2 weeks post ablation

[David21]

I finally had my ablation for PAF just over 2 weeks ago. I was told to stay on my meds for 2 weeks and then come off them.

I did this and within 24 hours had (have) an arythmia with a vengeance. Do you think this means that it was definitely a failure or is there hope ?

Many thanks

[Hidden]

Absolutely not David, read the AF Association factsheet (link below) and you will see what you are experiencing is quite normal. If you do not revert back to NSR by the morning, then speak to your Arrhythmia Nurse, or the Hospital and they might suggest returning to your medication for a bit longer but as you will read, it can take up to six months before scar tissue in the heart heals thereby preventing rogue signals which cause AF.

heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[Dawsonmackay]

Read the factsheet. The heart takes awhile to heal. My cardiologist specifically told me not to stop taking my meds for a year!

[BobD Volunteer]

Not sure I like your EP for the reasons already mentioned. Sounds ultra harsh to me.

[David21 in reply to BobD]

Thanks to all for your responses - I have read the factsheet - perhaps I am expecting too much. I will try (not easy) to communicate with the / an EP.

[Dodie117]

I came off meds (except anticoagulant) on day of ablation but realise this is not the norm. I had a rocky 5 months with arrythmias gradually decreasing. That was in 2013 and still AF free. So stay positive.

I assume you are on an anticoagulant??

Good luck 🍀

[David21 in reply to Dodie117]

Yes Apixaban - Many thanks for this. It is encouraging

[cpalmermn]

What meds were you taking? 2 weeks seems quite too early, I’m supposed to stop my Flec and Eliquis at the 2 month mark, and so far the first month post ablation has had a few bumps. But getting better by the week.

Hopefully you’ve read that 3 months is considered the blanking period, can still have events during this time while the scar tissue is still forming from the ablation. 2 weeks the heart is probably still recovering from the invasive procedure itself and I would think anything can happen.

[David21 in reply to cpalmermn]

Bisoprolol 2.5 and Flecanide 100mg *2. Thanks for this. It sounds like 2 weeks was premature. I now can see the consultant next week so hopefully that will be changed

[Hidden]

Hi David, I (then 67yo male) had PAF (exertional) exacerbating over three years and then had an RF ablation that sent me into persistent AF, i.e. continuous. Wow was I disappointed, even subsequent cardioversion only succeeded in producing normal sinus rhythm for a week. Flecanide, even in larger doses, failed to produce any therapeutic effect, merely debilitating side-effects.

I started taking a significant magnesium supplement, and, perhaps more controversially, an Ayurvedic herb called Terminalia Arjuna, a much-used tree bark from India regarded as a 'heart tonic' that contains Co-enzyme Q-10. Two months later the continuous AF suddenly abated, to recur very briefly for just a few days after a further two months. I have since been completely free of AF for two and a half years and take no medications for it. I use an Alivecor Kardia to monitor my own EEG. Now, I have no way of knowing whether the supplements that I took, and still take, made any difference and whether the healing of the heart would have occurred anyway over this time, but I would encourage you to be hopeful.

[David21 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for this Metatarsal (broke my 5th a couple of years ago - painful) I shall be