Cryoblation Pain

[poohbear1]

Hi I had a very painful Cryoblation on Wednesday followed by a cardioversion on Thursday. I have since had headaches, migraines and really bad pains in my chest. Any one else had these type of symptoms. Thankyou

[BobD Volunteer]

I guess we all have different pain thresholds and yes some discomfort after all my ablations for a day or so but nothing which kept me awake. Migraine aura is a known side effect as we state on our fact sheet by the way. The chest pain may well be oesphageal pain from the proximity to the freezing. Have you been given any indegestion remedy such as ppis?

[poohbear1 in reply to BobD]

Hi BobD, Thank you for the reply. I have been given very little information with regards to after care. The only thing that was really mentioned to me was, that if any chest pain got worse over the two weeks to go to A+E.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to poohbear1]

heartrhythmalliance.org/res... should be useful then.

[jeanjeannie50]

The migraines are quite usual after an ablation.

I've had three ablations and have never suffered recurring pain like you are describing. I had just one episode of pain, think it was something like 5 days after my second one. I got up after going to bed to take the under electric blanket off. It just lasted a few minutes but frightened me. I rang my GP next day and told him about it and he said if it happens again to let him know - well it never did.

If still getting ongoing pains on Monday morning I would have a word with your GP, but if you feel you need advice before then I would call the 111 NHS number. In fact if it were me with pain I'd call them now. Honestly I would.

Please don't be afraid to seek advice, after all it's your heart we're talking about here and it could possibly be that you have an infection.

Let us know how you get on please

Jean

[poohbear1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you Jean for your reply. During the Cryoablation I felt terrible pain throughout the procedure which they apologised for but said it had been difficult for them to get to the heart. I didn't have too much pain after the procedure but needed to cardiovert the next day to put me back into NSR. I felt some pain yesterday but woke this morning with pain on taking a gentle deep breath. If it gets any worse I will take your advise and ring 111 if not I will ring the Arrhythmia Nurse on Monday morning.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to poohbear1]

My ablations were by Radio Frequency and I felt a very slight pain briefly for seconds, other than what I've mentioned no pain. My first two were carried out under sedation and then every time I started to become aware a nurse who was sat watching me would signal for more sedation. My third was under a general anaesthetic and that was far better and I recovered a lot quicker that time.

How bad is your pain on a scale of 1-10 and is it constant?

Jean

[KMRobbo in reply to poohbear1]

On my cryo ablation, I had the pain for each vein which was the brain freeze like biting into a super cold ice cream. So four lots. Uncomfortable but the pain was not felt in the chest and lasted only a few seconds per vein . Towards the end if the procedure I did get a pain in my chest, and that was like I had swallowed a huge mouthful of food and it had stuck at heart level on the way down. I was given a glass of water and swallowing that over 10 minutes took the majority of that pain away and I certainly did not notice it much as I ate a sandwich later in the day. The EP did prescribe me lansoprazole in case I had acid reflux but that may also have been as I was on pradaxa which is known to cause reflux in some people. I took it and wish I had not as it caused me another issue weeks later . It would have been better taking Gaviscon liquid as and when. Not medically trained but

I understand that one of the pulmonary veins is near to the oesophagus and this can be irritated by the cryo.

I hope your heart remains in NSR and you begin to feel the benefit.

[Hidden in reply to poohbear1]

Very impressed that you and several others have an Arrhythmia Nurse- they do not appear to exist in our neck of the woods, Poohbear! Love the name!

[poohbear1 in reply to Hidden]

Hi This is the first time in 10 years that there has been a mention of an AN to me.Bit of a postcode lottery what lart of the cou try are you in. ?

[Hidden in reply to poohbear1]

Gloucestershire and according to a doctor I met by chance the day my dayghter did a tryathlon, not a goid place for this as I've found- he had hus op done in Birmingham by a friend and was apparently in AF at the time so they hit the right spot! Wish I'd got his contact details but we are all dufferent! Hope you make a goid recovery and it works out for you.

I've been told off for contacting my surgery too often over side effects of drugs so though 76 and previously fit and healthy it seems to be up to me and this forum to get me through! A bout of shingles proved my undoing I think- and wasn't able to get an appointment and an anti-viral jab in time!

[Madscientist16 in reply to poohbear1]

I experienced some chest pain and not really a pain but an uncomfortable pressure when trying to take a deep breath. No wonder, they had just froze a ring around all four of my pulmonary veins during the cryo-ablation. This pressure lasted about 2 weeks. I also suffered from the migraine with aura for about three weeks, with each migraine being less intense than the one before. I was back to work in a month and back to working out in two months. So glad I did it though, I have been free of AF for 8 months now and not on any medications.

[Padayn01 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

How you feeling now Jean?

