Ablation scheduled but having second thoughts...

I went ahead and scheduled my ablation (it was like scheduling a dental appt), but am having serious second thoughts about it. Its in 9 days!

It's not with Natale - I can't swing that... but my EP that is doing it has done well over 1000 ablations. I've seen 2 EPs and both feel I am a candidate for RF Ablation.

I'm a paroxysmal, vagal LAF - in very good health overall except for the AF. Episodes started in Feb 2018 and I had 3 that year, 3 in 2019 and have had 8 this year so far so they are increasing. I convert to NSR on my own - longest episode was 10 hours, but usually 2-5 hours I'm in AF. I am on no meds except daily aspirin and I take diltiazem when I have an episode. I have a low resting heart rate in the 30s at night.

I've tried various natural treatments - supplements, had all my amalgam fillings removed by a holistic dentist, chelation for lead and mercury toxicity, yoga, eliminated caffeine, cut back on alcohol and overall I eat a very clean, healthy diet.

I can go for months without an episode and feel fine so it is hard to want to proceed with this during those times (like now), but then I'll have an episode and want to just get this done ASAP. I've had 4 episodes in the last 3 months.

Anyway...my concerns (which I guess are the same as everyones going into this) are:
1) That I'll come out of this worse than I was going into it - develop Atrial flutter, an increased HR or some other major complication
2) That maybe I should wait longer and give other alternative treatments a try- acupuncture, other supplements,
3) That I won't be able to resume normal activity after this - run, teach spin classes, etc.
4) that it will not be successful...as we all know there is no guarantee with this prcoedure.

Am I better to wait or it is better to get this done now before I get any older (I'm 56) or before it progresses and possibly turns into permanent AF?

Is my heart being damaged after each AF episode I have now, in which case it would be better to do this now than wait?

How long after am I going to have to put my life on hold, or when can I return to normal activity. My NP told me a week after I should be able to resume normal activity (like teach spin class?!)

I've read of the blanking period after this procedure but is a successful ablation considered to be a year after of not having an episode?

If so, it seems like I'll be on edge or stressed for a year after this with every heart beat or skipped beat I feel.

Any advice, insight, stories of your ablation experience of what I can expect, or comforting words would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

It doesn't sound like afib has too big of an affect on your life right now. I waited a long time before my first ablation.

Mine started out mild then became worse over time which was about 15 years. I would compare the last 12 years of that time to what you are experiencing right now. Then one day it got to where I couldn't do anything without triggering afib.

This actually happened after my first ablation was scheduled because it was becoming apparent I was headed that way. Was in permanent afib/flutter the day of my first ablation.

That first ablation lasted over nine years for the most part. I had some hick-ups the last few years before I went back into permanent afib.

I started taking spin classes about 3-4 months following that ablation. Easy excercise like walking and then jogging after the blanking period. I was on metoprolol and flecainide during the first 6 months following that first ablation.

So far as advice as to weather you should go ahead with it or not I can't and won't give a decisive answer to that. It's a personal decision that you have to be comfortable with. I will say for me that when the time came I had zero thoughts as to if I should or shouldn't.

I am 10 weeks out from my ablation and right now having had one is the single worst decision of my life. I had a very bad time in hospital - was there 6 days, $300K + in bills so better have good insurance, and I am in flutter as I type loaded up with flecainide, diltiazem and eliquis. Getting another ECV this week and EP wants to do 2nd procedure which I am scared to death of based on first experience. Right now my heart and body feel irretrievably damaged.

I had persistent AF but other than that didn't affect me much. You seem to be one of those that might be able to manage this following George's or Steve's protocols or some mix.

With all of that said, this ECV might put me in NSR and flutter or AF never returns - but not holding my breath. Even if that happens, I'm months to years from saying "good thing I had that ablation".

Hi Ingrid,

You do sound conflicted still, maybe not fully ready?

Maybe a round of rededication to a cleaner diet, religious hydration and possibly no alcohol might be the next step? Really honing in on your triggers can be difficult but a very productive exercise. I would suggest starting with a 'clean slate' by just eating only natural and organic foods (no products with suspect additives) and no additional supplements (or alcohol). See if you can stabilize or reduce your afib first at this 'clean' baseline. I have been working with this for 15 years and making good progress. I likely will be needing an ablation at some point, but I feel the wait for improved treatments is wise; like Rocketritch was implying: you will know when it is time...

