I dreamed of jumping off the table after the Ablation AF free. A fantasy that turned out not to be true. I know from this group that it takes patience, and I’m doing my best. My AFClinic is telling me it will be three months before we’ll talk about Plan B whatever that might be.
Can anyone tell me if this happened to you and that the AF’s did go away and now your AF free? I really want to believe it is possible.
I find all the conversations here are really encouraging and supportive. Thank you in advance.
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Yes, yes, yes, and more yes's. There is a fact sheet on this site that states that you can experiences plenty of AF events after an ablation. I had three ablations and a ton of AF events. Patience and read the fact sheet. Memorize it. It's going to be a way of life at least for a month. Your heart needs to heal. Until that healing takes place, the AF will get through the usual cause ways.
Thank you Dawsonmackay. I have read the document but somehow convinced myself that my case was different - that I was having too many. Three a week. Which is about the same as pre-ablation. This darn infliction is playing havoc with my common sense for sure. Thank you for the reminder to be patient. I was told by the clinic this week they don’t want to see me for three months as that is the time frame they use to determine outcomes. That means nine more weeks for me to take a deep breathe and remember this is normal. I soooo appreciate this group. You are a life line.
Oh my, 20 is a lot. It is so important to hear the story from others who are walking this path to get some perspective. Twenty AF’s How did you find the time? I can’t imagine how you coped with life.
I just meant that the Afib came on for a minute and stopped. On/off, on/off. EP told me to write everything in a journal and send it to him after three months.
I only had one short AF - it was two minutes long. I thought it might have been my last one, but alas the next day another came and stayed around for 12 hours. I too keep a journal, plus I have a spread sheet where I document heart rate highs and lows for the day and if there was an AF. It's useful for at-a-glance you can see the patterns and frequency. And if that isn't obsessive enough, I have a word table where i put the date, time it started and stopped, duration and what I was doing when it started. So far I have not found any patterns or what my triggers might be.
I did similar obsessive tactics. Fortunately I know most of my triggers: alcohol, sugar as in candy, salt products, hidden salt products, not enough sleep, caffeine, I'm gluten intolerant (so stay completely away from wheat which is a good thing), high-pitched sounds or noise like a siren, and this is a big one, holding my breath.
We wrote the fact sheet for the very reason you mention. Nobody ever warns you what it is like and even three months is probably optimistic for some people. I too expected to be dancing down the ward next day as that was how it was sold to me back in 2005 but we have learned a lot since then. You are not unusual .
Hang in there Coach. I had an 8 our afib episode 8 days after my ablation. Then 10 months later I had a 2-3 hour episode I believe was brought on by prednisone for an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. That was May of 2017. I still take my rythmol and diltiazem . I take it by choice as a precautionary measure. I have a little flutter once in a while but no locked in afib for almost 3 years. I’m glad I had the ablation, and I’d do it again if necessary. I HATE afib! I wish you the best.😊
If I had only 2 or 3 episodes a day I would be good. Mine starts about 10am and will go till about and hour till I go to bed. My heart rate is normal till I eat somthing it does not matter what I eat my heart will go up to about 120 to 130 and does not come down unless I lay flat for about an hour but will start back up if I get up. This goes on till I got to bed and get back up in the morning. I going to have my 3rd ablation in March. but I dont have high hopes for it.
Can I also add a multiple yes, yes, yes. I had AF attacks virtually everyday for 2 weeks plus after my ablation. Most were short usually around meal time, and the odd one lasting a few hours or more.. I was told to take Flecainide as a PIP, and that did the trick in shortening the episodes, but I was convinced the ablation had failed and I was worse post the procedure than before it. This was before there was any advisory leaflet, and before I had found this forum, so I felt very sorry for myself.
It’s hard to be calm when you’re in the middle of all this, but the episodes did start to decline and I did start to feel myself again. It was a slow process, and not without a few more bumps in the road. I think 3 months is a reasonable time frame for a decent recovery, and 6 months to a year to be back to your best. This forum is a great place to share experiences so please carry on using it and check in with any continuing concerns.
I agree, this forum is very useful. Even though I make a list before talking to the doc I seem to be like deer in the headlights and leave with unanswered questions.
