Sotalol experiences

I am just starting to take Sotalol for my SVT problems.
My initial dose is 80mg twice daily. I am in England, but I see that in America, patients are normally admitted to hospital until the dosage level is decided. Here, all I have to do is visit the hospital twice  for ECG's in the first two weeks. I'm not necessarily worried about side effects ( I only worry about things when they happen!) , but obviously there are more concerns over this  than other medicines I've been prescribed in the past. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with Sotalol (good or bad) and why does this one need monitoring so much?
Thanks for your help.

[tom_h]

o be honest.  The brief time I took Sotalol, scared the heck out of me!  Perhaps it was the the power of the mind (questionable in my case) but I experienced an SVT event that was very difficult to convert. I immediate went back on Metoprolol and decided on an ablation.

[SDalb]

I was given sotalol after a PVI ablation for afib.  I went into atrial tachycardia and my flecanide and metoprolol did not affect it.  After 3 days on 80 mg of sotalol (3 times a day)  I finally converted.  I did not notice any side effects at the time.  After being off all meds for two months, I had another episode of tachy and took a pill.  That is when I noticed the sotalol caused me to be lethargic with low blood pressure, and I also felt drugged. I used to think it was the afib that caused that feeling.  
Prior to being given the sotalol, I wasn't monitored.  Now I am to take the sotalol only if I have any further episodes.  So far so good.  Hope this helps.

[twinbee]

I was on Sotalol for a few years before I had my ablation done. (A-fib), and for a couple of months after my ablation.  I had no real side effects, except that it made me very tired in the beginning. My doctor did put me in the hospital for 3 days when I first started taking it to monitor me. Good Luck. Wishing you well, and wishing you enough...

[Ihatepalps2]

hi!
My husband is on Sotolol. He first had a heart attack at age 50 3 years ago....he recovered from that, and a year later ( last year) he started having Afib AND Aflutter...and after a very very bad episode in which the hospital could not get his heart rate to slow after hours in the ER, they admitted him. He spent the night, they finally got it to slow down, but then it went wayyyy too slow. The next day we wanted to go to a better hospital in the larger city near us so the Dr admitted him there, and decided the best course of action was to put him on Sotolol. Said it was a VERY dangerous drug that had to be administered only by cardiac trained people. So..We spent from a Friday to a Monday afternoon in the cardiac care unit of a big hospital. They started him on very small doses, and I mean he was hooked up to every monitor and  they were in every 30 minutes to check him  all weekend! He tolerated it ok, and now, it will be a year on July 3rd that hes been on it...and he doesnt really appear to feel any side effects from being on it.For him, though, its not a choice. Good luck to you!!!

[donna4140]

Next time you get a svt attack, stand on your head. It works every time for me.

[deancourtgirl]

Thank you all for your answers. So far so good with me, been a week and half now. I get a bit of chest tightening about an hour after taking it, but that soon wears off. I can't even say I feel that much more tired and I'm doing 12 hour shifts at the moment, so that is good. That is what I was dreading. We'll see how the next couple of weeks goes.
Thank you for your advice Donna. Believe it or not, I have tried standing on my head, but still no luck. I haven't yet figured out how to stop my attacks after 20 years, so it's ablation time! Thank you anyway for taking the time to suggest it.