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Flecainide
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Thanks in advance...
I'm wondering the experience that anyone has had (good, great, ugly) using Flecainide for AFib/arrhythmia?
I'm around 6 weeks into therapy and have been downright amazed with the results. It has been easy to exactly quantify the results using a smart trainer and a portable ECG device.
I'm very curious to see if others have experienced the positive results that I have seen. 20 min av power has risen 11% during this period. Riding on the road with young aggressive racers seems even more productive.
I am still in AFIB.. but not 100% of the time as was the situation before starting Flecainide.

Thanks Again
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Re: Flecainide [Bernoullitrial] [ In reply to ]
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I was on Flecainide for about 1.5 years (along with Metropolol) after being diagnosed with Afib and SVT in early 2017. The Flecainide did a good job of keeping my heart in rhythm most of the time, while the Metropolol kept my heart rate low (max HR was about 115). So for the 8 months leading up to my ablation, my riding pretty much sucked since I was going anaerobic at what used to be a Zone 2 effort. After recovering from the ablation I was taken off the Metoprolol, and things really improved. I was kept on the Flecainide for a few months after, and I generally felt pretty good, although I still felt a little fatigued most of the time. The day after I was taken off Flecainide I totally destroyed several PRs on one of my regular routes. So while on Flecainide but post-ablation my ride performance was nearly what it used to be, but it was clearly still slowing me down a little, and I never quite felt 100%. I don't know if this helps much, since I was never on just Flecainide prior to my ablation...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Flecainide [Bernoullitrial] [ In reply to ]
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mine was ugly. Put on either that or metro (can't remember which) post-afib diagnosis and it sucked the life out of me. I mean, it worked to control the afib, but I couldn't operate my life as a husband, dad and consultant - I was constantly exhausted for 6-8 weeks before forcing the doctor to take me off of it. Granted, my afib did return (as he predicted), and long story short ended up doing an ablation which was 100% successful and up until this year when baby #2 arrived I was in the best shape of my life.

I'd be interested to know why people's power goes up when my understanding is that these type of drugs suppress your HR overall...
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Re: Flecainide [Bernoullitrial] [ In reply to ]
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For a few years prior to going into persistant AFib, my performances had been gradually declining. I just chalked it up to aging, being in my mid-50s. But immediately after my ablation (and still being drugged) my performances weren't much off from those years leading up to AFib, despite almost no training for most of the 8 months before. I would have expected to be much slower, just from being out of shape and several lbs heavier. And now at 59, I'm constantly matching or breaking PRs that I set back in 2013. So the decline I was seeing in the handful of years leading up to my AFib diagnosis were probably not just age, but possibly heart related issues that just weren't obvious yet. I wonder if you were also seeing less than optimal performance leading up to this, and having your heart back in rhythm has put you back to what you should have been all along...?

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Flecainide [Warbird] [ In reply to ]
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We definitely have much in common.. I'm also 59 y/o.
I have no idea where I should be. I chalked up the sudden decline in performance to "old age finally got me".
Now I know that the reason was due to persistent AFib. Before AFib 2 x 20 min@ 400 watts was no killer effort. Before taking Flecainide..1x 20 min@ 300 watts was a death March. So it's easy to understand why I was ready to quit cycling for good. The above has elapsed over a period of a little over 3 years..so I am clueless as to where I should be.
All I know is that for me Flecainide is the greatest thing since sliced bread. My legs did feel heavy (blocked) for the first few weeks...but that's basically gone.
I'm still far from being in normal sinus rhythm.. but it's not persistent AFib...and apparently it's a"big deal" for me.
Last edited by: Bernoullitrial: Oct 2, 20 18:16
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Re: Flecainide [mattyboy] [ In reply to ]
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I have been told that the diagnosis is exercise induced cardiac remodeling.. can't verify that.. but apparently it's not uncommon for ex-pro cyclists who never stopped redline exercising.
The side affect from the AFib for me was a heart rate with a governor. I failed the cardiolite stress test with the machine on max speed and max grade because my HR wouldn't go over 117bpm...my legs couldn't take it anymore. Before this.. 360 watts for an hour at 160bpm on the bike was a tempo workout.
My heart forgot that it is supposed to start beating faster with higher demand...
Interesting enough... my average HR has been on the incline since taking Flecainide... resting and exercise induced. I began with a sub standard initial dosage because the doctors were worried that my night pulse below 30 would decrease.. however the opposite has occurred.. apparently.. not being 100% of the time in AFIB has caused my HR to ride.
I knew for years that my HR was irregular.. but I never thought anything of it.. my dumb ignorance.
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Re: Flecainide [mattyboy] [ In reply to ]
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The Flecainide was to regulate my rhythm, and Metropolol was to regulate the rate. My HR would go as high as 220 in my sleep, with the Metropolol it would rarely get over 115 even when exercising. It also caused a noticeable drop in my blood pressure. I had to monitor my BP, and was told not to take it if my systolic fell below 90. The whole time I was on it I felt like I had just run a marathon, even when just waking up in the morning. The Flecainide didn't bother me too much, but the Metropolol was brutal...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Flecainide [Warbird] [ In reply to ]
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The Human Body is a real "piece of work". Until taking Flecainide.. I woke up every morning feeling what you felt taking Metropolol even though I wasn't taking a thing. I woke up every morning feeling totally exhausted. This AFib destroyed my moral.. my life.. my mind. It's easy to understand my praise for Flecainide.

What you had to deal with was a big problem for the cardiologists I initially saw.. they had never seen AFib associated with a HR that would not rise regardless of the workload thrown at it.

I tell everyone now if they think their heartbeat might be irregular...get checked. I was guilty of being ignorant..dumb.. and stupid for far too long even though I didn't know that an irregular heartbeat was nessasariliy a bad thing. It was only when I started blacking out on full out climbs because my mind wanted to go harder than my body that I sought medical help.
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