What is flecainide used for?

Flecainide is used to prevent or treat irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias) such as paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation/flutter (PAF). Flecainide is also used to prevent life-threatening sustained ventricular tachycardia (sustained VT).

What medications interact with flecainide?

What may interact with this medicine?

• amoxapine.
• arsenic trioxide.
• certain antibiotics like clarithromycin, erythromycin, gatifloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, sparfloxacin, or troleandomycin.
• certain antidepressants called tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline, imipramine, or nortriptyline.

What does flecainide do to the heart?

Flecainide belongs to the group of medicines known as antiarrhythmics. It works directly on the heart tissue and will slow the nerve impulses in the heart. This helps keep the heart rhythm normal. There is a chance that flecainide may cause new or make worse existing heart rhythm problems when it is used.

What is the best medication for fast heart rate?

Beta-blockers – can be used to slow down your heart rate, and improve blood flow through your body. You may take this drug if you have been diagnosed with irregular heartbeats, or high blood pressure. Some examples of this medication may include: Metoprolol (Lopressor®), propanolol (Inderal®), and atenolol (Tenormin®).

Why is quinidine no longer used?

Quinidine is no longer widely used for the termination and prevention of arrhythmias because of concern about cardiac and systemic side-effects.

What is another name for quinidine?

Quinidine is the generic name of this medication. It’s available as quinidine sulfate tablets and quinidine gluconate extended-release tablets. Quinidine used to come in various brand-names such as Cardioquin, Cin-Quin, and Quinidex, but those are no longer available.

Can you take antidepressants with flecainide?

Using flecainide together with FLUoxetine may increase the effects of flecainide. Contact your doctor if you experience tiredness, dizziness, confusion, difficulty breathing, heart attack, and a worsening irregular heartbeat.

What is the best anti arrhythmic?

Amiodarone is considered the most potent antiarrhythmic agent. The adverse event profile with amiodarone can be intolerable, with gastrointestinal effects the most common side effect.

Is quinidine still on the market?

The pharmaceutical manufacturer of quinidine, Eli Lilly, recently announced that it will no longer be producing IV quinidine gluconate, but plans to continue distributing the product until the current stock expires (March 2019).

What conditions does quinidine treat?

This medication is used to treat or prevent many types of irregular heartbeats (heart arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation). Quinidine can greatly improve your ability to perform normal activities by decreasing the number of irregular heartbeats you have.

Can flecainide cause depression?

Flecainide has been associated with psychosis, especially in toxicity, with newonset paranoia,236 hallucinations, and dysarthria. Delusions, hallucinations, and depressed mood238 have also described in a report of three cases.