Visit to the Cardiologist Today

[Padayn01]

So i got my 4 month post ablation check today, feeling a bit disappointed as he said that my skipped beats that i have been getting are a result of something else and not that the heart is still recovering, he said the heart will be fully recovered now and this could be ectopics or atrial flutter, he said he will put a 7 day holster on and see if it can pick anything up, but he goes depends on what he finds could be a wide range of treatment blood thinners, 2nd ablation etc etc, done ECG and that was fine, so this AF journey is still not over yet.

[RiderontheStorm]

It took me a full 9 months to normalize heart beat and I am in great shape. Relax, anxiety only makes things worse. :^)

[Padayn01 in reply to RiderontheStorm]

Really appreciate that mate proper gives me hope 👍🏼

[Padayn01 in reply to RiderontheStorm]

Did you just have the one abalation mate?

[RiderontheStorm in reply to Padayn01]

Just 1 Ablation - but that caused a serious Pulmonary Embolism a week later that nearly killed me. ER hospital trip for me - That made the Afib problem look minor. I am so grateful to be able to walk again more than a few steps and breath freely in sync and enjoy NSR. Today I am back to normal and not on any blood thinners. I do carry a PIP (pill in the pocket Flecanide for emergency) I feel very lucky. I take 400mg Magnesium and 2000MG Vitamin D daily for cardiac health. Give it time and you will be fine. :^) I am approaching my 3 year Ablation anniversary soon.

[Padayn01 in reply to RiderontheStorm]

Top man

[BobD Volunteer]

Just shows how different EPs are. Mine agrees it can take much longer.

[Padayn01 in reply to BobD]

Yeah was a bit surprised he said that

[Padayn01 in reply to BobD]

Quick question bobd if I had atrial flutter would it show up on the ECG?

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Padayn01]

Yes shows as a saw tooth trace.

[Padayn01 in reply to BobD]

Cheers bobd

[Leeson]

So sorry to hear that, do you feel it is worse than before the ablation, due to get my second ablation end of January, it is always a worry that you are making the right decision isn't it. Stay positive

[Padayn01 in reply to Leeson]

Cheers for your reply, I do feel some improvement since the abalation but it’s just these skipped beats that are the problem now

[Surreychica_1 in reply to Padayn01]

I get them too I think they call them ectopic beats. Very unpleasant. Some days they are worse then others. I have not had an ablation but I have had stents put in.

Hope you sort your problem out soon. All very worrying.

[Jishing]

Thinking of you as I am in the same situation but 6 months post 1st ablation, 7 day holter monitor next week.

Take care

[Padayn01 in reply to Jishing]

What symptoms are you getting now?

[Jishing]

Palpitations and fluttering feeling multiple times per day

[Padayn01 in reply to Jishing]

Did you get any of these symptoms before you’re abalation? Any improvement at all after your abalation?

[Bob56]

As has been said different EP/cardiologists have different views, but I don’t think 4 months is long enough to judge if an ablation has been successful or not, and whether or not you have ectopic beats doesn’t mean your ablation has failed. I had my ablation 4 plus years ago, and it has largely,been successful in controlling my AF. However, I suffered with ectopics before the ablation, and still do now. The cardiologist had hoped the ablation might have helped them, as well as tackling the AF, but it didn’t happen that way and his view is that I should try to live with them as ablation for ectopics is much more hit and miss than for AF. As ectopics don't have the same consequences as AF few doctors suggest ablation as a way of treating them. Of course, if it’s atrial flutter then that’s a different matter, but the holter test should confirm that for you.

Personally, I still think it’s early days to be making any important decisions on future treatment. I was still improving 6 months or more after my ablation.

Good luck

[Padayn01 in reply to Bob56]

Cheers for that bob56 much appreciated

[Jishing in reply to Bob56]

Thanks Bob

[Catlady5 in reply to Bob56]

I just had a pvc ablation 3 weeks ago. I was having 20,000 + a day. No way to live , it’s debilitating. I had 10 days of no PVCs, it was glorious, then they came back, but not in that quantity so far, but it’s still discouraging. My EP was confident he got the right spots, but here I am having them again, but I am pretty fresh out of surgery. I hope after the healing process they stop again. Not sure I’d ablate agin. Good luck to everyone on here...it’s rough to live with.

