Hi everyone , not been on for a while am hoping all keeping well ,i had three cardio versions in the month of December !

[231166den]

And have now been referred to the Bristol heart institute for an ablation as my consultant said he had gone done all routes he could with me and I had not responded to treatment, and although have had a couple of af bouts have flicked back into nsr without hospital treatment thankgod. am in nsr with the help of amiodarone daily and verapermil, still taking warfarin as well , would like to ask when you have an ablation are you awake or asleep? Being awake is a really scary idea to me, also what roughly are the time scales for appt to treatment that other people have experienced. Many thanks for any advice given x

[MammaCass]

Hi, I'm with Edward Duncan at Bristol Heart, my ablation hopefully will be in the next few months, when I saw him in November I was told that the waiting list was 9 months but was coming down very quickly , so should be about 5 - 6 months by the time it was my turn. They are going to put me out, but I have spoken to others who have been awake for the procedure, I guess it's a matter of preference. So want to get it over and done with now! Good luck for your procedure. Cass

[231166den]

Thank you for your reply and Ed Duncan is who I will be seeing I have been told. Hopefully like you I will be asleep , good luck with your procedure too , keep me posted , fingers crossed for us both will be sucessfull for us both x

[Kimmieblue]

Hello to you both, I just had to reply as I too am under Mr Duncan at the BHI. I have had two ablations, the second worked well and I have been much better although it only cured the flutter not the AF, Mr Duncan had already explained that to me. I am due at outpatients in two weeks for monitoring my AF so not sure about whether I will need to stay on the meds, I expect I will as I do get the flare ups and can be in AF for days at a time. I wish you both well, let us know how you go on. X

[Hidden]

I had sedation not aware of too much have since had surgical ablation whilst having open heart surgery. Ablation as day case was nothing too scary good luck

[oltimer]

Your consciousness will be `dimmed` & you will be unaware of much at all , although on my last ablation I waved to the consultant who I recognised & he was sat at his console behind a glass screen & he had to shout at me to `Stop waving my arms about!`.

I would expect to have extensive bruising around the right groin area following the procedure .

`Mapping ` takes place first - which you will be unaware of and the focus of the `unwanted` signals are located and ablated & `presto` you should be back in Sinus Rhythm . Some times the area `Ablated` heals over after a time` & starts to emit `unwanted signals` to the atria to contract & you become aware of it & have to have a repeat of the procedure again.

Best to you.

Oltimer

[231166den]

Thank you for your responses, will let you know how all goes , best wishes alll x

[weezergeezer]

231166den

I understand your concerns, I can only advise you on my ablation, which was done at St Barts , London last year, I was between two worlds the conscience and unconscious, not to sure what they give you but while there being treated there is no pain, you may feel them moving around and perhaps hear them talking in the background on occasion, but honestly I was there some 2-3 hours and it felt like 10 minutes, if on the day you find yourself in Afib don’t worry that would be a bonus as far as there concerned, as they then can see what area needs more treatment…….good luck

[Dodie117]

I had ablation in November under general anaesthetic. Op lasted over 4 hours but I felt fine after. Only a little bruising. For about 2 months after I still had flutters/ af and various odd beats. I have had nothing for over a month so hoping it has worked. I am off all meds except warfarin. Ask for ga and good luck with it all

[CDreamer]

I had ablation under sedation/anaesthesia of remifentamil (a neuromuscular blocker, a narcotic) & Midazolam which is a sedative which creates amnesia. The effect was very much like weezergeezer's experience, in and out of consciousness and a stretching/shortening of time. To begin with it felt like being very inebriated. The advantage of these drugs is they have a very short half life so that you don't have the GA to recover from which can take weeks. I was eating my dinner 15 minutes after the 5hour 45 min procedure. I didn't want to be awake to remember the TOE (Trans oesophegus echocardiagram) but I don't remember a thing about that. The whole experience was just SO much better than I had imagined that I am repeating the experience next week! (Not through choice, I can assure you!) I think it is very natural to be resistant to someone poking around inside your heart, but if it takes away the AF and enables me to live my life again, you know what - I'll take it.

It seems that whether you have sedative or GA depends upon the surgeon, the anaethetist and you the patient.

[moggdog]

hi den . ive had 2 ablations done by dr duncan . you will find that hes a real confident capable guy . i was really scared while waiting 2 go in the cath lab . but he came out and spoke to me and told me what he was going to do .and put my mind at rest . if need be mate i would have another 2 done . so good luck and try not 2 stress.....moggy

[231166den]

Thank you so much for the advice and support, it feels v reassuring to have heard positive responses on ga and sedation(which has eleveated some of my stress) and also responses on others that have been seen and had ablations performed with the same consultant I am seeing , feeling a bit more positive so thank you again, well wishes to everyone x