My cardiac ablation at the end of September 2020 immediately stopped the fast beat sequence (SVT, or supra-ventricular tachycardia) that was happening, but no early ventricular beats (PVCs) occurred during the entire procedure. My latest EKGs show sinus rhythm with junctional escapes and some early atrial beats (PACs), but no PVCs. I’m still making adjustments for my thyroid, cholesterol, and blood pressure; also my glucose has been higher lately, along with about a 15-pound weight gain since July.
Flecainide
After my 30-day follow-up visit, my electrophysiologist started me on Flecainide 50 mg twice daily, which is a “sodium channel blocker”; after a month I think I’m more normal most of the time and at least my irregular beats are not really noticeable any more. I also have a 3-month follow-up with my cardiologist soon so I’ll see what he says.
Thyroid
My latest thyroid test shows that it’s still low on 50 mcg levothyroxine. At least my TSH dropped from 65 down to 12, but that’s still high, which indicates that my actual thyroid is low (but “less low”). So my endocrinologist wants me to take 2 tablets on Saturday and Sunday, and just 1 Monday-Friday; this would be average about 63/day over a week rather than increasing my dose up to 75 because the last time they did that my thyroid went too high. So I will check it again in 6 weeks.
Potassium
My last metabolic panel showed a high potassium (5.6), aod they had me do another one 2 days later but it was still high (5.7). So the cardiologist wants me to stop my lisinopril 50 mg, and start taking amlodipine 5 mg for high blood pressure instead, and then check my potassium levels again in about 3 days.
Amlodipine
Several months ago my Crestor was increased from 10 to 40 mg to aggressively get my cholesterol and LDL down (because of my recently-discovered coronary artery disease – high calcification in 3 arteries). This latest lab saw a huge decline in cholesterol to 107 and LDL to 31. Because I have been having hip aches and stiffness since my Crestor has increased, they suggested to try cutting the pills in half for a while to see if that improves my hips, and it does seem to help already. They figured there was now more room to relax the statin dosage without causing the cholesterol to rise much.
Insulin
And my endocrinologist is increasing my Tresiba fast-acting insulin at bedtime from 9 to 10 units, and changing my carb ratio from 12 to 10 grams per unit of Novolog at dinner (like it is for breakfast and lunch). Of course, the Thanksgiving holiday and leftovers didn’t help much, and I’ve probably had more snacks that I should. So I just need to double-down and really get my glucose levels back in-range again like I had done for a while earlier this year. It’s always a constant struggle.
So we’ll see how these changes work.
