Hi.
I have just returned home after seeing cardiologist. They have offered me an ablation. I have not posted for a while, so to refresh memories. I was diagnosed in 2016 aged 48. I have an attack every month, take flec as a pill in the pocket. I also take 5mg beta blockers daily plus 50mg flec AM and PM. The anxiety of having PAF has turned my world up side down. I read posts on here daily and have read about Ablation. I would very much welcome any advice.
Thank you
You know I'm a fan but it is what suits you that is important. I could go on about how wonderful the last nine or so years has been without AF but if you are not ready there would be no point.
Thanks Bob. I am feeling lucky to have now been offered one, just scared in case it doesn't work.
If it doesn’t work , my EP’s words to me were, we go until it does! Go for it, if it doesn’t work you’re one step closer to it working👌🏻 Good luck .
Thanks Achant 1. I have just had a look at your profile. You look young. I also see its taken a while for you to recover from your ablation. Are you ok now?
I’m ok thanks, been in very good rhythm ever since it was done ,with a few breakthroughs here and there! I am a slow healer at the best of times , so I just think, unlike some others it took my scar tissue longer to build up! It has given me my energy and life back! All the very best. I still have the odd early or late beat , but it’s not my heart,trying to climb out of my throat at 240 a minute🤣 my experiance of ablation at the Brompton was incredible, the care was superb!
Hi Mandy. I was going to echo something Bob has posted before and I see he has already responded. What I got from an old post of his is something I also believe in. Ask yourself this question: Will my quality of life be better if I take this action? Only you can answer this because having monthly episodes may be bothersome for you but not for someone else. You get the picture. I believe this is a good question to ask yourself in many of life's situations. Take care. irina1975 BTW I have had a successful ablation in 2016 and am glad I did it. I've been able to get off the cardiac drugs that had side effects I found difficult to deal with.
Thank you. Have you had an AF attack since your ablation?
I also had a pacemaker because I was already in permanent afib. I feel fine and have had no episodes of odd beats or runs. My EKG will always read afib as opposed to NSR (normal sinus rhythm). But I can honestly say I feel better now that I did when I was on cardiac meds. I had a lot of side effects even tho different meds/combos were tried. A few weeks ago my main EP said I am doing much better than I was 4 years ago. Sometimes even tho the doctor did a successful ablation cardiac tissue can eventually create new electrical 'spots' that may or may not be problematic. If this happens down the road I will have the new areas ablated if my doc recommends it.
Hi Mandy. Me again. I read your response to Bob and your phrase'in case it doesn't work' caught my eye. I'd like to make a suggestion. Look around the forum and read posts from people who have had ablations. When I did this the message I got was thar ablations are not as simple as 'working or not working'. Sometimes they work for a while; sometimes people need further ablating. We're all different. Some people have been given large amts of "afib-free time", some haven't. By reading about others' experience I believe you might get a clearer picture is what ablations can and cannot do. Might make it easier to answer your 'ouality of life' question. Just a thought. irina1975
Sound advice Irina. Thank you i will look into this. Take Care.
Your welcome, And sorry for the typos. I try to go back and correct to make my posts readable.Not always successful. Not sure the computer is really my friend. LOL
Also worth remembering that those for whom it is a success seldom bother to stay here as they don;t need the support.
I would echo Bob’s words.
In my personal opinion if your quality of life is so bad it is a no brainier.
The vast majority of ablations lead to a better quality of life. If they didn’t there would not be so many procedures carried out as there are.
I wish you all the best.
Pete
Thats very kind. Thank you.
Hi Mandy, of course it is a personal and for some, a difficult decision, but I share the views expressed by others here. You are very young and very often we hear how AF sufferers health has deterioated over time and, in some cases, how the effectiveness of their medication has also changed for the worse. As others have also said, consider how many thousands of ablations have taken place over the years and how few, if any, have said on this forum, that they wish they had not proceeded with theirs. Good luck......
Thank you. I am so glad i found this forum. You are wonderful people.
Hi Mandy,
I'm always very cautious about ablation because of the undoubted risks- however, in a young person, the risks from having the strong anti-arrhythmic drugs for so many years ahead is also risky so the decision tends to be a little easier- but still up to you of course!!
If you are having breakthroughs on the meds you are taking I would go for ablation, I found the healing process quite hard! But have been drug free for 3 months now👌🏻
Hi archant I had ablation last week you mentioned healing process was quite hard. Was it long before you were back at work. Im walking around house slowly bit of soreness but lacking energy. Were you similar?
Cari . G
I was back at work after two weeks , I have a very physical job. Its just I’m a slow healer, and it felt like Af was trying to break the barrier for a few months , the first three months I felt incredible. Everyone is different though, what I would say is though , never lose sight of how rough you felt before!
Do it mandy, I had an ablation 10 months ago and initially felt unwell, it does take time to recover but for the first time in years I do not feel my heart, I don't even think about it! Best wishes.
Hi Mandy. I had an ablation in July. I was having AFIB every month and then episodes started getting more frequent so I opted for ablation.
I had bouts of afib after ablation for 8 weeks but they gradually got less frequent and shorter in duration until they stopped altogether. I have been afib free over 4 months now.
Quality of life is much better. I highly recommend the ablation!
Best Wishes
Thank you perkman. I am so pleased the ablation has worked for you and you have many years if no AF. I think i am going to go for this too.
obviously no procedure is 100% guaranteed but for most people the ablation makes things at least a bit better. I've been one of the lucky ones where it was perfect apart from two short episodes when I caught bad viruses. But do make sure you give your heart plenty of time to heal post ablation. Three months at least and six if it wants it !
