a pill cutter.) I m still in normal HB. My heart rate and blood pressure have not changed with the lower dose. But I still feel wiped out.

I am told to stay on lower dose for a month until the heart heals from the ablation and can hopefully stay normal by itself.

In sum sotalol worked to bring back to normal, but creates exhaustion and weakness for me.

As Carey said - Sotalol is the culprit.

I don't know about Flecanide? Does anyone have experience with this drug? is it a beta blocker too?

Many blessings,

Rattana :+)

I have been prescribed flecainide for upwards of four years with no known side effects such as excessive sleepiness or lack of energy. I believe flecainide is an anti arrhythmic drug or AAD and not a beta blocker.

I had 16 years of insomnia while on flecainide. Once I stopped I slept like a baby.

Hi Tony. I had my ablation in December and was put on 80 mg of sotalol twice a day. During the first few weeks I had a couple of breakthrough afib episodes but since then I've been in NSR. I was taken off the sotalol at the three-month mark. So for me it served the purpose well. I did feel a little more tired than usual on the sotalol but it wasn't extreme. I did feel that it interfered with my sleep a little bit but the nurse practitioner didn't think it was the sotalol.
Good luck in finding something that works for you.

Hi all,

Well I had my 3 day Sotalol load at MGH and all went fine but no conversion so I had a cardio version the other day to get me out of flutter.
While in flutter my HR looked like I was in NSR but at 107BPM, now I am getting 6L Kardia readings of 40-70 BPM while resting.
Don't know what to make of that?
Currently taking 120mg sotalol 2x, Eliquis 5mg 2x, 80mg aspirin 1x

Tony

Quote
Tony in Boston
now I am getting 6L Kardia readings of 40-70 BPM while resting.
Don't know what to make of that?

Normal rhythm is what I would make of it. The 40 is because sotalol is a beta blocker so it will slow your HR.

It's not surprising the sotalol didn't convert you because flutter tends to be resistant to conversion by antiarrhythmic drugs. They're much better at preventing flutter than converting it, so if you continue taking it you'll probably stay in NSR.

Yes, the sotalol does lower the HR but my Kardia readings went from a sinus rhythm type reading at 107 bpm to an AFIB reading of 40-70 bpm over a 30 second period.
The sotalol hopefully will keep me out of flutter but the 40-70 AFIB readings kind of suck.