Post ablation issues

[Jeanette49]

It has been eight weeks since my Cryoablation. The fatigue is slowly lifting and I have much more energy now thank goodness. Lots of weird digestive issues, and random body pains...but nothing I can’t cope with. However the episodes of erratic heart rhythm (skipped and extra beats) are happening daily still. At first they were sporadic, maybe every 3 or 4 days but now, not a day goes by without a run of them, sometimes they last just a few minutes and others can last anything up to 6 hours. I am still taking the meds prescribed including Eliquis.

I had hoped they would decrease over time as healing takes place, but it is the other way round. Does this mean the procedure is unlikely to have been successful? I haven’t seen the cardiologist as yet.

[Hidden]

It’s still early days Jeanette, but it might be worth speaking to your doctor as normally you would expect the number of episodes to reduce. It would be a good idea to have an ECG to see if the irregularities are ectopics or palpitations rather than AF. Although more frequent, has the intensity reduced?

[Jeanette49 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Flapjack, the intensity has reduced greatly, they are far more bearable, and generally short lived, it is just the frequency that is worrying me. There doesn’t seem to be any trigger, they are so random, and whenever I have an ECG you can guarantee that my heart behaves impeccably 🙄

My heart rate is fine, I’ve never had a problem with that, it is just the bouncing around like a rubber ball that is my issue. I had been a very quiet period for a few months prior to the ablation and seriously considered not having it done in case it triggered it off again, but decided to go ahead anyway. I have to say though that whenever I have had a surgery in the past, I am a slow healer, and usually get an infection in the wound site, so maybe I am taking longer than normal to heal.

[Hidden in reply to Jeanette49]

I’m just over 3 months after having an ablation and I get very occasional short fast runs and ectopics so try not to worry. We do tend to get a bit over sensitive to odd blips.....maybe you could ask Santa for a Kardia, but hopefully everything will settle soon

[Clipper100]

See Cardio immediately.

Sometimes you will need a 2nd Ablation

Eliqis is for LIFE to prevent strokes.

[Liverpool10]

Same here Jeanette, 4 weeks ago ablation but still ectopics and bits of AF but the good people on here still say wait and see it could take 3 to six months for the scar tissue to grow so the AF pulse does not get through! Keep the after heart care nurses in the loop so they make note of it

[Marcus30]

I had terrible runs of much worse AF than pre ablation at the 3-5 week mark, then they started to slow.

My EP kept saying "anything in the 1st 3 months is 100% irrelevant".

And I have had a few people on this forum say they had crazy things happen for up to 5 months then went quiet. So I wouldn't worry at all at this stage.

My runs of AF during this period seemed very "different" to the pre ablation AF, suggesting that's the heart scarring, which is a good thing. Do yours seem different or the same as pre ablation?

And if after 3-5 months there is still too much going on, then a 2nd follow up seems to have a high chance of curing.

Cheers,

marcus

[Jeanette49 in reply to Marcus30]

Hi Marcus

I would say that the episodes are different in that they are totally random (before they could be related to eating and posture afterwards, or laying on my left side etc) There doesn’t seem to be any common denominators.

They happen daily, but are usually fairly short lived too, whereas before they could last for hours and hours. I don’t get the sensation of my heart quivering any more either, just missed or extra beats and perhaps a flip flopping feeling, but not quite as strongly as before.

Digestive system is out of whack too, lots of discomfort most days. I was taking Omeprazole, but they give me weird dreams, so I have been taking ranitidine, but not quite as effective.

I guess I just have to wait it out then 😟

Cheers

Jeanette

[Marcus30 in reply to Jeanette49]

That sounds to me like the 3 month blanking period, heart scarring AF,

confident they'll settle down, and the GI problems will probably settle with them.

One thing I thought through that period is if I need a 2nd go, no problem, straight back in, as the second go clean up often does the trick.

My AF post ablation was similar, very short lived with different triggers (1-2 hrs rather than 6-12 hrs), but rough, much rougher than pre which freaked me out.

Only lasted 7 days though, then stopped all together.

Good luck.