Question Title: Atrial Fibrilation

Last December I was hopitalized for atrial fibrillation. I was told I have two electronic centers that at times will send signals in my heart to beat at the same time. Apparently stress heightened the problem. I started taking two tablets of quinaglute, 324 MG, a day however, problems still persisted, sweaty palms, anxiousness, etc., and every now and them my heart will beat off beat. My dosage has increased twice. Currently I'm taking 4 tablets of 324 MG a day. Periodically through the day I feel dizy, mostly when I'm turning and/or moving. While I was in the hospital one of the options was to surgically burn one of the electric centers. Would this help the constent sweaty palms and anxious feelings? Although, the medication does help I do not want to accept that I have to live feeling constantly anxious and sweating. Any other ideas?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Dave

Your doctor should make sure that the level of quinidine in your blood is not too high. Assuming the dose is correct, your doctor needs to see if you are still going into atrial fibrillation and how frequently; this will also help determine if your symptoms are due to atrial fibrillation. If the quinidine is not doing the trick, there are other medicines that can be used to try and prevent atrial fibrillation. If several medicines fail, the catheter ablation is a possibility.

I hope this is useful. Feel free to write back. I wish you the best of luck.

If you would like to set up an appointment with one of our cardiologists here at the Cleveland Clinic please feel free to call 1-800-CCF-CARE.

Information provided in the Heart Forum is intended for general medical informational purposes only. Actual diagnosis and treatment of any particular medical condition can only be made by your physician(s).

---