High heart rate while taking flecainide

Is it normal to have a high heart rate while taking flecainide.

I have been prescribed 200mgs slow release flecainide, to be taken daily.

I was prescribed this when after the blanking period I had an Afib episode and was told I needed a touch up, which I am still waiting for. That was 6 weeks ago.

The thing is my resting heart rate is about 80 bmp and if I do very little, it will go above 100 bmp. At 79 years young I can't go much above that.
When I get on the cross trainer I can only train on low for about a minute before I am at 110 bpm. Which is hopeless.

Is it normal to expect this?

Flecainide does not cause an elevated heart rate. On the contrary, it slightly lowers heart rate, so the flecainide isn't causing this.

Are you taking a beta blocker with the flecainide?

Is it normal? Well, sorta...yes..and no. Your heart is not quite the same heart that went into the ablation surgery. The procedure left it changed. If you still have breakthrough AF, then it must be deemed as 'recurrent' AF at this point. Twelve weeks ago, it would have been a familiar hiccup that takes place early in the blanking period. At this stage, it means there is still at least one re-entrant focus or a gap left and you need a re-do.

It is exceedingly common to have an elevated HR post ablation, and it takes months to be restored if you can accept what so many members have related about their own histories on this forum. Even up to a year in some cases. My own first ablation was a failure, so I can't really say what my HR was, or how closely mine returned to 'normal'. My normal resting HR, before things turned sour and I was put on a list for an ablation, would have been 48-52 BPM. Upon waking, closer to 40. That's because of 30 years of competitive running. But, my second ablation, done in mid-February, left me free of PACs and AF, Deo gratias, yet with a seated and still HR of 75-90. This went on for weeks, but I could see it slipping very slowly to the point where, 16 weeks later, I am down to 64 BPM. This is still well above what I hope will be my end-state, but I know at 71 to not kid myself; things have changed. My heart is different for a second time, and I have 'let myself go' since my downward slide that started 16 months ago. I couldn't even laugh during a sitcom for fear of looking at my watch when I felt things go sideways inside my chest and saw 118 BPM. I am now trying to lose 20 pounds and to begin long-range walking once again. Still, 64 BPM is rather good...don't you think?

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Carey

Are you taking a beta blocker with the flecainide?

No, I am taking flecainide, pradaxa.and nothing else.

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colindo
No, I am taking flecainide, pradaxa.and nothing else.

You might want to reconsider that. It would probably eliminate the tachycardia and it also offers protection against 1:1 conduction, a rare but potentially fatal side effect of flecainide.

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Carey

No, I am taking flecainide, pradaxa.and nothing else.

You might want to reconsider that. It would probably eliminate the tachycardia and it also offers protection against 1:1 conduction, a rare but potentially fatal side effect of flecainide.

Wouldn't that also lower my normal blood pressure, there must have been some reason why beta blockers weren't prescribed.

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colindo
Wouldn't that also lower my normal blood pressure, there must have been some reason why beta blockers weren't prescribed.

You mean aside from your doctor simply overlooking it? Don't kid yourself that that doesn't happen.

Yes, it will lower your BP. So what's your normal BP range now?

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colindo

Wouldn't that also lower my normal blood pressure, there must have been some reason why beta blockers weren't prescribed.

My first EP did not prescribe beta blocker along with Flec because he thought my BP is on the low side. My second EP did and said it’s important to take it for protection. So I’m taking half dose 12.5mg every day now, no real difference in BP.

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Yuxi
My first EP did not prescribe beta blocker along with Flec because he thought my BP is on the low side. My second EP did and said it’s important to take it for protection. So I’m taking half dose 12.5mg every day now, no real difference in BP.

My BP is on the low side yet my EP thought that it was important for safety to take a beta blocker with Flecainide. I didn't find that it lowered my BP measurably.

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Yuxi


Wouldn't that also lower my normal blood pressure, there must have been some reason why beta blockers weren't prescribed.

My first EP did not prescribe beta blocker along with Flec because he thought my BP is on the low side. My second EP did and said it’s important to take it for protection. So I’m taking half dose 12.5mg every day now, no real difference in BP.

Do you mean you are taking 12.5mg of beta blocker. If so what's the brand.

yes 12.5mg Metoprolol Succinate, it's a extended release so one a day.