i am new on this or any other forum. i am also new in ablation experiences. i will genuinely appreciate if you will share your experiences as i feel myself as a blind fish lost in an empty ocean..
i had my first catheter ablation 3 months ago but i still have short breath. i almost aways had short breath on and off post ablation but these days was worse (and i had palpitations and dizziness too- something new in my symptoms list). i am concerned that my AF is back.. or maybe the healing time may be longer than 3 months?
did anybody experiment symptoms after the blank period without the AF returned, especially short breath?
all the best
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jazzu
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What does your doctor say about this? Have you had an ECG to see if you are in rhythm?
Many people find that it takes at least three if not six months for full recovery but do get checked.
Hi Jazzu
Welcome to the forum.
Can you tell us a little more?
How long have you had AF and was it always just short episodes before the ablation, and not persisting over weeks?
How long have you had trouble with shortness of breath (SOB)? Did you get SOB with your AF before the ablation? Or even without AF.
What medication do you take?
To answer your question, the blanking period may be longer than 3 months, perhaps depending on the extent of the ablation.
You can perhaps find out for yourself whether your AF has returned using a device like a Kardia.
Of course our advice can not be a substitute for seeing your doctor and from the little you have said so far, you should consider arranging an appointment as soon as possible to rule out important causes of breathless episodes not associated with AF or any other disturbance of heart rhythm that can be caused by ablation.
One of the possible causes of episodes of SOB that need more urgent attention is pulmonary embolism. That would be uncommon anyway, and unlikely if you are taking an anticoagulant at the correct dosage.
If the breathless is distressing you should get pulmonary vein stenosis checked out. It can take up to six months to know the outcome of an ablation. Might be worth asking for an ECG to check and see what the heart is doing at the moment. Might put your mind at rest. Good luck
I have to say it took me at least 6 months but probably more like 9 months not to be a little breathless if I walked anywhere for more that 10-15 minutes. I am 55 and before the heart issues was a very fit active person. Certainly 6 months post ablation I had to walk up a very slight hill and I did struggle. I had to take a couple of seconds at the top to catch my breath. It took me by surprise as I had thought I was getting fitter!
now I am nearly 5 months after ablation and still short of breath. i had 3 ECGs done and all good but they were done when i was at rest and good. i had also a 24 hours monitor. unfortunately i didn't had short breath while i worn it. however the data from the monitor was good. i had the follow-up and dr said that is nothing that sugest the shortness of breath to be related with ablation and thought that the cause may be other. he made me an appointment for a scan to see if is any extra fluid post ablation becouse i had chest pain too and if nothing there he advised me to go to gp to refer me for other investigations.
my shortness of breath had a strange evolution too: after ablation it gradually diminished and after 3 months it became suddenly worse for a month. then it stopped for two weeks and then reappeared suddenly as worse as before. i noticed that i have it sometimes when i have regular pulse (~85 beats pe minute), but becomes worse at any effort (even during easy household activities) when my pulse rise at arround 120 bpm. although last week when i worn the monitor i had a spike of 120 bpm i felt extremly tired but i didn't felt shortness of breath, today when i checked my pulse and i had 110 during effort and 80 when resting i felt all day SOB. and as i said, dr didn't know what to say, he thinks it not related with ablation.
Breathlessness comes and goes still. Afib is back . I’m getting a another ablation June 22nd.the good news is I have been able to control it well enough to satisfy the singing gigs I’ve had. Had cryo ablation first time. They are going to get what they missed this time with burn. Ep says recovery will be harder this time. Not looking forward to that
I too experience sob. Had ablasio n 2 weeks ago. I am thinking it is my medications causing this! If you Google them they all have sob as a side effect!! Also experience skin itching which is clearly a med reaction to something. I stopped losartin which was a low dose anyway. It has been 2 days great being seems better. I am asthmatic since birth. Had put me on brilenta after heart attack and I struggled to breathe every time I got it. Went off of it with lots of objection from cardiologist! I also think illiquid is another problem. Am going to ask my ep about "The Watchman". It is inserted in lft atrium and stop clots before they start. If this works I will be able to eventually get off of anti lot medicines. I received info from company! Very informative. Procedure is much like stent insertion.
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