Chest pain six weeks after ablation

[Rbyy]

Looking for experiences with chest pain after ablation. Had a cryoablation on Jan 9 2019. Foc told me i can exercise after five days. I am a runner and swimmer and lift weights. Did light exercise after five days and two days later had chest pain. Waited two weeks tgen light exercise again. Again chedt pain. After six weeks still feels lije a golf ball stuck in my throat or ache across my whole chest. Worse at night especially when i lay down in bed.

Anyone else experience chest pain. Nurse says it takes a while to heal but I am concerned it doesnt seem to improve much. Thoughts welcome.

[BobD Volunteer]

Well in our fact sheet on recovery we say do nothing week one. Week 2 you can take short walks and then build up gradually making sure that you listen to your body and stop if stressed.

Frankly I think your doctor should have an ablation and find out what it is like as his advice seem like pure lunacy to me. Our guide was written by patients before having to be approved by the medical board and NHS by the way.

I know how you runner types like to hammer yourselves but for the sake of your future health please take it easy.

It may be three to six months or more before you start to feel normal and some people are still improving at nine months.

[Rbyy in reply to BobD]

Thanks for the advice. Yes when I spoke to the nurse two weeks after the ablation she said she had no idea why he tells peopld that but she gets all the calls when he does. Trying to take it easy. I guess what I am feeling is normal but its taking way longer to recover thsn my EP led me to believe. I wonder if I have extended my recovery time by exercising to early? Thx again for your thoughts.

[Hidden]

To help try and get things into perspective, we tend to refer to the extent of the bruising most people experience on their upper thigh and the time that often takes to dissipate. Relate that to the extent of the trauma which must go on inside the heart, the need to take things easy for as long as possible becomes much clearer and sensible. Take it easy and read the pinned factsheet about recovery from an ablation shown to the right of this page

[Rbyy in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Trying to take it easy but nit easy to do. Thx again!

[Gincalpe]

It sounds a though you did too much exercise too soon. I had my cryoablation 6 weeks ago on Jan 16 and I took the advice to do very little in the first two weeks. I am now starting to get back to gradually to walking, cycling and pilates but have not started back to golf yet.

Have a picture of the damage to your heart and try to imagine if you are stressing it too much. It takes a long time to heal and in the first few weeks the scar tissue is slowly developing.

Listen to your body and if you are concerned speak to your arrythmia nurses.

Good luck with your recovery.

[Rbyy in reply to Gincalpe]

Thank you. Great advice

[Rainlee]

After my cryoablation in 2013 I had intermittent moderate chest pain and very little energy for about a year. Sending wishes for speedy healing!

[LMor]

Thank you for your post. I am nearly three weeks post ablation (for svt) and still getting chest pain. I am resting lots but if I go for a walk or walk upstairs & sometimes even lay down I get chest pains. I am meant to be returning to a very busy job in two days and extremely concerned. I hope you make a quick recovery. My advice would be to rest as much as possible and listen to what your body is telling you. I think you did too much too quickly and just need to take it easy. x

[Rbyy in reply to LMor]

Thanks!

[Goldfish7]

I'm recovering from my second ablation for PAF which apparently included doing anterior lines. its over 3 months since the ablation and I'm still experiencing missed beats, what appears to be atrial flutter, breathlessness, fatigue and chest pain regularly. Heart palpitations and booming continue frequently and my sleep is even more disrupted than it was prior to the op. The sleep issues appear to be due to the effects of the bisoprolol which has always woken me up numerous times during the night now being aggravated by palpitations/heart rhythm irregularities which prevent me from getting back to sleep. My exercise tolerance is very poor and I appear to suffer pronounced chest pain if I do enough exercise or activities to 'tire me' or if I have tried to extend my tolerance to physical tasks. Sometimes this chest pain does not appear for an hour or two up to several hours after the activity has ended.

I've recently seen my specialist team who are still hopeful that the ablation will have worked and feel that the heart rhythm problems may still settle - hopefully by the 6 month appointment. They clearly stated that healing and the side effects of healing in the heart are very variable so their advice is not to worry. Obviously I am anxious that things are not going at all well at the moment (not back at work - much increased anxiety) but am buoyed up by the assurances of the team that this may still prove to be a temporary state and the ablation may have worked.

So please don't worry - take it easy - I know its frustrating not being able to exercise effectively without increasing symptoms but try not to push too far too quickly.

[Rbyy in reply to Goldfish7]

Thanks. Sounds like we are getting similar advice. Nurses are telling me it takes time. I also get a delay of the chest pain after exercise and during exercise I feel fine. I am giving up the idea of any exercise for another month and then see what happens. Good luck with your recovery as well. Thanks for the feedback.

[Alpp in reply to Rbyy]

Hi! I know it's been a year since you posted about your chest pain after ablation. I am wondering if your chest pain ever subsided and went away and if you are able to exercise?

My 17 year old daughter underwent am ablation 6 days ago. She has complained that her chest has been hurting every since the 3rd day. This really concerns me because the doctor had told us that she would not have any pain in her chest.

What could be causing this?

[Rbyy in reply to Alpp]

I am still having my chest pain. I have a new cardiologist and they believe it is pericarditis. They can do a scan to check for this which is a swelling of the sac that surrounds the heart. I think it wasnt treated right from the beginning for me. I am Treating it now with NSaids. That said six days is not a ton of time for her to fully recover. I believe I started exercising to quickly which may have caused my issues. They put the heart thru a lot of trauma and it may take weeks or more for her to feel normal again. If u are concerned def call her cardiologist but I think if its only six days she might need more time to recover. Its a scary procedure but it is one that is becoming more and more routine. But again if there is concern its always better to talk to the doc to put minds at ease. Best of luck. So sorry she had to go thru this at such a young age

[Alpp in reply to Rbyy]

Thank you for your reply. I have a call into the doctor and will see what he says hopefully tomorrow. The only physical thing she’s done is walk up stairs to her bedroom everyday.

Sorry to hear about your continued pain but wish you well with the treatment.

[Rbyy in reply to Alpp]

How is your daughter doing! Hope she is improving.

[Goldfish7]

Best of luck with your recovery