Flecainide and Nausea: What Users Say

• Mis...
• January 29, 2018

For Atrial Fibrillation "This medication literally killed my mom. They increased it from 50 mg to 150 mg twice a day after pacemaker, and she slowly declined. Shortness of breath, severe weakness, nausea, no appetite. After 3 months, she became toxic from the flecainide and collapsed at my house. Called the ambulance, and she passed away within 21 hours. Total organ shutdown. Her death certificate said flecainide toxicity. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS MED AND INSIST THEY CHANGE IT IF YOU GET ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS. I had Mom to the cardiologist on Monday with Doppler, blood work, echo, EKG, and pacer check, but NO flecainide level was done. All tests were perfect. Called Dr. on Tues because she could not even walk. They said she had fluid overload and increased diuretic. She was gone by Thursday. She went from a fit, beautiful, energetic lady in Sept to gone in December."

• pos...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 7, 2018

For Atrial Fibrillation "This stuff almost killed me. I went from active and alive to sedentary and out of breath. Dizzy spells, weakness, chest pain, lightheadedness, insomnia, and basically feeling like garbage. I would stop breathing when sitting up in a chair if I happened to doze off. Finally, the doctor listened to me and took me off it completely. I am now going to wear a monitor for 30 days and then be evaluated for ablation. My Afib was only happening about every 4 months and had only happened 3 times. Flecainide reduced my quality of life from excellent to horrible in 3 short weeks. I am DONE!"

• can...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 15, 2025

For Atrial Fibrillation "I'm only taking 50 mg a day of flecainide. I have extreme fatigue. Seems to be working, but the extreme fatigue is terrible. General unwell feeling. Can't eat too much food at one time. Nausea if I have 50 mg × 2."

• Anonymous
• October 16, 2010

For Ventricular Tachycardia "I have been taking a combination of medicines, flecainide (50 mg twice a day) and metoprolol (12.5 mg twice a day), to control idiopathic paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia for two months now. Trying both medicines separately did not work for me. During the first two weeks of starting flecainide, I experienced moderate to severe side effects including visual disturbances (mostly peripheral), shakiness, vertigo, weakness, nausea, fatigue, and bowel changes. Since my body had a difficult time with the medicine, both medications were reduced in half. It is much better now, but I am still hoping this is not a long-term treatment. I give this medicine a 10 rating for effectiveness. I have not had a single episode (including PVCs) since being on both medications."

• Squ...
• February 25, 2021

For Atrial Fibrillation "I was given flecainide for 5 weeks for atrial fibrillation. I wish I never took it. It didn't work, I had two more fibrillations afterward, and it had many bad side effects: palpitations, skipped beats, way too fast heartbeat, high blood pressure, dizziness, feeling lightheaded (often to the point of almost fainting), nausea, a big lump in my throat, diarrhea, bad headaches, high-pitch ear ringing, involuntary muscle movements/flickering, heartburn, cold sweaty hands/feet, pins and needles in my fingers, chest squeezing, random chest pains, anxiety, insomnia. I often was on the verge of calling an ambulance. I felt terrible. The doctor first increased the amount from 50+50 mg to 100+100 mg, and things got even worse. After a few weeks, I started to decrease the dosage in reverse order. Finally, I decided to stop it altogether, and in 3 days, almost all side effects were gone. I hadn't had any episodes of fibrillation for more than a month now despite stopping the medication."

• Doc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 27, 2022

For Atrial Flutter "Worst experience I've ever had with a drug: severe, constant nausea, headaches, diarrhea, cough, difficulty breathing, insomnia. All that, and it didn't help the arrhythmia at all!"