Ablation

[shirlygirly]

Just a question thats been bothering me since I saw EP on Tuesday, he

obviously started out by asking how id been, 10 weeks post ablation.

Well the first month was fine but then the rapid heartbeat began and

gradually picked up and I began to get short runs of af which then led

to a 2 hour attack on Christmas day. The familiar feeling of lethargy has

begun again and no energy plus rapid heartbeat on exertion. He then

suggested a 2nd ablation would be the best plan to tidy up "loose ends"

and he didnt expect it to take long. Well thats fine as far as Im

concerned but my question is surely he wouldnt take my word for it,

would there have been "signs" on the ECG I had done before I saw him.

The question is long and drawn out but I felt I had to explain my query

fully, sorry for that. Somehow it bothers me that he would just take my

word for it. He did say they would normally wait 3 months but 10 weeks

was near enough. Shirley.

[davegm]

Hi Shirlygirly

Its a good question and one I may feel I could be asking myself!

i had an ablation in June and since the first two weeks or so have not had anything I can pinpoint as AF. But I am still experiencing skipped beats and very short runs of "palpitations". these are few and far between.

I see the EP again next week as I am not sure whether these are groups of ectopics together (they only last a few seconds) or very short runs of AF. Before the ablation I did have short runs of AF recorded on the event recorder which I thought were ectopics. I'll be asking the questions next week

I hope your second ablation is carried out quickly and is a complete success.

[shirlygirly]

Thats exectly it although the long attack of af was real and identifiable

sometimes its easy afterwards on brief attacks to question yourself. As

it happens I had to contact the hospital today as I didnt know how long

the waiting list was, Im told its still about 12 weeks, as before, so at least

I will have a clearer picture by then. I trust my EP implicately its my

judgement in question. Thanks for your imput its reassuring to know

other people have these doubts. Shirley.

[Hidden]

I had a follow-up ablation for tiny amount of AF that had returned. But when they went in, the AF had done a bunk and they couldn't even stimulate it with drugs like they normally do, so they didn't actually ablate anything. They seemed very surprised, so guess that doesn't happen very often.

I don't see why he or she wouldn't just take your word for it. Would someone lie to get an ablation they don't need? Suppose it's possible but unlikely.

Having a 2nd ablation to "nip it in the bud" as my EP put it, is quite normal and I'd have one without much thought.

Koll

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[rosyG]

I think he would only need to check if you thought you hadn't had AF. If you were sure that's enough really. Problem is the other way round when you have AF but are not aware??

[Hidden]

Shirley, like you and the others here I am going back for my 3 month check up and I have to admit my symptoms are worse then before I went in, I know he is going to want to do it again, but I am soooooo hesitant. I have had tachycardia up to 125, then bradycardia, then flutters, all over the shop hence my visit to A&E the other night with a minor tachycardia to show for my effort. I know it will tidy up but I really hated the procedure.

[BobD Volunteer]

I agree with Koll here in that why would you lie about it? I do note that everybody is still talking three months whilst I believe that it take AT LEAST three and up to six months for the heart to settle down. After my last ablation I was still getting ectopics at 8 months whilst I gradually weaned myself off the propafanone but it did eventually settled down. I sort of think some EPs are a little too quick to jump back in but then that is only my opinion NOW. When I was the patient it couldn't happen quick enough.LOL

Bob

[shirlygirly]

I think my problem is that Im not a very confident person and I would never

think for a minute that anyone would lie to get an ablation, but at the same

time I do like confirmation that Im right, it puts my mind at rest. I wiuld hate

to go for an ablation as Koll did and find it was wasted time. I really expected

they would need confirmation as before my 1st ablation, that was my query

in the first place. In actual fact the short runs of af were recognisable as af

and the Christmas day event was, but before my first ablation which was

captured on an ECG I still had a 7 day monitor to confirm what was actually

going on. Shirley.