Just my 2 cents. And may you find calm and peace in the journey many of us are on - so hang in there. Even though it is frightening, there is much to learn about ourselves and our health through having afib that will ultimately be useful in our lives - if we are thoughtful and don't panic... I know it's easier said than done, but that seems to be the road of life we are all on. You are not alone...

Sincerely, Jeff

I'd look for triggers and see what taurine, ribose, magnesium, potassium might do for you. Maybe even flecainide PIP as your heart sounds structurally sound.

Ingrid, have you tried flecainide? It stopped my af cold turkey for 5 years straight. I speculate I wouldn’t have had af five years later if it wasn’t for getting af while hooked up to two chemo drug IVs at the time. At least flecainide can buy you time to think about an ablation after there is a successful covid19 vaccine.

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
I am 10 weeks out from my ablation and right now having had one is the single worst decision of my life. I had a very bad time in hospital - was there 6 days, $300K + in bills so better have good insurance, and I am in flutter as I type loaded up with flecainide, diltiazem and eliquis. Getting another ECV this week and EP wants to do 2nd procedure which I am scared to death of based on first experience. Right now my heart and body feel irretrievably damaged.

I had persistent AF but other than that didn't affect me much. You seem to be one of those that might be able to manage this following George's or Steve's protocols or some mix.

With all of that said, this ECV might put me in NSR and flutter or AF never returns - but not holding my breath. Even if that happens, I'm months to years from saying "good thing I had that ablation".

I hope your ecv can convert your flutter. Also it’s possible your first ablation caused rare high odds complications that won’t occur again (odds of lightning striking twice) if you decide on a second ablation. Your heart is still in the blanking period. I hope your ablation, although you went through hell with complications, is behind you and you will remain in nsr-one and done. I truly do.

Everyone is different. My index lasted 7 months before I had unnoticed af (holter caught 3 days of it). I had PVCs 24/7 after a month and when my local EP put me on Tenormin, they stopped cold turkey. This second ablation, which was 6 days after yours, I felt like a truck rolled over me and I felt as weak as if I was doing a double weekly chemo again. PVCs appeared like clockwork @5 weeks again but I stopped multaq and began Tenormin which brought my PVCs from constant every beat to a couple single beats every few minutes.

First index I didn’t get af during my blanking. This second I developed af the second week but it converted itself. Every heart is different as well as ablations. I hope soon you will get a calmer heart and this is all behind you.

Someone else described to me the "lighting strikes twice" but from my POV - it's more likely to happen again just as lighting strikes repeatedly (Empire State Bldg is hit 25X annually on avg.) I'm told Tenormin is similar to met-suc so may not offer an advantage for me. I'll see what ECV can do and I'll follow all of my tightrope walking. Anything to stay off the table. Thanks for the best wishes.

NLAMA- you couldn’t had describe it any better. It is tightrope walking. I was sitting doing absolutely nothing (unlike Friday when I was digging ditches for irrigation and sweating like a pig) when suddenly tonight out of the clear I went into tachy. I took an iWatch ekg reading and clocked 20 seconds @157 hr before I saw a slight pause and I converted back to 58 hr. Maybe it was the flu shot today.

I’m walking a tightrope tonight AGAIN. I made plans for tomorrow and don’t want to start again with covid19 testing and following day another long drive for a ecv if my pre ablation MO tachy pattern continues with no self conversion. I’ve have had around 30 ecv—almost half for flutter or >200s AF hr. I have had enough....or at least want a long break from this cr*p.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2020 10:00PM by susan.d.

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susan.d
I was sitting doing absolutely nothing (unlike Friday when I was digging ditches for irrigation and sweating like a pig) when suddenly tonight out of the clear I went into tachy.

I've noticed most (if not all) of my afib episodes came while I was doing nothing (I mean : physically).
For some, doing nothing may be a bad option, but, hey, one can't spend one's whole lifetime moving around...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2020 04:34AM by Pompon.