[Padayn01 in reply to Catlady5]

Very early days for you hope they settle down

[Hidden]

2.5 years post ablation and I still get missed beats, palpations bigeminy and short runs of tachycardia.

But no AF

Palpations/ectopics etc can be horrible but us AFers feel them more than most.

People that don't have AF also have ectopics several times a day, they are a normal occurrence. Difference is, they don't feel them.

I've just had to come to terms with it, some days are better than others

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I should add that taking a magnesium supplement daily has helped to reduce these

[Padayn01 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah I take magnesium and when I told my EP this he was like why do you suffer with magnesium defenciay if not why take it?

[Hidden in reply to Padayn01]

Has the doctor given you the proper magnesium test? Even if the standard blood test shows ok we are still probably deficient, most people are

[Padayn01 in reply to Hidden]

Just random blood test to show all levels

[Hidden in reply to Padayn01]

Exactly

[Catlady5 in reply to Padayn01]

There is a blood test called RBC magnesium ....most doctors won’t order it and just are happy with the standard one and even if it says you are in the normal range most people are deficient. My doctor would not order it for me so I got it on my own....he looked at me like I had 5 heads when I asked about it. I don’t think he even knew it existed.

[Padayn01 in reply to Catlady5]

How did you arrange it yourself?

[Catlady5 in reply to Padayn01]

We have a place called request a test...it’s an independent lab that you can get any blood test in. It is not affiliated with your doctor unless you want it to be. A lot of people without insurance use it. Prices aren’t to bad.

[Padayn01 in reply to Catlady5]

Thanks for that

[Padayn01 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah totally hear what you saying but this heart game is so complicated

[Goldfish7 in reply to Hidden]

I'm in a similar position just a year after my 2nd ablation bursts of ventricular and now atrial ectopics, episodes of tachycardia, what feels like atrial flutter (saw tooth pattern on Kardia ECG;s but not on 7 day halter apparently) hoping they will pass some day. No AF attacks yet though! Unfortunately I have also had a noticeable increase in breathlessness on walking restricting my life/independence and frequent exhaustion since as well so not functioning well. Hope the PAF stays away!!!

Magnesium does appear to take the edge off the above.

[Padayn01 in reply to Goldfish7]

So sorry your going through this terrible condition, your right it just puts a pause on your life and it’s just so frustrating when you try everything and it doesn’t work, how long was the gap between abalations?

[Goldfish7 in reply to Padayn01]

10 months gap between the ablations

[Hidden]

Try this - might stop your heart from skipping beats: (works for me and others)

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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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). 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 (afternoon) 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??

I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.

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:

https//cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...

[barbly1]

I had an ablation about 15 months ago, because I was experiencing wild heartbeats from 220+ down to 36. When my ablation was done, the EP told me that the pvcs were coming from the lower part of my heart, and this surgery was only going to address the afib, and top part of my heart. I tried to get off my Flecainide 50 2x each day on four occasions over the next year while recovering from the surgery, and I was miserable with constant ectopic beats within 24 hours of stopping the Flecainide each time. I was offered a second ablation to deal with the pvcs. But, I have simply stayed on the Flecainide 50 x 2, had a lowest dose Metoprolol added, and take Eliquis. I feel wonderful on that combo of drugs. I don't know how long feeling perfect will last, but I can't justify having a second ablation when all is well on the drugs. I feel completely normal as I did before my first experience with afib. If and when the Flecainide starts giving me problems like side effects or it stops working effectively, then sure! Another ablation would be the way to go. I hoped to be off all meds following the ablation, but instead I am very, very grateful that the ablation worked well enough so that the meds work now, when they didn't before.

[Padayn01 in reply to barbly1]

Wonderful news