Six Months Post RF Pulmonary Vein Ablation

[Elbows]

Still in rhythm with a good regular heart but like a lot of us out there sensitive to any variance ache or pain. Don't like sleeping on my side as I find myself looking for a trip to the beat. I have had a good 6 months with no problems.

I have done some 4 Cyclo Cross races since . They have been great altho I'm at the back of the 'field'.

The advice on this forum is to give your heart 3 months to recover after an ablation and if you google Dr John a keen cyclist and expert on AF you will find he says the same.

After my ablation 6 months ago I completely rested up the first month, second month I did some walking and into the 3rd month I started riding my cross bike but watched my heart rate and didn't really go much out of level 1. After my 3 month Review my EP said I could compete again. I then started by doing some roller sessions and did my first x race 2 weeks later. In my racing and training I am at most on level 3/4 but have not pushed it to my max yet. I have seen my form improve but it is a slow process. I'm looking to push it a bit further in 2015 but I think my days of red lining it are gone. I think that it was those maximum efforts where I would nearly fall off the bike at the finish that led to my AF in the first place. As I have said before the ablation was the right path for me and altho I'm not totally out of the woods yet and won't be signed off by the EP until 12 months I know even with a possible second and if need be third ablation I am wrestling my life back from AF and living life to the full again.

[BobD Volunteer]

Well done Elbows although it all sound terribly energetic to me. LOL Make haste slowly as they say.

Bob

[Devondan in reply to BobD]

That's great news, I race classic scrambles and am not on acs yet but expect it won't be far off, and will bring that to an end, still being able to cycle would be great.

[Grundy77]

Thanks for sharing, elbows! Similar situation here, I'm a keen cyclist as well. Not doing cross races but used to do time trialling and road races. Had an ablation 2 months ago which (so far) was successful -- up to now no episodes. Only difference is higher resting HR and lack of previous fitness. My cardio told me I could get on the bike one week after ablation which I have done. The body naturally slows down and it will take some time before the race fitness comes back. I am not worried if it doesn't as I am happy just to ride my bike.

With regard to be being sensitive when lying on the side: I noted this too but I block that out. The leaflet I got in hospital said one should expect palpitations, even episodes of AF. So I don;t get worked up. Only problem is waking at 3am in some nights, hot flushes and raised HR. But I am able to go back to sleep after 30 mins or so. This could also be caused by my thyroid medication.

[Devondan]

Same here on lying on my side, I,m waiting for my holter results to see what they show.

[Japaholic]

Nice to hear a positive story.....

[Newty49]

Great to hear from a fellow cyclist. I am in month 3 post ablation and like you am a keen cyclist (and swimmer). Pre ablation I was doing 3-4 sessions a week but AF attacks steadily got more frequent so decided to opt for ablation (also wife got fed up with picking me up from the roadside 20 miles from home!) Had a bit of a roller coaster of a journey the first two weeks (ended up back in hospital for 3 days) as tried to get back to normal too quickly and flipped back into AF. Completely agree with your philosophy of resting month 1 then light exercise month 2 (walking). I have finally got back on my turbo trainer in month 3 and whilst I feel a million miles away from previous fitness it's good to start spinning those pedals again!

BTW you mention not liking sleeping on your side. I am exactly the same (left side particularly) not quite sure why this is. Will ask my EP when I see him next week for 3 month check up.

Hope the cyclo cross continues to improve and you start moving up the rankings again!

[Runskicycler]

Nice one Elbows! Very pleased to hear it's going well. I will be at 2 months post ablation on the 19th. Agree with what everyone says about sleeping on your side. I also got some rapid runs by crunching my abdomen while getting out of bed.

My bpm was fairly high with isolated daily palpations until a couple of weeks ago. Now it's dropped back to around 60 bpm, no palpitations but I'm getting mild ectopics which is slightly worrying; reminds me of the route back to AF.

I have been mainly walking for excercise but I could'nt resist some fell walking in the Lakes over Xmas and got my bpm a bit too high. Hoping things settle down towards my 3 month review.

All the best,

Andy

[Elbows in reply to Runskicycler]

Hey Runski, life's for living so go and bag some more Munroes but make sure you have a buddy in tow as it's a long way down from those Langdales