Antiarrhythmic medications

Just wondering if you had temporary benefit from the ablations, how far apart they were, and whether you're currently free of AF.
Had a cardioversion @24.12, which worked until a few weeks ago. Will be having another @25.09. Have the impression that EP doc feels likelihood of success with ablation would be lower than average because of some atrial enlargement.

Flecainide is commonly prescribed as an anti-arrhythmic drug. Widely used. Tolerated by most, but some cannot take it. Of course there are several others, and if Flecainide can't be used by your body, your cardiologist will ask you to try others. FYI, we're talking about Multaq, Sotalol, diltiazem, propafenone, and Dofetilide. Ideally, you will respond to one of those. If not, you may be prescribed amiodarone, but that's a whole 'nuther ball of wax that you would only be asked to take as a last resort. You can google it.
Each of us is disappointed, maybe a little frightened, by having the diagnosis and then having to take two drugs for AF, normally both a rate control (calcium channel and 'beta' blockers like metoprolol or Sotalol), and usually also a 'direct-acting oral anti-coagulant' (DOAC) for reducing the risk of stroke...which is about six times what a normal person would have at any age. But, it's our new reality.
It is good that you are in the paroxysmal stage, the first stage, where your AF comes and goes on its own. At some point in the future, you may find that drugs don't control it well, or as much. There are other drugs to try, but you should do some googling of 'electrophysiology' and 'catheter ablation'. The EP's do catheter ablation in an attempt to stop the electrical signals from causing your atrium to fibrillate. I have had it done, and so have many tens of thousands in N. America, millions around the globe. It's almost routine, day surgery, and it usually does a great job of blocking those signals....meaning no more fibrillation. Sometimes it also means you can stop taking all the pills, but we can talk more about that in later posts...if you are interested.

It is quite common for people treated (successfully) for AF by catheter ablation to develop flutter. I know, it seems disappointing and bizarre, but the electrophysiologists know this and can usually correct it with a second ablation, but a different kind or process and area. The results are usually pretty good.
Atrial enlargement can be a RESULT of atrial fibrillation and it can also CAUSE atrial fibrillation. They go hand-in-hand quite often. It is true that advanced AF, or its subsequent effects, can make a successful ablation more difficult, but the skill and experience of the EP are what matters most in these cases. Some EPs simply don't have the experience or the confidence to perform the more advanced and more difficult ablations. The very best won't have too much problem. You'll have to do some research to find EPs nationally who specialize in difficult cases ('difficult' having a range of implications because it's a relative descriptor, not a precise one). If you have resources and don't mind some traveling and commercial accommodations for up to a week, I can recommend two EPs with national and international recognition who are in the USA, and two who are in France, one of whom trained one of the two in the USA.

Who are the two doctors you recommend that are in the US?
Thanks

At the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Austin, Dr. Andrea Natale. You can call, ask for a consultation, and chances are good that you'll be selected, particularly complex cases and repeat ablations that have failed shortly after the patient is discharged by the performing EP. Dr. Natale sees patients in several hospitals in the American west where he has privileges, so he travels now and then to do ablations elsewhere besides just Austin.
The only other one I know of who is highly regarded is Dr. Pasquale Santangeli at Cleveland Clinic. Note that there are at least 20 top notch EPs scattered around the USA, but as a Canadian, I only read of them now and then when reading forum posts and don't remark on their names, so I can't pass them on.

It is quite common for people treated (successfully) for AF by catheter ablation to develop flutter. I know, it seems disappointing and bizarre, but the electrophysiologists know this and can usually correct it with a second ablation, but a different kind or process and area. The results are usually pretty good.
Atrial enlargement can be a RESULT of atrial fibrillation and it can also CAUSE atrial fibrillation. They go hand-in-hand quite often. It is true that advanced AF, or its subsequent effects, can make a successful ablation more difficult, but the skill and experience of the EP are what matters most in these cases. Some EPs simply don't have the experience or the confidence to perform the more advanced and more difficult ablations. The very best won't have too much problem. You'll have to do some research to find EPs nationally who specialize in difficult cases ('difficult' having a range of implications because it's a relative descriptor, not a precise one). If you have resources and don't mind some traveling and commercial accommodations for up to a week, I can recommend two EPs with national and international recognition who are in the USA, and two who are in France, one of whom trained one of the two in the USA.

Who are your recommended EP's both US and abroad?

It is quite common for people treated (successfully) for AF by catheter ablation to develop flutter. I know, it seems disappointing and bizarre, but the electrophysiologists know this and can usually correct it with a second ablation, but a different kind or process and area. The results are usually pretty good.
Atrial enlargement can be a RESULT of atrial fibrillation and it can also CAUSE atrial fibrillation. They go hand-in-hand quite often. It is true that advanced AF, or its subsequent effects, can make a successful ablation more difficult, but the skill and experience of the EP are what matters most in these cases. Some EPs simply don't have the experience or the confidence to perform the more advanced and more difficult ablations. The very best won't have too much problem. You'll have to do some research to find EPs nationally who specialize in difficult cases ('difficult' having a range of implications because it's a relative descriptor, not a precise one). If you have resources and don't mind some traveling and commercial accommodations for up to a week, I can recommend two EPs with national and international recognition who are in the USA, and two who are in France, one of whom trained one of the two in the USA.

Let’s see, after the first one it was 3 months to the day, and I went into flutter and had to be converted. Then it was only a few weeks or so between the others, as each time something new started. I am currently not in afib since Flecainide started 6 years ago. At my worst before I had to have 3 large doses of adenosine in the ER to get my heart rate down from 250. It was all worse after all those ablations. I know they do fine for most patients but I guess I am one of the exceptions!

Who are the two doctors you recommend that are in the US?
Thanks