From your brief details, I would say first you are not properly stabilised and need to quiz your cardiologist on your drug regime e.g. maybe 100mg Flec am & pm (that stabilised me). Secondly, a factor in your ablation decision for me would be how well are you generally to face the procedure i.e. you need to be in tip top condition. Next, do you have Lone PAF - if you do then that's good news because I believe there is more you can do rather than the medics. Lastly, have you done your homework - no short cuts here I'm afraid, lots of research but having done this over 4 years, I have no regrets and am much healthier and happier as a result.
I am certainly not against ablations and its wonderful to have that option; its just the 'crude' procedure and a 70% success rate quoted to me coupled with complications that aren't mentioned did not appeal. I certainly hope I am not on the drugs for much longer (hope to start weaning off this year) and in the meantime the ablation procedure/ other possible new interventions make the future more promising.
Get one right away. Be sure the surgeon has done many. I feel better than I have in the 2 years I was on medication. I went to work the next day and was able to exercise in 2 weeks. I used to have aFib every time I exercised, and I did have a slight flutter the first time, but it was nothing like a real event. Now I don't even have that. Such a relief.
My cardiologist and the electrophysiologist both said 80% work the first time, and for the 20% who have to repeat it is almost 100% success.
I felt really good right after surgery. My Heart Rate is elevated and my blood pressure, but that should resolve by my 3 month checkup. Fingers crossed.
Good Luck.
Had my one and only (so far) in Nov 2013 and AF free since then.
Hi Mandy, I regularly read this blog but have never posted before. However your case seems quiet similar to mine.
I had issues on and off for at least 5 years, mostly in winter and spent 4 of the last 5 NYE's in emergency room, but hospitals could never pick up anything. I was finally diagnosed in September 17 with flutter (it likes to come and go and avoid detection) and three weeks later I had an ablation. Took me a month to recover from that simple ablation due to excessive bleeding, mostly I think because I take tumeric daily and that mixed with Xarelto was a no-no that I only realised later.
That aside Nov/Dec/Jan were the best 3 months I've had in years. I got off Xarelto December 31st and was drug free until early Feb, when afib came along. I'm extremely symptomatic (as I was with flutter), so Doc felt it was ok for me to remain off the drugs (I'm 40, fit and have no other stroke risks with a VASC of 0), but I'm carrying a flecanide pill in my pocket with instructions to head straight to a hospital in the event of another attack.
At which point, when it happens, based on how great and stress free I felt after the flutter ablation, I've decided I'll go the afib ablation route without hesitation. Not interested in being on drugs for the rest of my life (I have 5 boys under the age of 12), which is what will happen if I get more attacks, and quite enjoyed living like a normal person for 3 months. My family has a history of afib, and I have a dilated left atrial, so doctor expected I'd be back, was just hoping I get more than 4 months out of the flutter ablation.
I've turned to yoga (after 24 years of Rugby, thats a big change for me), a special type of acapuncture (on the Neiguan spot which has shown very beneficial for afib and cardio version) and adjusting my diet and eating/drinking habits (the wine has gone unfortunately) to try and delay that day as long as I possibly can. So far so good, two weeks without an incident, but when it happens I wont hesitate to go the ablation as it really does give you your life back.
Best of luck to you, whatever you decide I hope it gives you some peace!
An ablation three weeks after a flutter diagnosis! Amazing. How did you manage that? My initial diagnosis was also for atrial flutter. My GP kept me for one year before finally referring me when I went into persistent AF. The cardiology department in the hospital I was referred to kept me for another 5 months just to see an EP which would have been 7 months if I had not drastically complained. I got fed up with the system complacently letting me deteriorate in persistent and went to Bordeaux, France which had a waiting period of only 20 days for my ablation. I have been elated with both the results and treatment.
Hi Cuore, yes, it seems Europe is the way to go 
I live in Portugal and my EP basically said, you've gone from on / off over 5 years without a diagnosis (I didn't know I should be rushing to hospital to try and catch it, and it had subsided by the time my wife eventually pushed me there each time) to potentially permanent flutter having been permanent for two weeks at that point. So the sooner the better. It would have been quicker except I had to go on Xarelto for 3 weeks first before the operation, which delayed everything. Congrats on finding a solution in France!
What a beautiful story! Yes, Europe is far ahead of Canada, specifically British Columbia. Hurrah for both France and Portugal! Whereas your flutter ablation was delayed three weeks after diagnosis due to your having to go on an anti-coagulant, I, from cardiologist, was delayed five weeks just to get a cardio version, granted I had to graduate from aspirin to Xarelto. So, we're not even talking ablation here; we're talking cardioversion. And, we're not even talking about getting to see an EP which took months, which was after my GP, in one year, let me deteriorate to persistent AF.
With the Canadian system having me deteriorate from paroxysmal atrial flutter to persistent atrial fibrillation, with no end in sight for an ablation until I reached long-standing persistent, I opt to go to Bordeaux, France, which did an ablation twenty days from application. By this time I was six months into persistent atrial fibrillation. Four months later I had an ablation, again in Bordeaux, France for perimitral atrial flutter. I paid for both procedures myself, but they were worth every penny.
I have definitely wondered how much better off I would be if I had had an ablation for paroxysmal atrial flutter initially, rather than a first ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation of the pulmonary veins plus four rotor areas and a second ablation for perimitral atrial flutter from which I am still recovering as March 20 will be the end of my three month blanking period. I have read that perimitral atrial flutter is difficult to ablate, but Bordeaux, France used the innovative technique to inject ethanol into the vein of Marshall, as well as catheterising the vein. I doubt Canada is up to speed on that one.
I should be grateful for finding a solution in France, and I am. One must always look at the cup half full rather than half empty.
Ablation waiting time 
Ablation waiting lists
Ablation Wait times in Canada
Waiting for ablation date 
