I had an ablation 5 days ago. The only real problem besides being exhausted is recurring migraines. I have never had a migraine prior to the procedure; however, I explained the wavy lines and visual disturbances to my daughter, who has suffered migraines for years, and she concurred with me that the visual disturbances are the aura.
I called the " doctor on call." He told me that migraines are not a side effect. He mentioned blood clot in the brain. So.... now I am wondering- how many others have experienced these migraines after an ablation???
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Clarajoan
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Yes, I did have general anaesthesia. They had me under for 4 hours. It is disconcerning that the on call doctor goes right to brain clot... I am to go to the ER... that is why I am wondering g if I am the only one who has experienced these headaches.
I had visual migraine aura for 2 weeks after ablation. I had never had migraine before and have never had it since. It seems to be quite common and something to do with the piercing of the septum wall when going from the right side to left side of the atrium. Nobody warns you about this so it can be scarey. X
type migraines after ablation in the "search AF Association" box top right of this page and you will see that migraines are not uncommon and they do pass........
Yes it is an unfortunate but quite common side effect but they will pass as your heart heals.
I believe they are linked to the hole punched through the septum - I suffered from migraines from childhood and then on and off throughout adulthood. On ablation it was found that I had a hole in the septum similar to a foramen ovale - closure of which is a treatment for migraines.
I very, very rarely have gotten one since ablations in 2013/2014.
Hi. After my first ablation I started getting disturbances of my eyes the zig zag effect aqs i call it. I couln't understand where they were coming from as I used to get this when I was a lot younger, with accompanying migraine, but disappeared for years. It was only after coming onto this site did I find out that this was a common occurence after ablation, altho not affecting everyone. It should give over in time.
GP's don't generally have such info about this specialist area.
Phil
Never had migraines in my life, but I did have visual disturbances which some said were probably occular migraines some weeks after an ablation. Never happened before or since. Don't know whether they are linked, but sounds like they could be from reading other posts above.
Yes, I had the visual disturbances after my third ablation. I think they are quite common and can last a few weeks. My first two ablations were under sedation only and I had no reaction then. The third was with a general anaesthetic, so I guess the anaesthetic is the cause.
This is nothing to do with GA or sedation. It is a result of the transpetal puncture during ablation and should pass in a week or three. Nobody actually understands the mechanics. Sadly not many doctors understand that this is very common..
Hi, I feel for you as I too, had visual migranes after my cryoablation , on and off for about 3 weeks. They gradually became less frequent over that period then suddenly stopped. My EP did warn me that they do occur afterwards for some people and it is due to the hole they make in the heart ,when going from the right side to the left. (Apparently children born with a hole in the heart are more likely to suffer migranes too I learnt) This causes a drop in pressure in the brain and can cause migraines to occur. Also I found that with the freezing type of Ablation that I had, you kinda of get a short "brain freeze" a heart nurse told me.
Take ❤️ And hopefully your head will get better. Take it all slowly as I found the whole thing exhausting too. Quality of life, if all goes well, has been improved 100% for me so hope it does for you too!
I had ablation JULY 14TH, had the visual headaches on and off first couple of weeks, seems ok now,but I was given this information before I had the ablation.Hope yours clear soon.
Hi, yes me too. I had never suffered migraines before but got them after my Ablation, first the aura and then the pain too. They do settle and get less and less. Mine took a few weeks, but can sympathise the pain and pressure is horrendous. Dose up, try to get some sleep. I used cool bands around my head, you can get them from the chemist and went to sleep, eventually. I still get a migraine just occasionally, a year on since first and 6 month since second Ablation. Sometimes I just get the aura, doesn't last long. Hope we have all been able to reassure you. The cause is the puncture they make in the wall of the heart, to access one chamber to the other. Hope you get some relief. Take care, not nice but it will pass. X
Mark me down as another who has experienced optical migraines since my ablation 2 weeks ago. I have gotten them in the past but not recently so I knew what was happening. The only difference is that the (3) times I have gotten them post ablation, they are not followed by the headache. However, I have been prone to general, non-migraine headaches over the last 2 weeks. One of the early causes was Metoprolol which gave me severe headaches and stomach issues both when I took it after my cardioversion and the ablation. They switched me to Diltiazem and that has helped.
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42 days post ablation 
Visual migraine
Post cryo-ablation day 9
Atrial Tachycardia and Flecainide
