12 weeks post ablation update - Atrial Fibrillati...

Atrial Fibrillation Support

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12 weeks post ablation update

Kellyjelly profile image
30 Replies

Hi everyone, I haven’t been around much lately as I’ve been looking after my mother in law after she broke her leg! I haven’t had much spare time with caring for her and going through the assessment for fostering things have been hectic to say the least! Just wanted to let you all know how I am almost 3 months since my ablation. 😊

My heart continues to be sensitive to all the old triggers( menstrual cycle, eating and emotional excitement both good and bad) but much less so than it was in the first 6 weeks. My anxiety about the arrhythmias just waiting to come back and get me is still with me but is slowly receding and my confidence is coming back , I am going about my life pretty much as normal. I sometimes still feel a little disappointed at the amount of twitchiness my heart seems to have but I know that is just the way I’m made and if it stays like this and never progresses then I know I’m very lucky.

I have regular very short bursts of SVT usually followed by a big burp, they never progress and are so short I have yet to capture one on the Kardia, By the time I grab it and fire it up my heart has settled.

So all in all things are very positive and I’m feeling pretty good. The only negative I have is that I do wish my heart was less sensitive and I wish I could fully shake the feeling that it might come back but I’m getting there bit by bit. When I think how I was when I first arrived here it’s like a different person.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying this wonderful summer weather 🥴😉

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Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly
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30 Replies
Ianp66 profile image
Ianp66

Great news Kelly, good to hear your getting slowly better, at the least the caring takes your mind of the oddities of the heart with a little distraction. Still early days maybe, keep positive 👍

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to Ianp66

Thank Ian 😊

How are you feeling now, still doing well I hope

Take care 😊

Ianp66 profile image
Ianp66 in reply to Kellyjelly

Doing very well Kelly thanks , been lucky I think, only had the odd flutter and tachy, short lived then passed, doing a lot of walking every day and half off the bisoprolol now, feel so much better and tons of energy it's great compared to the past year, well last 4 years really.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to Ianp66

That’s fantastic news! I’m so pleased for you. 😊😊😊

BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

Relax. Still very early days. In a year you will have forgotten about it.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly

Thanks BobD 😊

Still early days yet with the sensitivity and hope the tolerance improves and the build up gets stronger!

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to jedimasterlincoln

Thanks, it’s definitely improved in the last 4 weeks so fingers crossed. How are you doing, I hope you are still feeling better and work is going well 😊

jedimasterlincoln profile image
jedimasterlincoln in reply to Kellyjelly

Work's OK, not what I want to be doing at a desk I want to be clinically responsible again but I'm biding my time. Slight hiccup that I may not be cleared to work on the floor as my EP has just postponed my follow up until NOVEMBER so naturally I'm quite worried work won't support my desk role until them and Occupational health won't clear me until I've seen the EP.

I've written to him for help.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to jedimasterlincoln

I understand that you want to be fully back to clinical work again but when you think back to how poorly you were and how far you’ve come you are doing so well. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer 🤞

I still haven’t heard from my EP regarding my 8 week follow up and it’s been almost 12 weeks 🙄 I must chase it up.

They would, but it's not where I want to be. And I did some cover in outpatients once and there was a lot of standing/waiting/walking/waiting/standing/walking which really knackered my knee up. I should probably just jack it in!

Gowers profile image
Gowers

Great to have your update Kelly as I did wonder how you were getting on after the ablation. Sounds like you have been rather busy! (You must have not long been recovering when you had to care for your mother in law)

Can't believe it's been three months (where has the time gone?!)

What a great thing you are doing to foster - hope it goes well for you along with your ongoing recovery - it seems lufe after ablation is different for everyone.

Af is not easy to live with so I understand how you feel, that even after ablation there still that worry of it returning but, as Bob has said I'm sure with time you will have forgotten about it.

Do keep us updated when you have time.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to Gowers

Thank you for your lovely reply 😊

I can’t believe 3 months have passed either, it’s gone so fast but it also seems like a lifetime ago when I was in such a state and waiting for my ablation!

