3 months after Ablation for A Flutter

[Jamjarjan]

I had the procedure in May this year and all was good until a couple of weeks ago. Then, out of the blue I had an an attack which appears to be constantly on and off, and I am exhausted. The thing is, I was only diagnosed a year ago and my symptoms were so mild I never felt ill with it and had probably had it for some time without being detected. NOW I feel really bad and the effects are very different. I am wondering if the ablation has caused the change and I now wish I hadn’t had it. Now waiting to see what plans they now have for me! ☹️ The saying ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ comes to mind!

[Diboyes]

When I had my ablation knocked me for six,I was tired and felt unwell for about 8 months,after that much better,if you only had a flutter cannot understand why they gave you an ablation.why not just beater blockers.

[Jamjarjan in reply to Diboyes]

I’ll give it a bit longer, it could be a one off 🤞

[Hidden]

No “pun” intended Jamjarin, but do not lose heart yet. If you read the infamous fact sheet on recovering from an ablation you will find that it can take at least 3 to 6 months for the scar tissue to heal within the heart and during that time you are very likely to get runs of AF, ectopics and palpitations.

See link below.

heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[Hidden]

If you ring the arrhythmia nurse, they could arrange a Holter monitor ahead of seeing the consultant.

Are you taking a rhythm control medication?

[Maril1]

This sounds very similar to how mine started although I am probably wrong! I had permanent aflutter back in 2006 may have had it up to 4 years previously as I use to get tired very quickly playing football or training just thought I was past it. Put on my son's heart monitor (they had to wear them for swimming training and I thought it was a waste of money! How wrong can I be?)170 when playing 130 at rest went to A & E

. To cut a long story short eventually had ablation this cured the flutter but a year later developed proxysmal Afib heart felt like rollercoaster with fireworks going off left right and centre whereas in AFL I hardly new I had it . The EP told me Afib and AFL hunt in packs . This made me realise before the ablation that on each occasion before my heart went back into permanent AFL requiring cardioversion it would first go into Afib for a few hours.

[Hidden]

I'm inclined to agree with your last sentence! However you have had the procedure now and obviously your EP thought it right for you.

It's probably still a bit early but maybe you could get in touch with the arrhythmia nurse if you have one at the hospital or contact your EP through his secretary unless you are due to see him quite soon.

Hope things settle for you soon

Sandra

[Jamjarjan in reply to Hidden]

Yes Sandra, what’s done is done. Incidentally, I was signed off without having a follow up appointment after the ablation which I thought was a bit presumptuous.

[Hidden in reply to Jamjarjan]

No follow up....that does seem strange. Maybe overlooked. I would see your GP or ask EP secretary if this is the norm.

[KMRobbo]

Did you have A Fib before developing flutter?

What side of the heart was the flutter / ablation in?

I had a PVi cryo ablation for afib in Jan 29 2018 and 9 days later developed 're entrant' flutter in the right atria which left me extremely breathless and tired . I had been fairly asymptomatic in afib. I had to have a second ablation to stop the flutter and was advised it was 95% succesful and if it was succesful that type of flutter was unlikely to return.

I think you need an ecg done quickly to check what is occurring. As your symptoms are quite different I would go to my local a&e for this if I were you. They can then clarify what you have for discuss ion with your EP.

[Jamjarjan in reply to KMRobbo]

No, I didn’t have a fib before being diagnosed with flutter. I have now had ecg and waiting to see what they are going to do about me. Probably another ablation but I am wary as the first one seems to have opened Pandora’s box!

[jondeanp in reply to Jamjarjan]

I too was wary before i had a flutter ablation in February.

Apart from not being able to do aerobic exercise the flutter never really bothered me (although i knew it was there persistently)

Since the ablation i have been able to start again with aerobic exercise. I do get the odd "bump" but fingers crossed all has been well so far.

Maybe you need a follow up ablation to tweak the first procedure. I know this happens for Afib ablations fairly often according to this forum.

Hopefully you get it sorted

[Jamjarjan in reply to jondeanp]

Thanks for that, I bought a new bike a couple of weeks ago to try and get fit, only been on it once and felt terrible afterwards, still do and I don’t dare get on it again! Wish I never had the ablation, I was fine before! 😩

[jondeanp in reply to Jamjarjan]

How much do you want for the bike? 😉

Unfortunately we can be given difficult decisions regarding this which aren’t black & white.

I deliberated for a long time about having the ablation and that was with it being persistent. I listened to the clinical staff who convinced me it was my best option and also took on board the success rates. The Flutter ablation is supposedly the easy one

Hopefully you’ll get it sorted

[KMRobbo in reply to Jamjarjan]

And they think you still have flutter arte the ecg? It appears your flutter is more complicated than mine. Min e stopped during the ablation .

[Jamjarjan in reply to KMRobbo]

I was fine after ablation and they signed me off at 3 months ( without seeing me I might add) then a couple of weeks after that, suddenly had a really bad attack and have been feeling rotten all the time. Before ablation never felt unwell with it, in fact the episodes were few and far between. Ignorance was bliss! Not any more.

[Aqua_1]

Hi. Maybe your EP recommended that you have the ablation early on incase it would progress to persistent AF which would be more difficult to treat? Does anyone else agree?