3 months post Cryoablation and still suffering!

[Jeanette49]

I am now 3 months on from my procedure, and apart from a fairly good first week, I have had erratic rhythm issues on most days, and have been told about the 3 month blanking period, so I am trying to stay positive.

There doesn’t seem to be any particular trigger, it just springs from nowhere quite randomly. I had 10 nice quiet days over the Christmas period which was delightful, and then yesterday I started getting continuous runs of skipped beats and bouncing around! This lasted from lunchtime until bedtime. No problems overnight, but within half an hour of getting up, it has started again...runs of skipped beats etc. I thought I was on the home stretch at Christmas, what’s going on? Does this mean it hasn’t worked? 😔

I also find that since the Cryoablation I feel very bloated and uncomfortable after dinner, but this doesn’t necessarily lead to erratic rhythm, that happens randomly at various times of the day.

[Hidden]

Hello Jeanette, sorry to hear you are experiencing problems after your cryoablation but it is early days so there is still a chance that things will improve. If you were given details about contacting an. Arrhythmia Nurse then it might be worth doing that just see if there is any advice available. I assume you will have a review with your EP, either soon or maybe in 3 months time? Cryoablations can be successful but because the tissue around the pulmonary veins is not always smooth it is sometimes possible that the expanding balloon might not get to all the tissue and this may be why you are experiencing these problems. In your case this may not be necessary, but it is not unusual to have a second RF ablation which effectively treats any “missed bits” and this is what happened in my case.

Obviously, it’s not ideal, but the second attempt is often much quicker and can be under a general anaesthetic but it is early days and hopefully in your case it will not be necessary. Keep doing all the right things and hopefully it will settle, but if it doesn’t, things can be done. I have had no problems and I am now 4 months post my second ablation (with fingers crossed and touching wood!)......good luck

[Jeanette49 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Flapjack, I have an appointment with my cardiologist on 15th January, so will see what he says. Have you had no issues at all since your second ablation?

[Hidden in reply to Jeanette49]

Nope, nothing so far! Mikee has made some good points too about ectopics and palpitations. Good luck on the 15th.....

[Hidden]

Hi, sorry to hear you still feel unwell.

Is it AF or "just ectopics"?

I ask as I thought (convinced myself) that I was having AF attacks , but the reality was just runs of ectopics.

I'm 21 months post ablation now, and have found that the ectopics have become much less frequent.

I did find that magnesium helped, as well as shedding some weight and lots of walking.