We are well into the process of being assessed to foster, I have AF to thank for that, I never would have made such big changes to my life if I hadn’t been through everything that happened in the winter with the collapses etc finally culminating in the ablation. My life went on hold in December and it really gave me time to reflect and think about how I felt about every area of my life. So out of one of the worst experiences of my life came the idea for this new adventure.

When I think about the bigger picture I wonder if finally facing my arrhythmias and tackling them head on will be the best thing that ever happened to me?

I hope you are well, take good care 😊

Gowers profile image
Gowers in reply to Kellyjelly

Ah! Kelly - What a great way of getting on with life after af/ablation. I'm sure you have given us all reason to step back & know there is light at the end of the tunnel

Yes, I remember you telling us about your collapse & worries about the ablation.

Good to read about your recovery despite the ectopics

Stumpy47 profile image
Stumpy47

Some real positives to look at for yourself Kelly, I'm 4 weeks post ablation, & still getting spikes of svt but no persistent runs. My sleeping has greatly improved from poor (2 hours to wide awake for 2 hours ) to now periods of 5/6 hours but still get a lot of ectopics!!! Looking forward to getting my driving licence ba asap! Best wishes.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to Stumpy47

Thank you for your kind reply 😊

Very early days for you, it sounds exactly the same as my experience. Week 7 was the magic moment for me, I started to feel so much better at that point. Good to hear you are getting better sleep.

I’ve never had ectopics until I had my ablation, I really didn’t like the feeling of them, again they lessened after the 7/8 week mark.

Wishing you all the best and hope you get your licence back soon!

Take good are 😊

Hi KellyJ,

Great to hear from you! Sounds like things are getting better ..... I’m so pleased for you!

I suspect you have some days when you don’t even think about stupid AF now eh?

Me too btw.

To staying in NSR 👍❤️ 🍹 ( no alcohol of course) 😉

MydogBrandy profile image
MydogBrandy

H Kellyjelley, I’m 5 months on now and feeling so much better , time is a great healer. I too have that slight worry and think sometimes I have felt something but then.....nothing. Overthinking I believe sometimes. Just dwell on how much life has improved, and hopefully things get better and better. Hope everyone else is feeling fine , love to all 😘 Ursula x

Morzine profile image
Morzine

All positive, great news, I can relate exactly to that unease every time the heart twitters etc.....even a couple of palpitations and I’m taking my pulse.....think it’s cos this thing was such a shock to us when it came, we r now ten times more conscious of absolutely anything the heart does.......bet it happened before afib but we never ga e our hearts much thought .......I’m five months now, feeling normal,but yes only this morning did I take my pulse!M

Sue

Lola555 profile image
Lola555

Hi Kelly

It’s good to hear from you, and that you’re feeling much more positive. I had my ablation just after yours, so i’m also at the 3 month mark. My heart wobbled and twitched the first month, but has calmed now. I have times when I feel a SVT episode is beginning but then it suddenly stops. I was told I would probably feel those. I was due to have my 3 month check up last week but couldn’t attend as I caught chicken-pox! The joys of working in a primary school 😂 Good Luck with your fostering process, I think it’s amazing that you’re choosing to offer that support. My parents were foster parents and I have great memories of the children we cared for. It wasn’t always easy, but so worthwhile. The hardest part was always when they returned home. Take care 😊

kbog profile image
kbog

So glad to see an update, Kelly! Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law’s misfortune. Glad things have settled a bit heart-wise since the ablation. If in the future it doesn’t seem it has helped you enough, you will know if it is time to seek further help/ablation. You are perfectly capable of evaluating your results.

Hang in there with the familial duties!! I hope you will be able to get back to normal life soon.

Best,

Karen

Gincalpe profile image
Gincalpe

Pleased to hear you feel a lot better - long may it continue. Good luck with fostering.

