I’m be to the form and was looking for information really.
I am a 44 year old male and over the last year I have had 2 bouts of paf the first can on and when it’s self after 6 hours I never new what it was just though it was palpitations so never went to a&e, the second time it came on I was at work and they were worried so sent me to a&e where I was admitted given a drug and it went again after around 6 hours. Because of the nature of my work they have advised a ablation which I’m apprehensive of having. I am worried to the what may or may not happen so I suppose my question is What are the pros and cons for having ablation done. Will I be on medication after any information or help with this will be very much appreciated.
At present I still carry on as normal and I’m not on any medication for paf.
Thank you in advance
Peter
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peterosborne
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May I suggest you first visit the AFA website and go to resources and information page and download information about AF and treatments.
Everyone is different and therefore reacts differently. Many people here have ablation, often moe than one. The procedure itself is very simple for the patient, a bit more complicated for he EP though! I had both mine under sedation - no GA - although some people do have GA. I was semi conscious for short periods of time but slept through the majority. It is painless and there done in a cath lab - it’s not a surgical procedure.
A small incision is made in your groin and a catheter fed up through the vein into the upper chambers of the heart where the ablation is performed.
After return to ward you are closely monitored for about 8-10 hours and if all is well you are discharged. You need someone to take you home, you wouldn’t be able to use public transport for instance or drive for about a week.
Some people don’t have any recurrence of AF but some need more than one. I had 2 Which left me AF free for nearly 3 years - but not nearly as symptomatic as before ablation. Most take meds for about 2-3 months after to help AF stay away.
Success rates vary and depend upon the individual, the clinic and the equipment and the skill of the EP - Electrophysiologist. I would suggest you want someone who does at hundreds a year as stars indicate their success rate tends to be better.
There are some serious, very rare side effects which you need to be made aware of which sound quite frightening - but they are very, very rare!
At your age I would look first at possible lifestyle changes - biggest correlation is between people being overweight, alcohol consumption, sleep deficit (less than 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night - ask for a sleep analysis as sleep apnea ican be a cause of AF.
If all lifestyle issues have been covered and you feel you couldn’t do anything else, all underlying other conditions - eg- diabetes, thyroid dysfunction etc have been ruled out and well managed - then at your age I would jump straight to ablation as a treatment option. Other option is management with drugs, none of them without side effects, sometimes quite nasty ones and who wants a lifetime of taking toxic drugs, most of them may help the symptoms but very, very rarely will stop AF progressing.
Things that make it worse - stress - so it is very well worth ensuring that is under control and practise some sort of relaxation - doesn’t matter what as long as it works for you.
If you put ‘ablation’ into the search box top right of screen it will bring up threads about ablation - loads of info and various people’s experiences - mostly good!
Thank you c dreamer I haven’t had any Symptoms since November, 18 bmi so not massively heavy, don’t really drink alcohol either these days. I’m going in private for ablation due to them restricting my medical because of this
It must be understood that any treatment for AF is only ever about improving quality of life (QOL). There is no guaranteed cure although ablation does stand a good chance of the best outcome but may need to be repeated over time. There are medical treatments also which can improve QOL. I note that CDreamer has already sign posted you to AF Association for education.
You do not say what work you do but it is important also to understand that some careers may be barred to one with AF especially if you suffer blackouts or are severely incapacitated and ablation may not always help in this respect. Obviously a professional driver (HGV or PSV) or pilot for example would not be able to maintain their license in such circumstances .
Although early intervention is always best with ablation your AF burden is currently very low compared to many people and with waiting lists as long as they are you may struggle to get much done in the next 12 months and then need some months recovery before you could regain you full health and convince the authorities that you are safe to get your license back. Paying privately may decrease the waiting time but not the recovery.
Sorry to tell you that but one must face reality.
AF is such a mongrel condition and we are all different and there is no short cut I'm afraid.
