Hi,
Have an appointment to have an Ablation operation on the 9th of December. Not had this operation before. As it is so near Christmas I would like to know realistically how people felt after their Ablation. What can you do and how long does it take to recover Etc.
Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Hi - firstly it’s not an operation - it’s a procedure as it’s not done in a theatre but a cath lab.
Recovery - depends upon - your expectations of what you mean by recovery? Back to as you were prior to AF - for most - think months but you will be up and about fairly soon - 8-24 hours. 1st week you are best doing very little which includes walking up stairs or travelling unaided - you need to be very careful of the wound site and bleeds. Apart from that it is really individual but don’t expect too much, too soon.
Have you read the recovering from ablation leaflet - heartrhythmalliance.org/fil...
Sorry, should have said a procedure.
In my letter from the hospital it stated that I should only be in the hospital for 1-2 nights. As it near Christmas I was wonder what I would be able to do leading up to Christmas day when I have to cook a Christmas dinner.
Thank you for the information regarding the ablation leaflet. I will definitely have a read.
Depends upon how soon before Christmas your Ablation is but as Christmas can be stressful at the best if times, not something I would want to be organising for a family.
I've had three ablations and agree with CDreamer. I wouldn't want to undertake cooking a Christmas dinner for other people within what will probably amount to just over two weeks. If it's just for two people, then with a little help from the other person you should be fine.
Jean
Thank you JeanJeannie50.
It's going to be for 7 of us including my 2 grandsons. I will have help from my daughter, son and husband. Think I will just have to stand back and give instructions as to what to do. This is one of the reasons why I asked the question. It's nice to get advice from other members.
For a while after your ablation, it's quite usual to find that you'll have days when you feel fine and then others extremely weary, this can go on for months.
Thank you, Jean.
For me, the first week I couldn’t do anything. The second, I went for small walks and the third I was doing a bit more. Was back at work week four but on reduced hours. The recovery is different for each individual, but I would give yourself at least three weeks before doing anything strenuous (and that includes all the cooking etc). It’s a much tougher recovery than the hospital tell you. Mine was booked late November and I cancelled it because of Christmas and rebooked for February (but that was better for me personally). Good luck with it. I hope it goes well
Thank you Lmor. I must say I am quite nervous.
I was very worried too but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I was sedated but remembered nothing. The worst bit for me was having to lay down for hours after 😬
I had first ablation on 11th Dec last year. Home on same day but followed advice of others on the forum and took things easy during first couple of weeks gradually increasing exercise by building up walking time .Even though I felt well I was glad it wasn't my turn to host Christmas- was tiring enough to do the whole Christmas thjng without having stress of preparing and hosting! My advice would be to put yourself first on this occasion and let others take it on. Best of luck Linda
I had my ablation in August. I was out the same day. You need to keep pressure on the entry site when moving for the first couple of days to avoid it re-opening. I experienced AF symptoms in the first 24 hours post ablation. Other than that I was fine and returned to work 4 days after the procedure taking obvious care not to over exert. I did not return to any form of strenuous exercise for a few weeks. Reading the above I may have taken a different course of action.... just trying to give a balance but would suggest you take it easy for as long as you feel you can retain your own sanity.... good luck!
as others have said, week one do nothing, week 2 get up, shuffle around and make yourself a nice decaff brew.
We moved house the week after my ablation, it was hard to do nothing when so much needed doing, but I tried not to. I did do too much and ended up feeling exhausted at the end of the day, stupid I know.
It took 3 months to get back to pre ablation fitness/energy levels.
So for once, let it happen around you, let others take up the slack, be good to yourself and give yourself the opportunity to have a successful ablation
Thank you. I will make sure I take it real easy.
Hi Abluerose, You must remember that everyone is different. However I have just had an ablation on 5th November ( of all days) and I came round from the sedation ( it knocked me out) feeling absolutely brilliant, as if I had slept for a week. I had no pain whatsoever and went out two days later. Less than a week later I still feel fine and up to now have not had an episode of af. Time of course will tell. Hope all goes well for you on your ablation and hope your recovery is as swift as mine.
Regards Flyer.
