After spending hours 'n hours reading on medical sites and on forums such as affibers.org, those of us who have AF that comes and goes generally don't tolerate it well, and they often opt for catheter ablation. If the ablation succeeds, it's like being born anew. Ablation, the mechanical fix, is INFINITELY better than taking drugs to try to control the arrhythmia. Again...IF...it works. Failures for first ablations runs in the 30% range, depending on the patient and on the skills and experience of the electrophysiologist performing the surgery. Follow-up ablations enjoy about 85% success rates because most of the initial work was 'good' and useful. The EP just has to find the gap in the scarred endothelial tissue surrounding the pulmonary veins and close it with further burning. That's exactly what happened in my own case, and I am now five months on and doing well. Just got a call from my EP saying he was discharging me and wished me well because my Holter Monitor assessment showed no PACs or AF. Whew!!

Metoprolol is often combined with an anti-arrhythmic drug, but the heavy work is meant to be handled by the latter, not by metoprolol. Metoprolol is for rate control IF you have persistent AF and/or long runs of it while still in paroxysmal AF. It is also useful for lowering blood pressure due to its action on the myocytes. I happen to do poorly when the two are combined and was eventually in the ER just six days post ablation with a heart rate of 30, meaning my SA node was essentially shut down and my AV node was keeping me alive. In fact, the nurse in the ER came running in and saw me talking to my wife. She said they were watching and, holding her two index fingers six inches apart, said that the monitor showed no heart beat for that length of time. Needless to say, I had already had my last dose of metoprolol.

My only experience with a big hammer was with Amiodarone, and that was what replaced metoprolol on that occasion. It worked, but they try to get patients off it again as soon as their hearts settle down into NSR over the next six weeks or so. It is quite toxic. I advise you to google the drug you mentioned and read all about it, the good and the bad. If you want to balk, then get in line for an ablation...if an ablation is indicated for your particular case. Consult a really good, in high demand, electrophysiologist. Among the very best, if you can travel, is Dr. Andrea Natale at Austin Cardiology.

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