When to decide the time is right for an ablation?

I'd be curious to learn from others as to when you decided the time was "right" to have an ablation. It seems to me that a cardioversion is just a quick fix with only a short term success record. Have most people had multiple cardioversions and then finally decided to have an ablation for a possible longer term successful outcome? Thank you for any information you may have. -Chuck-

I think the basic answer is how much you stand to gain by being back in normal rhythm, or the level of negative impact afib has on your lifestyle. For some, afib is an inconvenience, but it's debilitating for others.

Also, the more time you are in afib, the more likely the heart will stay in afib because of modeling. If you only have episodes a few times a year, there is probably no rush to get an ablation. On the other hand, if it is a few times a month, then an ablation may be a good call.

I had afib for 11 years, the first five undiagnosed. I finally had a successful ablation 5 years ago because there were things I wanted to do and afib got in the way. I only had one cardioversion for the 11 years because I aways self converted and that was soon after I was diagnosed. My Dr felt that since I was in excellent health, we would avoid cardioversion and see if I converted, which I always did.

For me it was the relentless progression to persistent afib. With the supplement protocols and careful diet I had a remission of 6 months and reduced the number of incidents, but my autonomic nervous system was now becomming a major problem. Even though I would self-convert it was evident the problem was affecting more than just my heart. I could no longer tolerate many normally benign kinds of foods (triggers) and finally went into persistent afib after contracting a bacterial infection. After 12 years of progression it was time. Amazingly, my ANS problems seem to have vanished after the ablation I had 8 weeks ago - so I as I suspected, the ANS wasn't the problem, evidently the heart had become hyper-sensitive to ANS input.

I didn't need any cardioversion, just took Flec+Dilt as a PIP to convert (quickly as a rule), but was getting 10 or so episodes per month and figured I'd get an ablation. It obviously wasn't going to get any better without intervention. That was about 10 weeks ago now. So far so good.

Should age be considered? If the condition continues to advance, then it may become debilitating at an age where one or more ablation procedures will be more difficult to tolerate and less successful. If that age point is approaching, and the episode frequency is increasing maybe it's best to not wait.