hopeful

I had my 2nd ablation for afib/flutter on Halloween (first was in mid May.). This time I had lots of palpitations and tachycsrdia and a few Kardia afib readings early on. I started diltiazem for the HR. A 14 day Zio just showed no afib..just rare SVT and early beats. EP said I can try stopping the diltiazem If I want to. Still taking Eliquis. fingers crossed.

Hope it goes well. Probably will. Diltiazem doesn't actually prevent afib, so you'll probably be okay with that.

Good luck to you. I hope your record daily eventually shows no unwanted activity. Not too much to hope for..?

I stopped the diltiazem....all was fine for a week..HR higher than it was before ablation but under 100 at rest..now i am having some episodes of tachycardia (100-120) in the evenings....still no sign of afib recurrence...I would prefer not to go back on the diltiazem but I will check with the EP. Ablation was ten weeks ago. Thoughts?

How often do these episodes occur and how long do they last?

One night last week it bounced around but was mostly above 100 for 2 hours, then I fell asleep and Apple watch told me I had 3 episodes lasting more than 10 minutes each above 110 bpm...that has not happened before. A few nights later (before bed) I had a 15 minute episode above 100, and then last night about 30 minutes before bed. Asleep 70s-80s except for that one time last week.

I wouldn't worry about it for now. Give it another month and see if it calms down. If not, talk to the doc and they'll probably want to fit you with a monitor to see what's what, but I don't think it's going to do you any harm for now.

Thanks, Carey
The EP nurse suggested I try a 30mg IR diltiazem when I have palpitations, but bwefore I even tried this last nignt my Apple Watch said I had afib (for the first time in 6 weeks). So discouraged. I have a followup call with EP February 10.

The Apple Watch can misinterpret runs of ectopics as afib. Kardia can do the same.

How long did it last?

not sure...I felt palpitations but HR was in 80s on watch and had 2 afib readings about 20 minutes apart on watch,,,,couldn't get readings on Kardia (unreadable) except for one tachycardia on Kardia 109 bpm in between the 2 watch afib readings!

Doesn't sound like it was sustained afib. Wait to get an opinion from your EP and try not to be so discouraged in the meantime. All is not lost and your ablation is probably perfectly fine.

The EP wants me to try flecainide with the diltiazem... says it might help determine the nature of my new episodes of tachycardia and also might make me feel better. and that we could consider yet another ablation perhaps with me awake this time.. I had stopped the ER diltiazem and then went back on it (30 mg IR) as needed) when I started getting new episodes of sinus tachycardia, it worked great for a few days. Had to take one every other day or so but then every day and now one pill doesn't work I have to take 2. I am afraid of the flecainide, but at this point I'm thinking maybe I should give it a try.. not so hopeful these days

There's no reason to fear the flecainide. A zillion of us here take it or have taken it and problems are extremely rare. I'm not sure what your doc is thinking saying it may help to identify the issue, but I would go along with what they want to do. It won't hurt you and might help.

But the repeat ablation? Let's talk privately before you go down that path, okay?

Thank you!