Yet another blanking period question!

Greetings all

Hope you are in good health. So, two weeks to the day of my ablation, I came back from a walk and noticed a strange rumbling - familiar and dreaded - and I have now been in afib for a few hours. It seems much less turbulent than before the ablation which is good but I am a bit bummed about it, TBH!

I know all this is possible during the blanking period and does not indicate success or otherwise. However, my knee-jerk response is to ask the forum. Any reassurances or perspective on this welcome

Thanks

EB

What afib meds are you on and for how long?

Thanks Ken

1.25mg Bisporolol daily. Been on them for a few years. Im on Eliquis for 6 weeks now with another 6 weeks to do. Thats it.

I think Im moving between an afib and a flutter experience today......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2021 09:41AM by ElectroBlu.

It's not surprising at all. It's almost to be expected, and as you know it says nothing about the success of your procedure, especially at this early date. In fact, having been in normal rhythm since your procedure without an antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) is a very good sign. Many, perhaps most, people require some sort of AAD during the first few weeks after an ablation. If it happens again, you might want to talk to your EP about prescribing something.

ElectroBlu

Cary followed through with my question.

By this time (2 weeks post ablation) i was having my 6th ARR....then 1 more 1 month later then never again for 2.5 years so far...... Your scars have not fully healed yet so they can still be jumped..... its like the bad electricity is able to walk through a dry bed river or partially filled one...once the scars fully heal the bad electricity will be stuck on 1 side of the now FULL raging river.
The time to get bummed is around July if this happens again....2 weeks in your laughing...don't sweat it.

Thank you Carey, Ken and vanlith for the perspectives. Its really appreciated. I finally converted to NSR after 20 hours!!! I like the idea of a full raging river keeping the wild electricity at bay!!! Bring it on please!

Hey there everyone. Hope you are keeping well.

So, i'm still finding my beat in the blanking period and its not been completely smooth sailing. Tomorrow marks the 4th week since my ablation in the UK. In this time, ectopics seem to have stopped but all in all I have had two long afrib episodes (14-20 hours) and two short episodes (less than 5 minutes). All have converted on their own. The last long episode was 3 days ago and it left my HR elevated up from 75 to 85 for 60 hours. The short episode happened last about 20 minutes ago.

I think stress and feeling my feelings too strongly in my body does not help - if that makes sense. I don't know why I am posting here but maybe it gives me a sense of trying to do something to completely fix my afib. I am still early in my blanking period so I remain hopeful and the episodes and intensity has diminished so all that is good and I need to be grateful for that.

Be healthy all you people out there

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ElectroBlu
I think stress and feeling my feelings too strongly in my body does not help - if that makes sense.

It makes perfect sense. Stress triggers the release of adrenaline, the "fight or flight" hormone. Adrenaline amps up your heart and your whole body, and that promotes afib. There's really not much else that's worse for afib than adrenaline.

Finding good stress reduction techniques that work for you is worth your time and there are plenty of totally free, safe choices that don't involve drugs or doctors.

I hopped on a treadmill 8 days after my ablation, ran about 3 miles, and was in AF. Didn’t notice it until I got off the thing and realized my HR was high and not coming down. Radial pulse check was irregular. Oops.

I just overdid things a little bit. It meant absolutely ZILCH in the long term. Don’t worry.

Carey - much appreciate the input and wisdom. I'm starting to use 4-7-8 breathing as a circuit breaker when I feel the stress rising!


wolfpack - thanks for the insight and perspective. Very reassuring - but I do not know how you hopped on a treadmill so quick after an ablation!!! For 10 days, I kinda felt like I was hit by a truck! Good it had no longterm impact on you!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2021 05:04PM by ElectroBlu.

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ElectroBlu
I do not know how you hopped on a treadmill so quick after an ablation!!!

Easy. I’m an idiot.

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ElectroBlu
Good it had no longterm impact on you!

Oh, idiocy probably will.

Hey everyone

Hope you are all doing as well as can be. Just thought to give an update.

I have not had an episode in three weeks now. This is the longest gap without an episode for nearly 3 years. Just before my ablation I was having around 3 episodes a week and it was seriously getting me down.

For anyone reading this and thinking of an ablation, I would definitely go for it. I thought it was the absolute last treatment option but actually, its been the best - again, Im being cautiously optimistic as its still early days!!

Anyway, this is really to say that Im still here reading the posts and will lean on this community if I need to. In the meanwhile, wishing you all the very best of health - and thanks to all so far for your support, information and reassurances. It really helps!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2021 08:51AM by ElectroBlu.