In Hospital. .....sigh Heart I s fluttering....

Well my luck has ran out I am in afib flutter. My heart is all over the place. They hot my heart rate down from 140 90 with Cardizem by IV but my heart rate is fluctuating.
I will call Austin tomorrow

Any suggestions? I am sick about this. I was doing so well with my heart.

5 mg Valium a day as needed.
20 mg Prozac daily
15 mg Prevacid a day
60 cc shot of Testosterone Cypionate every 10 days. Testosterone is low due to schedule two narcotics.
.5 mg Arimidex 2x a week to keep Estrogen levels in check. T shots can cause rise in Estrogen.

100 mg Metoprolol ER 1x a day
25 mg HydroDiuril fluid pill 1x a day every 2 days.
Neurontin 900mg a day (for Neuropathic pain IC/CPPS)
800 mg of Magnesium daily . Different types
81 mg aspirin 1X a day. Heart Doctor order due to stent installed in Jan. 2012.
2.5 mg Eliquis 2X a day

Miralax 1x a day for constipation issues. I have tried so many different methods for Constipation since 2008. Fiber is in my diet but to much Fiber really Constipates me.




25 mg/hcr Fentanyl.patch changed every 2 days

1st ablation done Feb. 27, 2014 for Long term persistent AFIB Dr. Natale
2nd Ablation done June 16,2016 Dr. Natale LAA isolated

Sorry to hear the news, but it's classic. Austin makes sense.

Nick

Smackman,

Sorry to here about the flutter but keep in mind you had long-standing persistent AFIB for an unknown but over a year of duration and have now enjoyed over two years of arrhythmia-free living from a single ablation by Dr Natale! That is robust success as the first step of your expert ablation process! The vast majority of those who started out having had LSPAF , even if they were able to reduce or control the episodes with drugs and/or cardioversion for some time prior to the index ablation, will require a minimum of two procedures with the second being a relatively straight forward follow up though not infrequently requiring LAA isolation to really button down the hatches.

The solution is simple. Call Shirley or Curry or who ever your NP is at Austin and pencil in for that touch up that I've expected you would need sooner or later Smackman having started from LSPAF even though you had it partially controlled with drugs before hand.. Especially considering all the co-factor health issues you have had as well.

This procedure will almost invariable be much simpler for you and easier to walk through not only due to far less ablation being done, but you now know what to expect and know how skilled all the folks are in Austin which is a huge peace of mind factor.

It's totally understandable to feel that initial disappointment but put that feeling aside too pretty quickly in the understanding that this is totally par for the course for many afibbers to need that touch-up at some point, and for LSPAF cases it's usually much sooner than after over two years of freedom from the beast.

Your initial two years of freedom after a single index ablation shows what a great foundation was laid down as the basis for very long term success.. You just need go in for a bit of a trim behind the ears so to speak and you'll be even more stable and solid going forward than you've felt these first great two years. It is not in any way a failure, it's utterly expected in a case like yours in particular.

Before you know it the touch up is over and relaxing at home again!

Cheers!
Shannon



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2016 11:41PM by Shannon.

Thanks for the suggestions. My wife went home and brought back the linq monitor so it will transmit tomorrow morning.
I will call Curry in the morning and get the team in Austin to look at the transmission.
I will definitely go back to Austin.
I am currently on a Cardizem drip and my heart is back in rhythm as of now.

Smackman,
Have no fear Superman is near!
I too was shot thru the heart with high rate flutter after 2.5.years in blissful NSR with not as much as a hint of trouble on Dec 1.
My heart rate took off and I waited 5, 10, 15, mins, then 1 2 3 4 5 6 hours to stop but it was off to the races lasted 36 days till I got Zapped again.

Totally devastated , not expecting a first attack would last 35 days but rather a few mins at first......but NO! 35 days!
So I contact Superman and his sidekick Jimmy Olsen and I was in Austin Texas on Super Tuesday for a touch-up...it was actually 31 min of burn time finishing up with a LAA isolation.

To be honest I think it was a dream, Dorothy and Toto were there and Shannon somehow appeared in the EP Lab and when I woke up he fed me a cherry Popsicle.

