![]() They have side effects that all need to be discussed with the patient. There are drugs used which are largely in the remit of specialists and I’m thinking of drugs like amiodarone and dronedarone and also drugs like flecainide, which are prescribed and initiated in a specialist setting. And, when their symptoms are relieved, the next question is whether this person needs to be started on blood thinning treatment to reduce their stroke risk. So, in general practice, we often use rate control medications like beta blockers or calcium channel antagonists or digoxin to control the patient’s heart rate and that often relieves a lot of their symptoms. They’re called rate control measures and then there are other drugs, which are given usually by specialists, that can also actually restore or help to maintain the normal rhythm once it’s been restored. ![]() There are a number of drug treatments that can be used to either reduce the heart rate and control the heart rate. Rhythm control aims to restore normal heart rhythm and maintains this with beta-blockers (such as sotalol), and other anti-arrhythmic drugs such as flecainide, amiodarone and dronedarone. It can be achieved with beta-blockers (such as atenolol and bisoprolol), calcium channel blockers (such as diltiazem and verapamil), or cardiac glycosides (such as digoxin, which is often used in sedentary patients). ![]() Rate control lowers the heart rate closer to normal, usually 60 to 100 beats per minute, without trying to convert it to a regular rhythm. Which medication is best for a particular person depends on many things, including their symptoms and how long they have had AF. Prescription medicines can help control both the rate and rhythm of the heart and for most people with AF taking medicine is part of everyday life. This is designed to control heart rate (how fast it beats) and rhythm (how regularly it beats). Here we look at anti-arrhythmic medication. Treatment depends on things like the person’s age, general health, symptoms and type of AF. In some cases surgical procedures such as cardioversion, catheter ablation, pulmonary vein isolation ablation, AV node ablation and having a pacemaker fitted may be used when medication proves unsuccessful or unsuitable. These include anticoagulant (blood thinning) medicines to reduce the risk of stroke and anti-arrhythmic medicines to control the symptoms of AF and restore normal heartbeat and rhythm. People with atrial fibrillation (AF) have a range of treatment options available.
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