Hello, @karenatmayo! Welcome to a discussion of a-fib, a topic that interests me greatly -- not because my symptoms are racking my life, but because so many friends in my community and people who come to Mayo Connect for information are anxious about it. My heart has been arrhythmic for at least 15 years, but my a-fib diagnosis came less than 3 years ago in a EKG test during my annual physical. For the past 20 years, I have been treated for hypertension at moderate levels, thanks to wave after wave of medications tried and replaced as they failed to bring my blood pressure down enough to satisfy my medical teams. Fortunately, we found drugs to limit my blood pressure, and at the same time, medical science has accepted higher BP levels for senior senior citizens (I'm 81). A-fib threw a monkey wrench in the works and may be attributable to all of the experimentation I endured looking for a solution for my hypertension. But my a-fib symptoms are modest; I don't consciously feel them, only see them on the meter every time I take my blood pressure. My medications for a-fib are Carvedilol (which slows the heart and reduces BP) and Coumadin, a "blood thinner" to head off blood clots.

Are your heart-beat symptoms very disturbing? Your use of three strong anti-arrhythmic drugs -- Flecainide, Propafenone, and Dronedarone -- suggests that your medical team is determined to bring your symptoms under better control. When you switched to another medication, were you advised to check with your doctor about phasing one down -- rather than stopping abruptly -- before taking a successor? With each of your meds, did your doctors advise you of problems to expect from other medications you are taking or from other disease symptoms? Have you asked your doctors about cardioversion or ablation (and where it might be focused)? What about "blood thinners?" Have they been suggested as a means of avoiding blood clots in your upper heart chamber(s)?

I ask these questions not to pry or violate your personal privacy. Please don't answer any that intrude. I intend them as suggestions for your list of questions to put to your cardiology team the next time you meet, if you haven't already gotten these answers. At the least, let us know how you're doing in general so we can keep our conversation going as you work your way through these trying times.
Martin