Thank you so much for your response @ rocketritch Have you had a second ablation or are you still in perm AF? How old were you when you were first diagnosed. You waited 15 years before you had the 1st ablation. Sounds like you may have been pretty active...are you still pretty active these days?

Quote
Jeff W
Hi Ingrid,

You do sound conflicted still, maybe not fully ready?

Maybe a round of rededication to a cleaner diet, religious hydration and possibly no alcohol might be the next step? Really honing in on your triggers can be difficult but a very productive exercise. I would suggest starting with a 'clean slate' by just eating only natural and organic foods (no products with suspect additives) and no additional supplements (or alcohol). See if you can stabilize or reduce your afib first at this 'clean' baseline. I have been working with this for 15 years and making good progress. I likely will be needing an ablation at some point, but I feel the wait for improved treatments is wise; like Rocketritch was implying: you will know when it is time...

Just my 2 cents. And may you find calm and peace in the journey many of us are on - so hang in there. Even though it is frightening, there is much to learn about ourselves and our health through having afib that will ultimately be useful in our lives - if we are thoughtful and don't panic... I know it's easier said than done, but that seems to be the road of life we are all on. You are not alone...

Sincerely, Jeff

Thanks Jeff for your response. How long have you had AF for - 15 years now and how frequently do you have episodes? I may try to be even more diligent about my diet and no alcohol. I pretty much each only whole foods and organic when I can. I am a certified health coach so very into clean and healthy nutrition. I hear of successful ablation stories which makes me want to proceed with it rather than put it off if it is going to eventually be inevitable, but then I am also reading some horror stories about ablations. I'm still torn so maybe I need to postpone this to when I am 100% sure about it. Thanks for listening...

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
I am 10 weeks out from my ablation and right now having had one is the single worst decision of my life. I had a very bad time in hospital - was there 6 days, $300K + in bills so better have good insurance, and I am in flutter as I type loaded up with flecainide, diltiazem and eliquis. Getting another ECV this week and EP wants to do 2nd procedure which I am scared to death of based on first experience. Right now my heart and body feel irretrievably damaged.

I had persistent AF but other than that didn't affect me much. You seem to be one of those that might be able to manage this following George's or Steve's protocols or some mix.

With all of that said, this ECV might put me in NSR and flutter or AF never returns - but not holding my breath. Even if that happens, I'm months to years from saying "good thing I had that ablation".

Thanks NLAMAF for your response. I am hoping and praying you get some relief and can get past these challenges you are facing right now and heal and recover completely.

Quote
susan.d
Ingrid, have you tried flecainide? It stopped my af cold turkey for 5 years straight. I speculate I wouldn’t have had af five years later if it wasn’t for getting af while hooked up to two chemo drug IVs at the time. At least flecainide can buy you time to think about an ablation after there is a successful covid19 vaccine.

Thanks Susan for your response and no I have not tried Flec. I am trying to avoid meds all together due to side effects and I've also read that some can actually cause AF to get worse. Although the ablation also can have its own set of side effects and complications....its just not easy. Did you have side effects from taking flec?

My only side effects was one-I couldn’t go to sleep. Worst insomnia. I had to drug myself to sleep otherwise I would be wide awake until 5am and then doze off watching tv for 20 minutes here and there. It’s listed as a potential side effect. I happened to had gotten it.

FWIW i had zero side effects taking Flec but then again i only took it for, i think, about one week BID and then converted. After that i took 50mg only once a day at night for some months. I did stop for a few weeks in between but had an episode so i just take 50 mg every second day. Don't even know if that is effective pharmacologically but it may help with my mind?

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Joe
FWIW i had zero side effects taking Flec but then again i only took it for, i think, about one week BID and then converted. After that i took 50mg only once a day at night for some months. I did stop for a few weeks in between but had an episode so i just take 50 mg every second day. Don't even know if that is effective pharmacologically but it may help with my mind?

Thanks Joe - so have you not had any AF episodes since being on Flec?
Have you ever had an ablation?

