Advice on Afib after Catheter Ablation

[charlieginger]

I am new here Im 57 Male and i have had paroxysmal Afib for about 2 years. My episodes consist of a heart rate in the 150 to 100 usually all over the place for about 6 hours then i convert back to sinus rhythm. unfortunately when i would convert i would have long pauses, the longest one was 7 seconds,

So my cardiologist suggests i get a pacemaker this way he could give me meds ( 50mg Atenolol and .125 Digoxin and Xaralto) that would lower my heart rate when in Afib and the pacemaker would stop the pauses at conversion back to sinus rhythm.

Now a year later it stoped the pauses but the Afib was still happening just as frequent as ever about every 3 weeks so that didn’t work.

Then 8 days ago i got an ablation,The Dr said everything went great and for the first 3 days everything was great perfect rhythm everything was great then out of the blue at 1am i went into full blown Afib but the rate was going into the 200 so my wife took me to the ER they gave me diltiazam and my heart went back to sinus rhythm in a couple of hours they released me an hour later.

I then had another attack a day later , i woke up after a great nights sleep in Afib again 200 bpm this time it only lasted an hour and it went back to sinus rhythm on its own .

Its been 9 days now and i feel great i haven’t had even a small heart flutter,

I took the dog for a walk a couple times without a problem and even walked a mile on the treadmill a few times with no problem.

I was wondering if this is normal after an ablation, Im hoping there is still a glimmer of hope that it worked.

I am going back to work on Monday so hopefully all gos well.

Has anyone gone through the same problems after an ablation and had any long term success.

Unfortunately Im not going to see my Electrophysiologist for another 4 weeks so i can't ask him.

And he went on vacation the day after my Ablation.

Thank You

[BobD Volunteer]

If you go to our website (AF Association) there is a fact sheet on Recovering from Ablation which lists most of the things you may expect. You can also follow the pinned post on right of the screen where you will find a link..

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BobD]

Here's the link : heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[exbcmc in reply to jeanjeannie50]

From the USA, thank you for that info. I’m 2 yrs post and was not really aware of a good portion of that 👍

[perkman]

I am surprised your EP didn't tell you this could happen. Perfectly normal to have episodes of afib after an ablation.

EPs don't count these episodes as an ablation failure unless they continue to happen 3 months after the ablation. It is called the blanking period. This is the time your heart heals from the burns or freeze points to block errant electrical impulses.

You are very early post procedure. Stay hydrated and eat a heart healthy diet and get plenty of rest. The afib should lessen over the next several weeks and eventually stop

Best Wishes

[charlieginger in reply to perkman]

thanks for replys

like i said my cardiologist took off on a vacation the day after ablation so there was no talk after the operation

he told my wife that everything went great while i was in recovery

everyone on this site seams to know a lot about everything that has to do with Afib so i figured i would ask

Thank You

[Jlaine in reply to perkman]

My ep didn't share with me what to expect after ablation. I have learned most of my knowledge on line and by here. I have heard this from others as well. Just saying.

[CookieinAL in reply to perkman]

I have found that Drs don't tell you in much detail what may happen after an ablation. Mine covered the really rare (and scary) side effects, but not much on how I would feel and the way my heart would act. Thank God for the info provided here.

[stagecoach]

I had a couple of spells of heart rate > 200bpm within the first 2 weeks of ablation and nothing like it since (11 weeks post ablation). It happens, don't worry about it.

[Dodie117]

I had a lot of episodes after mine in 2013. It took 5 months for them to reduce and then stop. I am still AF free so stay positive

Good luck ☘️

[Tux18 in reply to Dodie117]

Good to hear that someone else took more than three months to heal after ablation. I also had at least five months with plenty of afib after ablation. I heard from doctor and others that if it worked I’d be ok by 3 months. Anyway, after a good five months my afib episodes continue to occur but not as often and not as long. Do have short periods of tachycardia, but I guess the ablation helped. But I also use lots of meditation and other self help stuff.

[Dodie117 in reply to Tux18]

Stay positive.

[Lien-Ju]

Hello there I had one episode of fibrillation 1 week after my ablation, also stopped every physical activities for 3/4 months except my daily walk.

[jeanjeannie50]

You have to wait for the scar tissue to form in your heart, this is what blocks the rogue pulses. Until that forms you can still have AF attacks. So what you are experiencing is normal and will hopefully be short lived.

Jean

[charlieginger]

What’s concerning me is that before the ablation my attacks had a heart rate of 90 to 150 they did go on for a bit but they always went back to sinus rhythm in about 6 hours

Now post ablation the heart rate is 150 to 200

Fortunately they didn’t last 6 hours but I just got concerned about the rate being so high and so far only two episodes.

My heart felt like when you put a playing card in the spokes of your bike.

I love this site because I don’t feel alone and we all talk Afibian

A-FIB-E-UN

Sorry I have to joke a little