Next day I was summoned to wander over to The Texas State Cemetery, just up the road, from St David's and was soon in the presence of "The Legend" Seal Team 3 Cris Kyle where I payed my respects to this great American.Hero- Texas Tough!
I believe The Devil of Ramadi CK was on over-watch the day of my ablation at St Davids, providing cover during my abaltion.
Next thing I know I was at the Alamo 85 miles away........

Toto was it a Dream....sure seems like it was

McHale



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2016 03:52AM by McHale.

Smackman,

Alost the same thing happened to me. I went on Sotalol for a few months and it kept the rate under control to the point I didn't feel the flutter.
Went back to Dr. Natale. NSR for 18 months and counting after the second ablation.

This afib may be a lifetime long battle. Or, Dr. Natale may fix it permanently with a second ablation.

Hang in there.

Don

Smackman,

Had a similar experience in 2013. Spent a day in the local hospital. They dosed me with metoprolol and diltiazem, I never got below 150 all day. Their cardiologist visited me a couple of times recommending a pacemaker. I requested they call the EP's at CPMC and they ignored me. I checked out, still at 150 BPM. The cardiologist removed my driving privileges as a parting gift. I went home, called CPMC and talked to Salwa I believe. She adjusted my medications and I reverted to a normal heart rate within an hour or so and felt much better. I then spoke to the scheduler at CPMC and she got me in for a second procedure with Dr. Natale in about two weeks. Dr. Natale restored my driving privileges as soon as he heard what happened. It's really tough to have to deal with cardiologists who are ignorant of the details of afib treatment and won't be bothered to call someone who is an expert and has all the records of your condition and treatment on hand. My god that was frustrating.

McHale: That was great, made my day! Andrea Natale is as close to a superhero as I ever expect to meet in my lifetime. And Salwa Beheiry as close to an angel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2016 04:28AM by Mike E.

My Cardiologist wants me to take Multaq, Cardizem and eliquis for now. I called in to a Nurse educator and got Shirley. She called me back later on and said they do not think I should take Multaq because they want to see if I convert back on my own.
I used Multaq years ago and It never converted me. They feel Multaq at this point is overkill and I agree. Now I must discuss this with my Cardiologist or just not get the Multaq filled.
I have faith in Dr. Natale and his associates. I just want to do this the right way.

I thought they might nix the Multaq at first Smackman just to see if it might convert on its own, but keep that date for the follow up in any event when you have it set.

Cheers!
Shannon

I am out of the Hospital as of Wed night. I am on Multaq, Eliquis and 120 mg Cardezem ER .
I also am continuing my 25 mg of Metroprol ER.
My Cardiologist insisted I needed to take Multaq before the Cardioversion. I called Austin and have talked to Shirley,Curry and Norma. They ask me if my Cardiologist would give his cell number to call him and discuss my situation. He did without hesitation. Austin will call him.
Austin feels I should have been Cardioverted immediately or even now by doing a tee to make sure everything around my heart is okay. They feel it's possible this was maybe a one time freak happening but if not it is definitely coming from the left hand side.
I am monitoring my blood pressure. Today it is 102/61 with sitting heart rate at 67. I am tired but will go to Austin when they give me the green light. Austin has been in contact with me faithfully.

Like we discussed on the phone Smackman, your cardio's assumption that your flutter is a right sided simple CT flutter is very unlikely. Only if it self-converted quickly would that have been in the cards. But the large majority of the time a post ablation flutter as I noted is a left-sided atypical flutter that more rarely will convert on its own and the vast majority of the time requires ECV and waiting around 3 weeks when just doing a TEE could clear the decks for an immediate cardioversion would have been the way to go.

This is what happens when depending on a well-meaning cardiologist who is not too familiar with the nuances of post ablation follow-up. Hopefully, they can get you ECVed before the full three weeks after he talks to Shirley or Dr Natale. In any event its not the end of the world if you have to stay in a rate controlled flutter for 3 weeks but its just not the preferred ideal in terms of remodeling, but its not like you are in for another 6 months of solid flutter before the follow up ablation which will put the genie back in the bottle for sure. Especailly based on how well you havbe done the first two full years after your index persistent AFIB ablation.

Take care,
Shannon