Have you had a second ablation or are you still in perm AF? This past was #5. In NSR. I hope this is the last. I have LAA isolation and due to the size of my LAA Dr Natale has to used a different method of ablating it than he normally does. So it's a little trickier. Also due to the method he has to use he can't spend allot of time there at once.
How old were you when you were first diagnosed? Mid 20's. I was into body building at that time. I would notice the arrhythmia when at home resting in the evening. I got into cycling a couple years later. it wasn't long after that that the arrhythmia started presenting itself more. I would have anywhere from a few episodes to none in a years time early on. I had a good cardiologist.

Not at first mind you but I finally found one. He listened to me and gave me a good explanation of what was happening. It really didn't keep me from doing what I wanted to do in those early days. At every yearly visit we would talk about what I was doing and he would just mostly shake his head. I'm pretty sure he new where I was headed. And he probably did mention it once in a while. Especially during the years I had more issues. I have lots of stories from those days.

I only ever spoke to an EP once during those early years prior to my first ablation. At least I think he was. He was an observer at a stress test I was having done. That's another interesting story. Once the stress test nurse de-stressed herself after everything went sideways. He said he could fix me. Then he walked away never to be seen again.

I was 43 when I had my first ablation.

So it's 9 days since you posted, I'm curious whether you went ahead Ingrid?
I'm 50, i've been an elite athlete, first episode when i was 30, Paroxysmal AF, averaging AF every 2 months; episodes last at least 2 nights for me. I follow similar to George's protocol, and have been thru years where I had to have regular cardioversions, but now am starting to self-revert to NSR again (YAY). Only recently have put myself back on the 'list' (it could take 2 years to get to the top; australia's public health system, with covid delays). But I have an excellent reputable cardio doc who knows my reticence to drugs and surgeries: I made a deal with him that if i have fewer than 3 episodes this year, I won't go thru with ablation, but if i have more than 3, I will do it. I've changed my relationship to my body enormously in the last 4 years (I'm way kinder & gentler, tho still v fit) and I figure I can put up with 3 episodes a year without over impact on my loving life... but otherwise, bring on the ablation.

Wishing you NSR and health, either way!

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strongHeart
Only recently have put myself back on the 'list' (it could take 2 years to get to the top; australia's public health system, with covid delays). But I have an excellent reputable cardio doc who knows my reticence to drugs and surgeries: I made a deal with him that if i have fewer than 3 episodes this year, I won't go thru with ablation, but if i have more than 3, I will do it. I've changed my relationship to my body enormously in the last 4 years (I'm way kinder & gentler, tho still v fit) and I figure I can put up with 3 episodes a year without over impact on my loving life... but otherwise, bring on the ablation.

Great to see you are still doing well! How is your dad doing?

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
I'd look for triggers and see what taurine, ribose, magnesium, potassium might do for you. Maybe even flecainide PIP as your heart sounds structurally sound.

My local ep told me to stay clear of taurine. It has helped some here but I read stories here the past 16 1/2 years how taurine was an af trigger for some readers.

Regarding Taurine:

As we know and often acknowledge: what works for one, may not work for another, but there is support for Taurine in membrane stabilization.

Long ago, I learned from a webinar that taurine is an important nutrient. I tried it with success and subsequently, wrote a report about it in 2004 which is in the reference links below. It’s certainly worth consideration. I’ve continued using it as it has other health benefits as well..(discussed in the report).

Just an important reminder: An influence on the heart but not mentioned routinely here is exposure to non-thermal radiation - EMF’s from various electronic gadgets and sources including the more powerful 5G installations that have swept across the US. There are known associations to EMF exposure and heart irregularities and, again, there is an archived report (3 parts) on that topic quoting well-known PhD researchers who continue to write about the health risks of this exposure and how to minimize the effects.

An intro segment of that report, titled: Awareness Alert: Non-thermal EMF radiation Exposure and Arrhythmia - details why this is important to afibbers. If you haven’t assessed your exposure and your heart continues to be unsettled, think about the potentials.

Voltage Gated Calcium Channels - The Harmful Mechanism for Afibbers
The purpose of this report is to direct afibbers to Pall’s* findings of significant scientific evidence showing connections to non-thermal EMF effects and cardiac involvement related to Voltage Gated Calcium Channels or VGCCs.

