Afib Break through

I've been keeping up with my post from last July but thought I would start a new post since some may not be keeping up.

As many of you know I did have a couple afib break through's following my ablation last July during my blanking period. I also had a couple post blanking period as well then everything went quiet. Dr. Natele's office sent me a Zio patch a couple months ago and it showed a few runs of arrhythmia but nothing that lasted more that 17 beats.

A couple days after I sent the patch back I had a breakthrough event that woke me early morning that lasted about 1/2 hour and I converted on my own. Last Monday while at the gym I had my second breakthrough event that I was able to capture on a 12 lead EKG at the local ambulance service that definitely showed afib. I converted back in about a half hour again this time as well without the use of any drugs.

I spoke with one of Dr. Natale's nurse practitioners the other day and we decided that I would schedule another ablation for later this year with the possibility of cancellation if things improve.



I will add that this small setback does not in anyway discouraged me or discount the quality ablation I had done by Dr. Natale last July. If anything, even though I have had a couple of break through events over the past couple months they converted to sinus on their own. This tells me that, even though there is stilll an active location in my heart, it doesn't have anywhere to go and fizzles out. What is going on now is very similar to what happened in the infancy of my condition.

Dr. Natale and I even spoke of this possiblity following my ablation since he did work on my coronary sinus and LAA which are two very complicated areas to work in. The LAA being the most difficult because iit's structure and location.

I will continue to document all that happens on my other post and on my blog.

[www.afibbers.org]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2019 06:35PM by rocketritch.

Sorry to hear this. Hoping it stays away again and you won't need that visit. It feels good though knowing you have the ace in the hole.

Rocketritch,

Sorry to hear this, I hope you won't need one, but I think that the need for a "touchup" ablation is not totally uncommon. I had one from Natale in 2011, albeit about 2 years after he did my initial ablation. Knock on wood, I've been in NSR since.

Dr Natale's scheduler sent me a date for May 23. I talked it over with his NP and we came to the conclusion that I would pass on that and shoot for something further down the road.

I've had 2 break through's since last September which isn't that much. I've also done a couple hundred miles on the bike with no issues thus far. I haven't really been pushing myself but having been off of the bike for so long I'm a bit out of shape. So even JRA (Just riding around) pushes my heart rate up especially on the hills. I've seen max hrm's thus far @154 bpm with good steady recovery times.

The second break through was proceeded by a short run of PAC's. Teh first I am unaware as it woke me from a deep sleep. I'm wondering if the break through's had more to do with mineral imbalance. When I'm riding I'm more regimented in keeping up with my Mg & K.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2019 05:56AM by rocketritch.

Everything has been quite as of late. Been riding my bike a good bit. Did a little over 80 miles the past 2 days with zero issues. Except for my tired legs.

Well I guess I spoke too soon. Had a break through event tonight. Was in the basement truing up a wheel and replacing a broken spoke. Walked up the steps and across the kitchen then boom.

Not sure of the arrhythmia. Rate of 160 bpm. Looked normal for the most part though except for some pac's and pvc's. I converted back to NSR in a little under 15 minutes. I did take a flecanide but that wasn't nearly long enough to take affect.

This does play into my thoughts that it could be deminished minerals. I hydrated good the past couple days and was taking my K and Mg but probably not enough. Two forty mile days in a rowand one being near 80 deg. I definitely taxed the system.

It's either that or I'm going to go out of rhythm around every 10-14 days or so since that is he pattern for the month of April so far. Ugh.

Yuck.

My last breakthrough was April 2018, so I blame April. Makes as much sense as anything else!

A rate of 160 that looks rather normal could easily be flutter. Any regular rhythm somewhere in the vicinity of 150 is immediately a suspect of being 2:1 flutter. I would wait and see how it goes. If I were in your shoes and the episodes remained short like 15 minutes, I wouldn't do anything about it. If they become longer or more frequent, that's when you do something.

had my longest breakthrough event today this evening after returning home from work. Just hanging out in the kitchen helping my wife make macaroni salad when I went out of rhythm. The rate recorded by kardia reached a little over two hundred for a portion of the event.
I took 200 mg of flecainide and 75 mg metoprolol and converted 3 hours later
There's been a fair amount of stress around here lately so I'm sure that was a contributor to the event.
I also had a colonoscopy this week so the stress coupled with the prep and dehydration associated with that surely played a major factor.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2019 10:45PM by rocketritch.