Hi all, I've had a little af over the years but very minor, about a month ago woke up whilst having one of those being chased nightmares, sweating, couldn't breath, heart going like Morse code on a drum, it's so bad now I get short of breath sometimes just talking, stairs are a nightmare and walking is exhausting.
HR is running anywhere between 42bpm and 145 BPM with the beta blockers as well as a constant discomfort right across the chest, heavy like being sat on, also indegestion whether or not I've eaten, a little burp can be quite nasty.
I'm on beta blockers and blood thinners, due to get jolted in 3 weeks or so, then if that doesn't solve it it'll be ablation.
Really quite worried after the doc told me all the risks and also the idea of being awake while they mess with my heart, I am quite fond of the old pump. I'm 56 and usually physically very active, any advice?
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MartinWillmott
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If your symptoms are getting worse, you could call the arrhythmia nurse to ask for the cardioversion to be brought forward, assuming you will have completed 4 weeks anticoagulation.
You can ask for a general anaesthetic for an ablation, but will have to wait longer for that on the NHS. Otherwise it is sedation with intermittent pain relief which can be fine if properly managed.
Unfortunately my meds were wrongly prescribed, I was taking one a day when it should have been 2 so I have to start again, it'll be 3 weeks, the hospital I'm under has a good reputation it's a teaching hospital so hopefully I'll get the master and not the student 😁
I am a big baby about pain. In 2016 I had my pacemaker insertion and ablation at the same time under local (with sedation). It went smooth as glass. I never felt discomfort and the meds they gave me to help me relax were better than 5 Guinnesses (sp?). I drifted off at times and the whole experience was something of a blur. I'll bet you get the same.
It's VERY important that we don't wiggle and try to move around during the ablation as precision is needed to accurately target areas to ablate. The doctors don't want to have a restless uncomfortable patient so they will keep you as comfortable as possible.
(This from an old operating nurse.)
I hope it goes very smoothly for you with a good recovery. Keep us posted about your experience.
Sorry for your wait. A friend about your age had an ablation recently whilst sedated. She said she would have another tomorrow if needed a strange feeling but no pain. She had a nurse whose only job was to look after her . By that I mean check how she was feeling and be there for her. She is a senior nurse so you would expect her to be the worst of patients like me!!
LOL. We nurses have reputations for sometimes being the patients from hell. I know I can be. I want to control and tend to tell everyone how to do their job!
When I see my Electrophysiologist-who I love- and he is not threatened by my suggestions will say -laughingly- "Who's turn is it to be in charge today? Yours or mine?
I avoided ablation for five years whilst the AF got progressively worse. QOL was so crap in the end that I gladly had a cryoablation. No AF now for four years and no drugs(have sotolol as a PIP - a bit of a comfort blanket) .
Conclusion? Wasted 5 years for nothing!! Yes, I still get ectopics and these can be a nuisance, but they don't compare at all to the AF!
From my experience, compromised nerves in ones back and neck can have a significant impact on how the heart performs. This may be why ablations and drugs don't permanently fix this problem only the symptom. They may fix other heart problems.
I have stopped AF hundreds of times by manipulating my neck and back and chiropractic has helped somewhat. One theory is when we age the discs in our spine deteriorate and that is why our height decreases. This interferes with the nerves that emigrate from the spine. This can cause heart problems. Apparently, our bodies ability to make collagen diminishes as we age. So taking collagen supplements might help.
So while you wait for a cardio-version, you may wish to visit a chiropractor to see if an adjustment will stop the AF. Often times it has for me. Sometimes, the AF does not stop immediately but does an hour or two after the adjustment. When my spine is acting up, my heart rate can be like yours, very slow to very fast.
Because I have been paying attention to what my heart does for years now and my ability to change it by moving. my spine, makes me wonder if this is the reason pacemakers are recommended. They actually don't solve the problem but instead overrule nerve signals to the heart and make it beat in a regulated way.
I have been experimenting with a non-drug and non-surgery way of improving my spine and it is making a difference. AF stops on its own, or with a little help from me, much more easily now. I don't take any drugs so my heart is not impacted by these. Therefore, it is more free to respond to the nerve direction given by the brain. I suspect drugs and ablations interfere with this direction.
Unfortunately, I have not found any studies that focus on my theory. I have only found one post on the internet where someone has my point of view. This was on a doctor's blog site and when I postulated my opinion, the doctor removed my post. And I was even very polite. If the neck and back truly are a big factor in causing some types of AF, and the solution is fixing the spine, this will save billions of health care dollars and necessitate that many heart doctors find other ways to spend their time. This would be a big upset to how money is spent and earned.
As you can tell from my name that I am an engineer. So the reason for my thought process. Doctors have told me engineers cannot solve everything. Unfortunately, neither can doctors. So for me, it comes down to: "If it works in practise, why not continue while the theory is proven." Doctors tend to work more often another way: "How do we prove a theory works and unless a clinical trial provides verification, then even though it works in practice, we cannot recommend it." Insurance is a big regulator in this approach.
I think there is more to this view of treating A-fib than many doctors are willing to recognize.
I recorded a video some time ago dealing with this subject. It really reasonated with me. The name of the youtube video is "Cardiac arrhythmias-The Missed Cause" by Dr John Bergman (chiropractor). The way he explains it made sense to me.
Since there are many AF causes and no one knows them all this might be helpful to investigate. He also has other videos.
I've never heard any medical people mention it and I haven't seen scientific evidence just anecdotes.
But, IMO, most scientific evidence started out as someone's experience they then shared with an anecdote.
Thought > Experience>Share info > Research> Scientific evidence >Acceptance by the medical community (possibly).
BTW I'm fortunate to have doctors who are not threatened by information I bring to the table.
I was a nurse, try to keep up with my medical issues as many of us do, and when I meet a doctor who is threatened by me or "Dr Google" I move on.
Thanks for a very interesting and informative post. irina
I have had two ablations , one a pvi cryo ablation for a Fib, and the second an rf ablation in the right atria for re-entrant atrial flutter.
Both were with mild sedation and with a local anaesthetic in the groin entry site. Never felt anything in the groin at all.
The pain from the cryo ablation is mostly felt in the head , it is the brain freeze you get when you take a big bite of a cold ice cream, but extended. It happens four times (4 pulmonary veins).
The RF ablation was a bit more painful, the pain for that manifested itself in the right shoulder.
Pain wise i have had worse experiences at the dentist - it is not an issue.
For the PVI ablation I could also see a lot the screen mapping my body and heart and the waves . I found it quite interesting!
Finally and most importantly, I have not had Afib since the ablation on the 28th January and have not had a flutter since the ablation on the 26th February. I have been off all drugs since the 15th May, so no more side effects: brain fog, memory problems , excessive tiredness or exercise intolerance. It is great.
If i developed afib again tommorrow morning I would happily have another ablation tomorrow afternoon to keep drug free.
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