Since afibbers have knowledge of the excitatory effects of excess calcium on heart cells as relates to AF, these findings help connect the dots to perhaps the ever-increasing incidence of arrhythmia diagnoses (compared to 20 years ago) as well as in increasingly-younger populations. The heart’s pacemaker cells are highly EMF sensitive. There are also other associated symptoms common in arrhythmia patients such as anxiety and sleep disruption (as well as many other health problems including both hyper and hypotension as an example.) Overall symptoms include neuropsychiatric effects from the VGCC’s excessive activity plus, fatigue, depression, memory and more. Additionally, the excessive oxidative stress produced that can damage mitochondria. If you are magnesium deficient, this amplifies the excessive activity of the VGCCs.

*(Martin L. Pall, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University, Portland, Oregon)

A number of years ago, Cardiologist, Stephen Sinatra, told about the severe reactions to EMF exposure that initially hospitalized his son and even then, because of so much EMF exposure in the hospital, his son worsened severely until he was completely isolated from that threat. It is a graphic, memorable story about excessive EMF exposure while working as a Wall Street brokerage firm trader.

A woman I know had to sell her home and move to a rural location because there was too much EMF activity in the area. It’s not that she had something specific in her home other than the standard utility wiring, (no smart meter and 5G hadn’t yet come into her area), but she was highly sensitive. She didn’t have AF but had many other symptoms that seemed a whole lot worse than Afib. A large number of people are sensitive to this exposure from Smart Meters and microwave ovens used often… wireless cell phones, laptops, smart watches and such that are always close at hand but people not be aware of the risks or can’t even consider changing habits.

Jackie


What About Taurine? [www.afibbers.org]

Taurine WITH L-arginine for arrhythmias [afibbers.org]

Awareness Alert: Non-thermal EMF Radiation Exposure and Atrial Fibrillation – 3 parts [www.afibbers.org]

The 5G Crisis – Awareness and Accountability Summit was filled with the science on how we are affected by this exposure.
You can follow the many online links to that – just search that title. At the weblink [the5gsummit.com] Josh del Sol offered a download titled 7 Essential Ways to Make Your Home Safe from 5G & EMF Radiation. Easy to read and definitely worth noting. Just a few of many detailed reports.


Here’s an example - a clip from Dr. Pall’s 5G Risk: The Scientific Perspective eBook

What are the cardiac effects discussed briefly above, that are produced by nonthermal
microwave frequency EMF exposures? The effects include tachycardia (rapid
heartbeat) where some people with apparent EHS, on blinded exposure to cordless
phone radiation have instantaneous tachycardia, an effect that is also essentially
instantaneously reversible on cessation of exposure [28,35,36]. So tachycardia can be an
almost instantaneous response to EMFs and it is sometimes also found with arrhythmia.
Prolonged exposures produce both arrhythmias and bradycardia (slow heart beat) [26-
30,32]. Similar EMF cardiac effects were seen in animal studies, with the earliest of
these going back to the late 1960s.

Some of the early studies on long-term EMF cardiac effects are listed in Table 2, below.
They show that such chronic exposures produce bradycardia and sometimes arrhythmia.
The early Soviet studies (labeled USSR) reported similar findings to those found in the
western studies (Table 2).
Table 2. Chronic Exposure, Non-Thermal EMF Cardiac Effects from NASA Review [26]

Arrhythmias, especially when they are accompanied by bradycardia, are often associated
with sudden cardiac death. We are having an epidemic of young, apparently healthy
athletes dying in the middle of an athletic competition of apparent sudden cardiac
death, which may, therefore be possibly caused by EMF exposures [39]. Some of these
individuals have been saved from death [39] and subsequently found to be suffering from
bradycardia and arrhythmias. Another type of cardiac effect is that when apparent EHS
people are exposed to Wi-Fi, cell phone, cell phone tower or smart meter radiation, they
are reported to suffer from heart palpitations. Each of these four types of cardiac effects,
tachycardia, arrhythmias, bradycardia and heart palpitations involve aberrations in the
electrical control of the heartbeat.