It's too late to try this before your ablation, but afterwards, if your afib comes back, try this to keep it at bay, or make it less severe:
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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??
Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer
PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:
Cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-7-28
Thank you, Rick I will have a look.
I have had two catheter ablations under local anaesthetic, one of which lasted for 6 hours! I had an overnight stay in hospital after the first ablation, and went home about 3 hours after the second one. Their main concern was bleeding in my groin, the incision site, but this was not much of a problem. I felt fine after both procedures and recovered quickly enough to go back to work (in a sedentary job) after 1 week.
I am due to go back for another ablation in a few months. This time, it will be under general anaesthetic, as the cardiologist had a problem getting through the septum in my heart the last time. I imagine that it will take a bit longer to recover this time, but do not anticipate any problems!
It does seem that people are very different, and I think that I have been lucky to have recovered so quickly. Wishing you the same luck too!
Thank you. I wish you luck in on your next ablation in a few months. I hope I am lucky too.
I took weeks/months to recover after my first two ablations, but after the third one I felt fine right away.
Reading through the various replies I realise everyone is different. But, there is no way I could even consider doing a meal for family even 3 weeks after ablation. I am now 4 weeks into recovery, I had problems with nauseau & feeling faint its not as bad now due to halving the Flecainade medication. I should have gone home next day but due to going into af morning after ablation had to stay a total of 3 nights but, that was me! Before hand I did a few big shops & got well stocked up on easy to cook ready meals,& things like soups & small size long life milk etc. as I knew I couldn't do any lifting/carrying & I'm glad I did as I didn't feel like doing much 1st 3 weeks.
3 weeks in I was glad to have help in the kitchen as I found it hard to lift a quite small chicken into the slo cooker, baste it or lift it out to carve. So you may well need extra help. I organised my freezer & cupbds so that items were in small portions eady to lift out. Neighbour even got a loaf of bread out of bottom freezer drawer as I didn't want to risk bending!
The advice leaflet helped a lit + the advice of folk on this forum, worth reading through them when you have chance.
Bit of a long reply but, I'm sure like me & the others replying you will be relieved to get it done.
Do keep in touch & let us know how you get on
Hi Abluerose had my ablation on 28 Oct this year, stayed in hospital one night after having sedation (it took 3 hours). Felt absolutely fine and have done everyday since! Started driving and walking the dog after 2 days went back to work on 3 Nov. I do think each recovery is very personal and I was expecting to feel poorly afterwards which was nice when I didn’t!! Good luck with your procedure it’s not as bad as you think 
Thank you.
So glad that your recovery well.
I like the fact you said it's not as bad as you think. I feel a bit worried about it.
I had my ablation 2 weeks before you & even now still recovering. Sounds like you have done really well, no way I could have done so much 2days afterwards. so pleased for you and, as we all know everyone recovers differently
Hi Gowers you will get there - I am a little shocked myself how well I feel (touch wood) xx just shows how everyone is so different! I’m glad I’m ok with this though as I have a heart MRI on 27 Nov so they can look at my other issue of leaking valve and aortic aneurysm let’s hope pattern continues! I really hope you feel much better soon! Take care x
Getting there slowly! Considering your other heart issues you've done really well. Your recovery is amazing, Thank you for sharing it with us
Stop ! Take a deep breath. Fate has given you a wonderful opportunity to sit back and mercilessly exploit your nearest and dearest. This is a once in a lifetime chance to sit back and imperiously issue commands on how you want everything done, in the most minute and pernickety detail
Alternatively you could graciously accept an invitation to be taken out to the best restaurant you can think of, while you nobly suffer mysterious pains, but manage to struggle on regardless, while stifling pangs of hilarious laughter. Just don't polish off too much fizzy stuff or you will give the game away.
In either case you can then be wafted back to your favourite chair to put your feet up, enjoy a couple of your favourite chocs while struggling not to do too much in case you worry everyone about your ongoing health condition.
Just don't tell anyone?
Recovering from Ablation Fact Sheet - Thank you
Typical recovery time for ablation 
Waiting Times For Ablations?
NHS waiting time for an ablation 
Time between Ablation and Golf?
