I had my first ablation a little over a week ago on Wednesday 1/24/18. I am 39 years old in otherwise good health besides being diagnosed with afib and aflutter in May of 17. I have to be honest with everyone the ablation was NOT as easy as I thought it was going to be. The first two days was pretty tough, with pain in the groin area and chest discomfort. I feel a lot better now and while hooked up to the monitor in hospital I never saw my heart beat that good. I don't think I have gone back into afib since ablation and my resting heart rate has gone up quite a bit which I have read is normal. On my fitbit before ablation it was 58 bm now its at 69bm resting. My one concern though is that I have been resting all week and will continue to rest for the second week as well but when I walk around the house my heart rate will go up to the high 90's low 100's just walking around the house and when I go to the grocery store it will go up and down from 85 to 130 just walking. It goes back down below 80 if I stop walking but when I walk it can jump up and down again. It would never do this before ablation. I just hope this will go back to normal soon but is this what the 3 month healing period is for or is there something wrong? Thanks
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nbpa1234
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My advice would be to stop worrying about heart rate as this WILL be higher than you may have been used to. I am sure they will have told you that it takes at least three to six months for everything to settle down and the heart fully heal so take each day at a time and enjoy your NSR.
Pretty normal to have elevated heart rate. I had ablation 6 months ago and still have elevated heart rate 10 bpm than I used to. My EP tells me it can take a year to go back to normal bit it should do so.
Sounds like you are doing fine. I had afib 2 to 3 times a week for the first few weeks before the episodes stopped altogether.
If you have no episodes of AFIB after ablation it is a good indicator of a successful ablation but it isn't uncommon to have them during the 3 months after, called the blanking period.
Sounds great, I know you said if you don't have afib after ablation its a sign of successful ablation, does that still count if I am still on medicine (propofenone & verapamil)? Will hopefully be off all medicine after 3 months.
Didn't know you were on antiarrhytmic drug. I wasn't on one at first and I was having AFIB like crazy and EP prescribed one. If you are one one that is common. If you don't have any episodes past 2 months is a good sign. I was nervous when I was taken off after 3 months but all is well. The fact you aren't in afib at all is good. Don't become concerned if you do because it is normal. When heart heals the episodes of mine were less frequent and then just disappeared.
It takes time to tell but no afib at all is best sign.
When you do get told to stop don't do it suddenly. Most of us have found that cutting down slowly allows the heart to acclimatise to life without drugs.
Hi there , just wanted to give you some feedback on my experience as I am coming up to 5 months post ablation now . I noticed you are out walking to the grocery store already? 😬 I didn’t go over the door step for 2 weeks as I think it’s way to soon to be walking around. If you can get someone else to go for you I would. Your heart has just been through a lot and I am still getting odd things 4 months down the line so only a week after your procedure I definitely would be taking it easy . As for coming off all meds 3 months post ablation don’t be surprised if this doesn’t happen as soon as that , everyone is different and I am no doctor but just speaking on my own experience with my procedure I am coming off slowly. Some people have no problems getting off meds and some people it takes a bit longer, please don’t rush things as I definitely believe to much to soon can effect the outcome of the procedure. Rest and more rest was the best advice I got off here from members and it’s so early for you right now so take it easy and please don’t rush and let your heart heal ❤️
Thanks so much, yeah I have been resting all week and don't want to over do it at all but I thought going with wife to grocery store and just getting some fresh air would be good but I did come right back and lay down and rest again right after. I know what your saying about meds and my ep is very conservative so I know I will be on them much longer. Thanks again!
I had a cryo ablation on the 4 veins on Monday this week. I had s lot of chest pain at the end of the procedure ( for an hour or so - needed pain relief) and a bit of chest pain for a couple of days after ( minor but I think I tend to dwell on where there may be a problem which makes it seem bigger) . I also had a couple of episodes of lumpy heart beats the first 2 days . Hhowever I was only told to rest up and take it easy for three days while my groin healed. Hence I did a 7 mile walk on Thursday afternoon with no problems and went for a jog yesterday afternoon . I cut this short after a couple of miles as my hr was going a bit higher than the last 9 months and was more erratic up and down so I thought I would stop there and increase in stages. To be clear my AF has been controlled the last 9 months very well with flecainide and diltiazem the latter my cardiologist has reduced post ablation to allow my heart rate to increase a bit more during excercise . I have been told to keep on the medication for another 2 months although he believes what he has done in a success, so he must expect there could be some potential issues. I am 57 years old.
Did your cardiologist advise rest or excercise avoidance for an extended period?
That is great!! 7 miles is amazing! Im not ready for that yet though, lol. I was a little under 3 months with out any afib episode before ablation with medicine. My doctor said nothing for a week (driving, work, exercise, nothing) and then he said not much more in week 2, but then after week 2 they gave no limitations. But I'm going to take the advise of other members on here to not push it to much. Great work though keep me posted on how you continue to make out!
I can only recount my own experiences - I had several long bouts of AF after both my ablations for a few months - eventually it settled down and AF free for 18 months, although still on metoprolol etc. It’s simple for a 70 year old like me to say take it easy but I can appreciate the pressures on someone a lot younger to have to get on with it - much will depend on your personal circumstances but time for your heart to heal now may well be significant further down the line. All the best.
You are 100% right and I will just take it easy for a couple more weeks but t is def. difficult with twin 5 year olds, lol. 18 months AF free is awesome!! I wish you the best of luck on your continued success of being AF free.
Hi nbpa 1234, I can explain that for you but your not alone . I had my ablation 1 1/2 months ago . I have no restrictions but they said to just do things in moderation . I am still afib or flutter .Yesterday I was on a tread mill . I just went easy for 5 minutes a number two on the speed which is not too fast and I had my finger monitor on and my heart rate went up to 125 so I slowed down to a stop, rested for a few minutes and my H. Rate come back down to the 70 's then I continued another 5 minutes and the same thing happened so I slowed down gradually to a stop and that's all I did on the tread mill. I don't understand it either . I use to go nuts on the tread mill and could never get my heart rate over 100 that was two years ago and I think at that time I was in regular rhythm. Something to ask the heart specialist I guess. Hope you stay in rhythm my friend not over doing things is good.
Sounds good, thanks for your reply. I am probably not going to try anything as far as jogging until 6 weeks out if I feel better. Right now theres no way I could do a jog as much as I would love to. Rest up is what I will do, and hey its not that bad to lay back and relax, lol.
We are all different but it is important to listen to your body. Some of us who have had to have several ablations now realise that we most likely caused failure by over doing things too soon. I am still amazed at how so few doctors actually understand recovery but there again they have not had it done like we have! After my third I had to take an oath for my arrhythmia nurse that I would NOT do as usual. It worked.
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