Shcldavies profile image
Shcldavies

It is really good to hear that your still improving, it does take time though and I think what you do and what you eat makes a difference to how your heart behaves in recovery. I am convinced that it will take up to a year to fully recover so your well on track and 3 months gone already!

Its been 4 months for me and yesterday I did everything I would normally do before I had the arrhythmia (active from 0700 till 1800), even risked a small beer and felt really good. I still get the occasional "funny" beats that last up to 5 seconds but these soon go when I take deep breaths. I wonder if I always had these "funny" beats but as they did not effect me I do not remember them? Still on Bisoprolol 1.25 but now thinking that I can stop all together as Bp is 117/74 and HR 65, but will wait to see Doc in September just in case as the EP said I still have MAT.

It appears that emotion also plays a role in recovery, you must take care and try to mentally remove yourself from emotion for little time yet. Not easy especially with family commitments but even being aware of how emotion can effect recovery does help. Your anxiety of it comping back is the same with me, I think it will take many months yet for these thoughts to go away. Keep us post on your recovery.

Aus19 profile image
Aus19

A somewhat belated reply here, but good news for you! Glad to read of your improvement.

I'm happy to hear that you're feeling better, Kelly! Thanks for the update. 😊😻

Padayn01 profile image
Padayn01

Interesting about how you get a spout than followed by a big burp, i get exactly the same thing why is that you think?

TrumpetHub55 profile image
TrumpetHub55

Hello. I am new to this site and I see that this was a comment from four years ago. I hope you check from time to time if you do, I would love to hear how you’re progressing now. Also, was it an atrial fibrillation ablation? You know what? Complete, PVI ?

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to TrumpetHub55

Hi there, I haven’t posted here for such a long time but I saw your message and wanted to give a little update as I remember how I felt when I first joined the site and was looking for as much info as I could get.

My first ablation turned out to be unsuccessful and after two years of coping as best I could with SVT, AFib and Flutter I decided to undergo another ablation, this time under general anaesthetic. I am absolutely thrilled to tell you that I woke up from the anaesthetic and almost immediately felt that my heart felt calmer. My recovery period was much less than the first ablation and I just felt better. I haven’t had a single episode since my second ablation and I have long since been discharged from the care of my electrophysiologist. My heart is calm and settled and my mind is too. I no longer feel that I’m just waiting for the next episode.

I am so glad that I found this forum, it offered me so much support through a very difficult time. You will find all the information and help you need here.

Take good care

Kelly 🙂

TrumpetHub55 profile image
TrumpetHub55

hey, thank you very much for replying. I really appreciate that! I am extremely happy for you as well! I had my ablation two weeks ago and even though I have been AFib free, I still get much of what I would explain as excitable tissue like it’s going to take off. I do get a few palpitations here and there. Do you think that exciteability is normal and that it will go away? My background was I had about five years of on and off paroxysmal a fib, but I had it pretty well under control where there’ was only a couple major episodes a year. Major being two or three hours. After this Christmas, it became much more involved, lasting longer, and not being able to get back into rhythm on my own. I could feel it was trying to progress to persistent. I’m hoping and praying we caught it in time.

Kellyjelly profile image
Kellyjelly in reply to TrumpetHub55

Good morning,

Two weeks is very early days, everything is still healing and settling down. Give it time and really take the time to rest and take good care of yourself. How did your EP feel it all went?

I had problems with arrhythmias for over 30 years, started with SVT that then morphed into AFib and I’ve experienced Flutter too, sometimes all 3 would show up during an episode. My episodes could last for over 24 hours with extremely high rates, around 210 was normal for me and I would have them monthly, as you can imagine at rates like that it was totally debilitating. It has taken two ablations to get it under control so I don’t think you need to worry if they caught it in time. With my first ablation I was extremely cautious in the 6 weeks afterwards, I took everything really slowly and took extra special care of myself, try and do the same. Give your body time to heal and I really really hope it all settles down nicely and you are free from AFib.

Take care

Kelly 😊

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