It's a bit like White Coat Syndrome. My blood pressure always goes up when the doctor wants to take it. We do tend to freeze a bit when you get the chance to ask all the questions. I sometimes take my wife in with me to ask all the awkward questions!
My BP also goes up when the doc takes it. Glad I have a cuff at home to keep track. My husband has come along but he too seems to get caught up in the white coat syndrome too.
The truth is no one knows, not even the best EP/cardiologist know. I certainly had thoughts like you and believed I was different and the ablation damaged my heart rather than fix it.
So if no one knows what can you go by to give you encouragement? Well in fact there is plenty. Statistics can be very encouraging, you only have to read the posts on this site and I would suggest that the good people on this site probably have the more severe symptoms. True many needed more than 1 ablation but many don't.
It was around 10 weeks before I started to feel the the ablation worked and this was 10 weeks of 3 steps forward 2 back. You do have to take it easy, far more than you first think - do not overdo it or it will hamper your recovery, then almost certainly you will improve and your improvement is most likely to be significant, in all likelihood you will be symptom free for a long time possibly never have the symptoms again.
Now nearly a year after my ablation I am feeling better than I have for 20 years (no exaggeration). I will say again because its important DO NOT OVERDO IT, DO NOT LIFT ANYTHING HEAVY and you will recover.
i hear you LOUD AND CLEAR. At three weeks past the procedure I am only walking as my exercise - no weight lifting at the gym as I like to do. And my days are much more low key than is usual for me. If that will help me recover, then I am going to continue along this path. I'm thinking of getting back on my bicycle in a month to see how that goes. Elevated heart rate used to trigger AF's so I have avoided doing that, but I also know that is not realistic for life or for a healthy heart, so I will introduce that again next month.
I am also 21 days post ablation. I had PAF but I’ve not had the crazy fast beats that effect my breathing since ablation but I have had lots of flutters.
I’ve had a lot of emotional marriage stress to deal with over these past few days which hasn’t helped but they seem to come and go.
I was on Amiodarone pre ablation so I know that takes time to leave your system so may have helped.
Hi , I had my cryo ablation procedure 7 weeks, ago and like most people I've spoken to was given very little information about what to expect in the weeks and months after. For the first 2 days I was a little tired but no AF, then the episodes came thick and fast for 3 weeks lasting up to 12 hours and stronger than anything prior to the ablation. I then went 10 days AF free so thought I'd cracked it but then little runs of missed and extra beats started and I felt a strange feeling like reflux in my throat. I had a routine appointment with my GP scheduled so mentioned it to him and he advised taking Bisoprolol 1.25mg to slow the heart rate and he wrote to my EP asking for advice. The EP made an immediate appointment so I saw him the next day and he agreed on the Beta blocker. He also said 3 months would be the best time to judge the outcome as PV reconnection was a common problem and if that was the case another ablation would be performed, this time under GA and would be an RF ablation. That was a week ago and I didn't have any episodes until yesterday when I had 4 hours of AF which was mild. So I have another 5 weeks to go till my follow up and I record all episodes to show the EP and live in hope things will start improving. Good luck with your journey
Mine was a cryo as well, and now three weeks and 9 AF attacks have shown up. One only two minutes, another 24 hours. No pattern as yet, and I can't say each one was shorter. Yet. I live in hope. Good luck Steve with your journey. I was wondering what the time frame between Ablations typically is - and I see your doc is talking of making a decision after three months. Keep us posted please.
I am scheduled for the ablation on 3/6. My dr has told me it can take up to 3 mths for the heart to heal and to not be discouraged if I feel anything after the procedure.
three months seems to be the magic number. That will be April 14th for me and I'm hoping for a good news.
The heart doesn't skip beats on it's own - something in the body tells it to do that. Unfortunately doctors don't know exactly what is doing it (yet). Below is a cut-and-paste of what I have found out. If your trigger is dehydration or sugar like mine is, you should be able to stop your episodes or at least make them much less severe. Here is what I have found:
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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:
this is really interesting, I read everything you sent along. As I hate AFib so much I am motivated to experiment with almost anything. From other places I have seen people talk about a variety of thing they think trigger AF. Everything from spicy food to overeating. Now I'll add sugar, salt and dehydration. Thank you for this sugarisit.
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