Thanks bob I work offshore so they have restricted my medical and I am going to be going private which has speeded the proses up only 6 weeks
Hi Peter, I read the 2 previous replies and both are excellent. CD's description of what to expect and how to educate yourself so you know what questions to ask is so thorough and Bob's point re quality of life is the question I base my medical decisions on. I said yes to ablation because I was tired of the side effects of medication. It went well and felt better almost immediately after getting off meds. So give some thought re answering this question for yourself. It's a good question for many situations. Take care. irina1975
Hi irina I am lucky that I don’t take meds my cardio specialist said he wouldn’t have put me forward for a ablation if it wasn’t for the nature of where I work out in the North Sea. Thank you for your reply
Hi Peter, I am a believer in Functional Medicine so as with everything including AF I am interested in Why it is rather than What it is. For many it is a wake up call to improve your diet, supplements and lifestyle. It is an opportunity pushing you to improve a lot and although hard work on research and tests, I am very pleased with the changes I would not otherwise have made. Don't be tempted by the easy way out "Oh I will just ask the EP and do what he says"
This is my philosophy also. I would love to have a consult with a functional doc but they are costly and not covered by insurance here (US). Fortunately, there is a lot of info online which I try to keep up with. I have my favorite 'go-to' people also. Some think "Dr Google"is a bad source of info but as long as we take in info with a discerning eye the net is just another way to obtain info-IMO- really no different than a book-which is how we were all educated anyway. So I use it frequently and also sign up for useful newsletters. I am careful of sites that have a 'hard sell' that send the message; "Myproduct will fix everything and is the only one etc. etc. "
Hi Andy. Saw your question. On the way out the door for errands (2PM here-Atlanta) Will reply later this evening. Want to give you as complete reply I can. Take care. irina1975
Hi Andy. I just spent time research a clear, good simple answer to your question and my answer is I couldn't find one. Let me just say a few things about the practice of medicine. Currently, the gold standard for treating patients in most of our world is conventional medicine practiced by conventional doctors. Although the whole patient is considered, the focus is on the symptoms a patien-- is having problems with. This type of practice has clear guidelines that physicians follow re the treatments they recommend to us. There are other physicians-holistic/naturapaths/functional who say they not only treat symptoms but try to find the underlying cause for the symptoms. This is a very nebulous answer and my research could not find a clear, cut-and-dried explanation to clearly explain the difference. I believe that at this time, the only doctors that are 100% covered by (US) insurance are conventional docs. The other practitioners have theories and occasionally treatments that may be successful but their care is not yet standardized. A patient's decision , in my opinion, to seek out their care is based on their not finding the help they feel they need from conventional medicine. Perhaps some of these doctors are beginning to develop medical care of the future. For now, it is expensive (out of pocket payments required) and recommendations can be hit or miss as there are no official guidelines to direct their care. Many of them are honest, ethical, and believe in what they do. But I believe because there is no official agency to oversee care, there is room for some practitioners to do more harm than good. I believe, for me, at this point in time, i would rather stick with conventional medicine and keep an open mind re new treatments but continue to be cautious about medical care that may lack proper research and oversight by government agencies designed to protect patients. Don't know if this answers your question. I would recommend doing what I did and that is googling "What is the difference between functional and conventional medicine?" I think they will be much clearer about the differences that I have been. I welcome others' thoughts and info in the subject. Thanks irina1975 All this being said there are some drs I follow online-DrAxe/ Dr Mark Hyman/ to name 2 who often have good info resupplements/healthy foods that are not always supported by conventional med but which make sense to me/find valuable info/ and am willing to give them a try. I am careful to keep my regular docs posted when I want to try something I've read so if I'm missing an important reason I should not try something they will tell me. Often, esp my electrophysiologist has an open mind and we discuss things which he is ok with my trying.
I have very early stages according to my cardio dr nothing to get alarmed about he says. I don’t need medication to control it I just carry a pill incase it happens again. all health change have been done, lost a little weight, I am quite fit as I walk a good bit with my dogs. Hardly touch alcohol these days.
Take into consideration the recovery time also. Some people on here state that its a prolonged period before returning to full fitness
I recently had an ablation for Atrial Flutter, which is a simpler procedure and i was only warned against heavy lifting for a couple of weeks. I was back at work after 5 days, but my job is desk based. I only really needed to be aware of the lifting restrictions at home while messing around with the kids.
Hi peterosborne just wanted to add that you will have to be on Warfarin or a NOAC...blood thinner as they're commonly called although they don't actually thin your blood for a period of time before they will do the ablation. And you'll have to keep taking for awhile after also.
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thank you
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