If you are unable to access these reports and would like a pdf copy, send me a PM with your email address and I’ll forward to you.

Just be aware that your EMF exposure/environment may be contributing to some of your heart irregularities.

Jackie -

What are your thoughts on l-citrulline compared to l-arginine ?

From what I've read the former is superior

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
Jackie -

What are your thoughts on l-citrulline compared to l-arginine ?

From what I've read the former is superior

NLAMAF…. As I recall, both are useful as the L-citrulline helps to ‘potentiate’ the L-arginine.

The two books I have as reference sources regarding NO production… are
No More Heart Disease by Louis J. Ignarro, PhD and Nobel Laureate in Medicine

[www.drignarro.com]
and The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution by Nathan S. Bryan, PhD and Janet Zand, OMD..

I’ll look up their statements about your question and try to post later today, hopefully.


Jackie

NLAMAF -

Here’s a couple of clips from No More Heart Disease book by Dr. Ignarro… There are more but remember,
this book was published in 2006 and undoubtedly much more has been published since then.
Jackie


Say Yes to NO Boosting Supplements…
In the program, I will be asking you to consume a specifically designed blend of nutraceutical cellular nutrients that include the following:

Protein is the major building material. When you eat protein-rich foods like red meat, fish, poultry, tofu, egg whites and nuts, the digestive enzymes in the small intestine break the protein down into its simplest forms, what are the many compounds called amino acids. L-arginine is one and L-citrulline is another.


• L-arginine is a naturally produced protein building block called an amino acid. L-arginine enhances blood flow and improves the activity of the endothelial cells because it is converted to NO in the body. Although L-arginine is found in some foods (red meat, fish, chicken, beans, soy, nuts) you cannot normally consume sufficient amounts in your diet from meals alone. SO I will be recommending that you take L-arginine supplements each day.

•A second amino acid, L-citrulline, is closely related to L-arginine and is found in many of the same protein-rich foods and also in melons. In your body, L-citrulline is converted into L-arginine, which in turn increases the production of NO. I will also be recommending that you take L-citrulline in supplement form.

After L-arginine is consumed in foods and in supplements, it makes its way into the bloodstream and circulates throughout the body. As it enters the endothelial cells that line the smooth muscle walls of the blood vessels. An enzymatic reaction occurs that then converts L-arginine to NO. As the levels of L-arginine rise in the body, so does your production of NO which in turn can have a dramatic and positive effect on your cardiovascular health.

Your Priceless Recycling Pathway: L-Arginine Meets L-Citrulline

When L-arginine is synergized with L-citrulline, nitric acid output is increased. There is a unique relationship between L-arginine and L-citrulline. For many years, scientists believed that L-arginine was not manufactured in the body and had to be obtained from functional foods and nutraceuticals. More recently, scientists have discovered that our bodies can, in fact, manufacture L-arginine through a synergistic interaction with L-citrulline, known as the L-citrulline/L-arginine recycling pathway. L-arginine present in the cells is converted into NO creating the byproduct L-citrulline in the process. The L-citrulline byproducts, along with any additional L-citrulline that has been introduced by means of food intake or supplements, can be converted back into L-arginine – which is then converted into more NO. This “turbo-charging’ effect of the L-citrulline/L-arginine recycling pathway can substantially increase NO production.

I want to be clear that it is extremely important for you to use the right combination that includes L-citrulline along with L-arginine in your supplement routine. There are a number of supplement packages on the market that are billed as NO-boosters but which do not contain L-citrulline. If you choose such a package, you will be missing out on the benefits you can gain from NO therapy. Be sure to check labels carefully on any packaged supplements to verify the ingredients are in line with any prescriptions in the rest of this chapter.

End of quoted material from No More Heart Disease,
How Nitric Oxide Can Prevent – Even Reverse = Heart Disease and Strokes
by Louis J Ignarro, PhD, C 2006

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
Jackie -

What are your thoughts on l-citrulline compared to l-arginine ?

From what I've read the former is superior

I see a small vessel disease (micro vascular disease) cardiologist who told me to STOP l-arginine because new studies ties this supplement with death. I was taking it for angina. The cardiologist moved out of state and her replacement also quoted the studies on the high risks of this supplement.

