To discontinue Arrythmia drug or not

[DeltaDawn23]

After 2 ER visits 4 months apart last year, I have been on a low dose of Norpace CR, as well as Coumadin for one year.  I have sleep apnea which according to my EP, is probably the reason I developed Afib.  After a recent echo (which showed my left atrium has shrunk with improved treatment of the apnea) and office visit, he would like me to go off the Norpace and see what happens.  I do have side effects  -- extreme tiredness, no stamina, occasional bouts of irregular beats, inability to tolerate heat, and mild depression --  that I attribute to the Norpace.  I thought I wanted to get off of it, but now that the time has come, I am concerned that I will end up back in the ER, which both times was a terrible experience.  They tend to give me too much of IV drugs to bring my heart rate down and then my bp drops and I end up in a true emergency situation.  Last time they had a hard time getting my bp back up and were about to put the paddles on me with no anesthesia.  The doctor said, in the absence of heart attack symptoms,  I could come in to the office and they would bypass the ER and send me straight over to get electroconverted on an outpatient basis.  Still, I am apprehensive.  I know it's a trade off, as many things in life are, but am wary of upsetting my goal of staying out of the hospital, which I've managed to do so far for a year.  Another EP I consulted with thinks I will always have to be on an anti-arrythmic drug.  Any thoughts from those of you who have successfully gotten off of a anti-arrythmic drug?  

[DeltaDawn23]

Jerry -- Thanks for the input.  I'm thinking that if I go back into Afib and do have to go to the ER, that I could request just to go straight to electrocardioversion, rather than the IV medication route that has gotten me in trouble in the past.  I missed my Norpace (not intentionally) the other day and I could tell a difference in just one dose of having more energy.  Of course, along with that may come the Afib also.  I probably will give it a shot, but hate the uncertainty of knowing the outcome, but I suppose that is true for life in general.  Oh for a crystal ball:)

[Jerry_NJ]

I'd take the doctor's recommendations, except:  my experience with echo to measure the size of the left atrium is the accuracy/repeatability isn't great.  

Following my heart surgery I was told by my surgeon that the repaired mitral valve took "back pressure" off of the atrium, and it could shrink back for its oversized state.  A couple of echos later (couple of years) the size was clearly smaller and I asked my cardiologist about trying an electrocardio again, he said let's do another echo first.  This additional echo showed the left atrium was back to the previous enlarged state.  

I get good results from beta blocker but have similar side effects.  My age doesn't help either so in my case stopping or lowering medication may not help much.  

Back to your point, and I don't have the same scary ER experiences, I'd like to have a reason to try less medication.  As for coumadin, I've been on it or warfarin for about 15 years, I was kept on it even during long periods of normal sinus rhythm, just-in-case.