Feeling Scared after Tachycardia Ablation

[Flo2pen]

Morning All... I Had tachycardia ablation in my right groin yesterday morning at 6 am. My vitals looked good in recovery so they sent me home by 430 in afternoon. Well last nite I felt like I was hit in d chest. Chest was tight n shortness of breath and that sore throat... it felt awful.. m trying to rest but it woke me out of my sleep.. anything i can do at home to help ease the feeling?? My back is hurting from laying still for 4 hours.. i dont see EP till next week.. Should I be worried??

[jedimasterlincoln]

Sore throat is normal if you had it under general anaesthetic or any sort of trans-oesophageal echo at the same time. Don't have any "rough" foods for a few days, soft foods that slip down easily or are easily chewable into small bits will help.

Regards the back, don't stay in one position too long but be careful rolling over/getting up and don't move too fast. This applies to sitting and lying down. Equally don't stand for too long. Moving little and often will avoid stiffening up and get you moving more freely but don't cover large distances.

The chest thing is a bit different for different people. It could be down to the ablation itself, though in 5 occasions I've never really had tightness or shortness of breath - for me those would be occasions I'd probably want to ring the ward I had been on, or some emergency care for peace of mind because it can mean something - but often doesn't mean anything is wrong. But you should always get checked out if you're worried.

Bearing in mind an ablation of any sort is a trauma to a major muscle. If you'd been in a care accident, shunted against your steering wheel/seatbelt and ended up in hospital - you'd be a bit sore. This is no different just because it was a planned intervention.

I'd probably get checked out if it were me, but only as I don't recall chest tightness and shortness of breath being mentioned as part of my post-ablation cautions.

[Flo2pen in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Absolutely will do just that.. thank u

[BobD Volunteer]

All sounds perfectly normal to me but if you are worried speak to your arrhythmia nurse. I'm sure they gave you a contact number. Read our "Recovering from Ablation " fact sheet.

[Flo2pen in reply to BobD]

Will do thank you

[Ppiman in reply to BobD]

My ablation clinic phone number was Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm, and then leave a message.

[lwm1198]

The chest pain and tightness happened to me as well at about 36 hours after the procedure. I called the doctor the next day and obtained a Rx for Cochicine, a drug that eases the pain but is normally used for gout. The pain was so intense I could barely breath let alone cough. It's a reaction to the work done on the heart and took about three days to completely disappear. They told me is happens in about 10% of all cases.

[Flo2pen in reply to lwm1198]

Hello how are you feeling now.. chest pains has subsided for me but very exhausted n still feel sore

[lwm1198 in reply to Flo2pen]

I think it took about a month for me to feel "normal" and it was a kind of general malaise....not sick and not hurting, just a sense of something different in my chest and not being quite 100%. Eight months later, all is well in that department!

[Flo2pen in reply to lwm1198]

So good to know that.. there's some hope at d end of this roller coaster ride..

[Ppiman]

I’ve just written a post about my first few days. Maybe have a read? It’s hard to accept this, I know, but what you’re feeling is entirely normal and, yes - you’ll be fine eventually. I really feel for you using that word “scared” as that’s exactly how I’ve felt many times this last week - even this morning.

Bad luck having to go through this. I’m sure there are many more and far worse hellish places for us mortals to have to go through but this has been a taste of fear I neither expected nor wanted.

[Flo2pen in reply to Ppiman]

Hello how are you feeling now.. chest pains has subsided for me but very exhausted n still feel sore

[Ppiman in reply to Flo2pen]

I’m positive in my outlook, thankfully, but struggling physically, to be frank. Today brought palpitations, shoulder blade “zizzing”, a light head if I stood up quickly and no chance of any exertion at all. I’ve been told that the ablation needed for permanent flutter is extensive and that the heart needs a long time to heal.

I’ve read a study that showed about 50-60+% of flutter ablations bring along temporary breakthrough atrial fibrillation attacks. I’m thinking this is what I’m suffering at times during the day especially on exertion.

I’m glad you’re “getting there”, but, like me, I expect you could do without the after effects of the surgery.