I don’t have the study in question. I never had a heart attack yet they both insisted not to continue taking it. Try google because there are a lot of hits but none I could find that could be fatal for women. A lot of women have small vessel disease and it’s undiagnosed. Female heart anatomy differs from male hearts and it’s not like uncommon to have
Small vessel disease.

[www.google.com]

[www.health.harvard.edu]

[www.mayoclinic.org]
[www.webmd.com]

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strongHeart
So it's 9 days since you posted, I'm curious whether you went ahead Ingrid?
I'm 50, i've been an elite athlete, first episode when i was 30, Paroxysmal AF, averaging AF every 2 months; episodes last at least 2 nights for me. I follow similar to George's protocol, and have been thru years where I had to have regular cardioversions, but now am starting to self-revert to NSR again (YAY). Only recently have put myself back on the 'list' (it could take 2 years to get to the top; australia's public health system, with covid delays). But I have an excellent reputable cardio doc who knows my reticence to drugs and surgeries: I made a deal with him that if i have fewer than 3 episodes this year, I won't go thru with ablation, but if i have more than 3, I will do it. I've changed my relationship to my body enormously in the last 4 years (I'm way kinder & gentler, tho still v fit) and I figure I can put up with 3 episodes a year without over impact on my loving life... but otherwise, bring on the ablation.

Wishing you NSR and health, either way!

Hi @strongHeart,

Sorry for my delayed response. Yes, I did go thru with the ablation on Nov 18th. It was a little more than I bargained for but I am feeling much better today and hoping to get thru the blanking period and get a result of a successful ablation and NSR...

I had a TEE done prior to my ablation (while I was under general anesthesia) and then I guess I went into Afib on the table. My Ep did the ablation and then had to cardiovert me back to NSR (I've never had that before but I was asleep).

In recovery I had to lay flat and not move for six hours to heal the groin site and I was in a lot of back pain. They finally were able to move me after six hours but the one groin site bled profusely and so they had to compress that and then again I had to lay flat for 6 hours so that was worse than anything!

Another thing is that my RHR increased to mid 60s up to 70s (normally low 40s at night) so that kept me up. However, my EP was happy about that but now my RHR is lower again (43-53) at night. Not sure if that is normal or not or has to do with the meds I am on??

I am on a few meds for 30 days (not crazy about that as I have not taken any meds prior to this except Diltiazem on demand when I had an episode). I’m taking Multaq (antiarrythmia) & Eliquis for 30 days, plus she has me taking meds Sulcralfate and Pantoprozole I guess for esophogus healing. I guess that can be an issue from the TEE I had prior to the ablation plus the ablation itself.

I have had a few runs of PACs or fast heart beats(?) - maybe 5-10secs but no Afib episodes (knock on wood). I also had an MRI on my heart after the procedure that I am waiting on results for.

I feel pretty good not so it is difficult as I want to get back to my normal routine of running and spin class, weight lifting etc., but I'm trying to take it easy and not rush into it.

Anyway - good luck to you in your decision. If it takes 2 years to get to the top of the list, you may want to get on it now and then see how you do over the next two years and hopefully you can continue to manage it and your episodes don't increase, but if they do, then you can go thru with it.

Wishing you much health and NSR!

Glad your doing well ingrid. I can sympathize with your 6 hours turning into 12 hours on your back. I went through that back in 2009 which was long before the collogen plugs they use today.

I'm curious as to why they didn't use them for your ablation. Also, the fact that you had a organic even during your procedure is a good thing.

Your resting heart rate returning to your lower rate is most likely due to the meds your on. A higher rate following an ablation is normal. So are that PAC's.

Hi Ingrid,

Here’s hoping everything goes well for you post-ablation. I had mine 5.5 years and it was the best decision I ever made. I went from daily episodes to virtually symptom free. Life changing. I know that’s not everyone’s experience and I expect I may need another at some point but whatever happens, I have had 5 and a half years of my life back.

Hoping the best for you.

Monty

Monty - thank you so much for your message! I am so glad to hear that news. I hope I have the same success as you did...May you continue to be in NSR!