Update 1 week after my ablation

Hello everyone,

I had my ablation last Wed 5-6-15 with Dr. Natale here in SF at CPMC. All went well with the procedure and there were no major complications. Dr. Natale was able to return me to NSR, which was a great relief. My recovery so far has been pretty smooth minus what I would expect to be normal healing. I have, however, lost NSR this Tues or Wed 4-12/13 one week post-ablation, and am now in Atrial Flutter as reported by my LifeWatch device.

Dr. Natale's office has scheduled a cardioconversion for me on Monday with another EP in the office. This was the first appointment and I was told that was ok as I'm on Eliquis and have a normal heart rate. BTW: I was also put on Multaq post-ablation. I'm assuming that Dr. Natale is back in Austin or he would have performed it? Is there anything that I need to be aware of as this will be my first cardioconversion. It will be with Dr. Hao here at CPMC. Do I need to apply the same degree of discretion for choosing the doctor to perform the cardioconversion as I did in selecting Dr. Natale for the ablation? How risky of a procedure is this?

Que

No problem at all Que, Flutter conversion in the first couple weeks is not at all uncommon, even with what often turns out to be perfectly good one and done procedures.

You had persistent AFIB at a young age of 45, but so far have been able to avoid LAA isolation.Dr Hao can do the ECV blindfolded while juggling boiling eggs...

Dr Natale likely would not have been the one doing a ECV even had he been there, as he is usually too busy with higher up duties when others there are perfectly capable of doing a perfect ECV job.

Heck, I could do a decent ECV on you with very good results at this stage of my experience, having undergone 16 of the buggers and more than a few times having to instruct a few local small town ER docs on the finer points of the procedure..... getting shocked when they failed to put you to sleep properly ( as happened to me on my last ECV before getting my touch up ablation which so far has but an end to any such repeated needs, has a way of making you really focus on all the steps and make sure the personnel are doting their 'i's' and crossing their 'T's' :-)

You will be perfectly fine with Dr. Hao and its a piece of cake. Ill call you from Amsterdam after you are done.
Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2015 03:30PM by Shannon.

Thanks Shannon! You always are so helpful and kind. It's really appreciate it. I'll be at the hospital until around 3pm pacific time if you want to call. The ECV is early in the morning. Feel free to Skype too. My phone has Skype on it. If you search for my name you should find me easily. Otherwise regular phone is fine too.

Q

Hi Everyone,

Well, it looks like I returned to NSR on my own. I went in to the hospital for my cardioconversion today and the nurse did an EKG and found that I was in NSR. Dr. Hao confirmed this so they sent me home.

I would like to be able to tell on my own. Unfortunately, I don't get heart palpitations when I'm out of NSR. My primary symptom is an elevated rate and fatique. I have the AliveCor device. Unfortunately, it said I was in NSR even though the LifeWatch device Dr. Natale's office gave me was saying otherwisre.

Any thoughts?
Que

Que - Very glad you didn't need the cardioversion.

You can't tell by your wrist pulse or even with a very light touch on the artery in your temple or carotid artery?

I know a person with permanent arrhythmia who doesn't notice it either, but if I check the wrist or carotid (very light touch so as not to stop the blood flow)... I can feel it with my fingertips.

Best to you for continuing NSR.

Jackie

Hi Que,

I also had an ablation with Dr. Natale at CPMC over a year ago and have been afib free. I have the Omron hcg-801 portable ECG monitor that I used to take readings prior to sending in my Lifewatch readings. The readings always matched.

In addition whenever I had an appointment with Dr Natale or my cardiologist I always took an ECG on the Omron prior to their giving me a 12 lead ECG and the readings always matched.

Except for fatigue I had no symptoms when in afib so I purchased the Omron to see if I was in afib prior to running as I did not want to exercise while in afib. I later received the Alivecor as a gift and found it an excellent device as well although I preferred using the Omron.

With practice I was able to feel my pulse and determine if I was in afib.

Allan

.

Hi Jackie and Allan,

Very good suggestions. Thank you. I will look into these.

All the best,
Que

Hello everyone,

I received my Extatest results today. Everything was within range except for Intracellular Levels: Magnesium, which was 32.9L with a normal reference range of 34-42. The recommendation is 900mg Mag Glycinate 2x/day divided doses + 900 mg Citracal 2x/day. Actually, it's hard to tell if they are saying 2x or 3x.

Does this recommendation jibe with the groups?

Also, otherwise I'd doing well. Back in NSR and feeling good. Walking lots but a little slow to do the hills in SF. I have had some ocular migraines and saw my Optometrist today who explained they were likely do to poor circulation and a likely result of the new prescriptions (Eliquis and Multaq). Any thoughts on these ocular migraines? They aren't painful but make it hard to read.

Finally, do I need to be checked for toxicity as a result of taking Multaq? I recall hearing that once.

Thank you,
Q

Que - Glad you had the Exatest. Not surprising that you are low in magnesium since most afibbers are. Once you begin to supplement and then actually 'hold on to' the magnesium (intracellularly) you should notice that your migraines diminish significantly as migraines are a classic sign/symptom of Mg deficiency. Do a Google search on migraines and magnesium deficiency...lots of supportive info.

I would caution you as you begin the magnesium supplementation to start with a low dose and gradually ramp up the intake as you become acclimated to it.... watch out for bowel tolerance issues since getting diarrhea will be counterproductive. Magnesium citrate is well known to cause loose stools quickly so go easy on that form and focus on the magnesium glycinate... start with a low dose such as 200 mg at one time. It can take 3 - 6 months or longer to replete the intracellular levels of magnesium.

As further explanation for optimizing magnesium stores, refer to this report [www.afibbers.org]

Jackie