post-ablation SVTs and fatigue

I am 9 months post-ablation (a quite extensive one) and although I am no longer in afib (hallelujah!) I now have fairly frequent short SVTs, and have had two episodes of aflutter requiring cardioversion. I'm scheduled for a second ablation to deal with the flutter and SVTs, and meanwhile am trying to get as fit as possible by going for daily 30 minute walks. What concerns me is the level of fatigue I still feel. I had to give up walking at all for over a week because I just didn't have the strength. I can now do it again but it's an effort. I am 73, but was quite healthy and reasonably energetic before all this started. I am not on any cardiac-related medication apart from a blood thinner and statin.

Has anyone else experienced fatigue either with SVTs or lasting this long after an ablation?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2021 08:58PM by MargeW.

Hi Marge. Is the flutter right or left? Are svt s confirmed on ekg? As ive stated before i had strong fatigue from taking ppi s but one stopped fatigue ended. Ive talked to people that have fatigue from statins but ill assume youve been on them prior. Is it possible the flutter and svt are the same tachycardia? Right flutter a piece of cake. Left is not. So your flutter emerged following the afib ablation?
Tom

Quote
MargeW
Has anyone else experienced fatigue either with SVTs or lasting this long after an ablation?

Yes, I have, but the fatigue was only present when I was actually in flutter (flutter is a form of SVT). Does this fatigue persist when you're in normal rhythm?

Thanks for responding. The SVTs are confirmed by a 2-week monitor, but I don't know where in the heart the flutter originates. It was detected before the ablation, but I never previously had long runs of it as I have recently. Yes, I've been taking statins for years with no problems.

Thanks for replying. The fatigue doesn't coincide with SVTs; it lasts much longer. And I'm confident that I'm not having long bouts of aflutter during the day, since I can normally feel it. But it's possible, I guess, that I'm experiencing flutter when I'm asleep and am then fatigued the day after.

I'm very skeptical that you're having flutter at night and then it goes away before you awake and leaves you feeling tired. That's just too narrow of a set of circumstances, and flutter doesn't usually leave lasting fatigue anyway. A recording with something like a Kardia during one of these periods of fatigue would rule out arrhythmias as the cause. I would do that first since you don't even need to involve a doctor.

If you rule that out, I'd look at the statins. They are known to cause fatigue, especially in women, and just because they didn't for you in the past doesn't mean that can't change. Here's a short article about statins and fatigue.

You could rule out the statins by stopping them for a couple of weeks. They're not essential daily meds so two weeks won't do you any harm.

Marge,

I would agree with Carey, look at the statin. Maybe take a break from them (advise your doctor first) and see if that makes a difference - it very well could...

Good luck,

Jeff

Thanks to Carey and Jeff W. I did try stopping the statin for 2 weeks and I don't think it has made a lot of difference so I'm resuming it. My fatigue may have to do with the digestive problems I've also developed. I'm really hoping my heart function was not compromised by the ablation (though even if it was I don't regret the ablation: life was much worse beforehand.)

I'm glad you were at least able to rule out one cause, and I seriously doubt your ablation caused any sort of compromise of your heart function. Ablations generally just don't do that. Digestive issues could definitely be part of it.

Marge W.

Definitely consider the statin influence. It may take longer than 2 weeks to start noticing a difference.

Years ago, my taking statins caused, permanent, muscle damage...mainly leg muscles. I didn't even have a cholesterol problem, but at the time, statins were the new, 'must use' med and my doctor said, 'good idea to stay healthy.'

Jackie