[poohbear1 in reply to Padayn01]

Hi Jean if I don't take deep breaths it is not to bad. I just feel that as I had to go nil by mouth the first day for 12 hours and then for another 12 hours the following day that there may be some digestive issues. I have tried Rennies but they do not seem to help. I will see how I feel during the night and will not hesitate to call 111 if the main gets worse. Thanks for your concern. x

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to poohbear1]

After an ablation I was always prescribed some tablets to prevent acid problems. I think most people are. Ask your GP for some if you talk to him on Monday. Meanwhile you may find Gaviscon liquid will help more than Rennie's. Avoid all fat and vinegar for a while and eat red apples, bananas and almonds. Raising the head of your bed should help too. Take care and report back on how you get on please.

Jean

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Padayn01]

A lot better, thank you and my blood tests were all good. I had an ECG with my AF nurse on Monday and I'm in constant atrial flutter. Have upped my Flecainide in the hope that will help. Have to ring her Monday to say how I am, no change yet. In fact I think the extra 50mg makes me feel worse.

Jean

[Gowers in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hope you feel better soon. Flec actually put me in af flutter so had to come off it. My cardiologist said some folk live with permanent af & run marathons etc & don't notice any symptoms. I found it hard to believe at the time. Af is certainly exhausting. Glad to hear the tests were ok

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Gowers]

You know I'm not sure if it's the Flec that's putting me into flutter too. My AF nurse told me last year that it could be doing that and yet has upped my dose now. All very odd.

[Hammerboy]

Hi, I had my cryo ablation last December and considering what I'd been told beforehand by the EP I was surprised by the intensity of the pain during the procedure which led to me being more heavily sedated than expected Thankfully in my situation there was no further pain once I got home so I guess it's different for us all. I've always had a very good pain tolerance generally so it was a surprise but it would not stop me having another ablation if necessary. I hope you have a good recovery and let us know how you progress 😊

[poohbear1 in reply to Hammerboy]

Hi Thanks for you reply. As like yourself there was no mention of excessive pain so I was very surprised at the intensity of it and I normally consider myself to have a high pain threshold. I thought the pain had gone this morning, but after only 30 mins it is back but does not feel as bad so far. I will see how I feel during the day and hopefully it will continue to ease. However I will be ringing the Arrhythmia Nurse tomorrow to check what is going on.

[Hammerboy in reply to poohbear1]

Sorry to hear that, it was described to me as being like brain freeze after eating ice cream but relatively mild by the EP. It certainly took me by surprise at the intensity right from the start but once the sedation was increased I was out of it to be fair. I think there is a link between the thickness of the heart tissue and the effects of the burn /freeze. I'm glad to say that in my case there were no after effects pain wise in the head or chest other than mild chest discomfort in the first few weeks. I did have digestive issues ongoing for a few months but I've suffered with reflux for many years which is reasonably controlled with 30mg Lanzoprazole daily. That has settled now and my progress from the ablation is slowly moving forward with less episodes of AF and milder symptoms and duration. Looking forward to this continuing but living each day as it comes with this very random and unpredictable condition. Keep positive and always share your concerns and progress on the site, it's certainly helped me considerably over the last weeks and months

Best wishes 👍

[BobD Volunteer in reply to poohbear1]

Have you read that fact sheet I signposted you to?

[poohbear1 in reply to BobD]

Hi,

Yes I have thank you. The chest pains are beginning to ease, but unfortunately I have just had a migraine followed by a really bad headache. I took paracetamol and went to bed for a few hours then woke up with ectopic beats. I think I must have experienced everything now so hopefully things will start to ease. I question if I should have had this done as I had been feeling really well over the past weeks able to walk 3k to 5k every night. I was not made aware of all these side effects so its fingers crossed for a good recovery.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to poohbear1]

That is why we produced the fact sheet. Nobody tells you these things.

[Brad43]

The chest pain is almost certainly pericarditis. Mine came the day after the ablation, and got so bad it was painful to even take short breaths. I had to go to ER about 2 hours after getting home from the hospital. They gave me a double dose of morphine, and the pain was soon gone. I also started getting migraine aura, no headache, the day after the ablation. I kept getting it, usually twice per day, for about 3 weeks. Since then, I get it once every few months, but I used to get them occasionally before the ablation, so I'm used to it. My AF was much worse for several weeks after the ablation, and I was convinced I had made my worst mistake ever. My EP said my heart was remodeling, and hopefully it would get a lot better. It soon did, and I haven't had an AF for about 6 months now. Unfortunately, the last one was on Christmas Day, so I stayed home instead of seeing family. Timing is everything.

[poohbear1 in reply to Brad43]

Hi Brad Thanks for the reply. Things have started to ease on the chest main front today. Replaced with a migraine and splitting headache. Will ring the AF nurse tomorrow to find out what is going on.

[Palpman]

My Electrophysiologist told me that cryo ablation was only done on children. He also found it strange that my cardiologist put me on Flecainide as it does not work on AFlutter but only on AFib.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Palpman]

That is a strange thing to say Palpman. Here in UK cryoablation is a common first treatment ablation as it is faster that RF and in many cases can be quite successful. The caveat of course is that it does rely on nice concentric pulmonary veins that the balloon can fit neatly into. Since this is a big ask and quite a few people have conjoined veins or ones that are far from concentric this is why RF ablations are often needed to tidy up after a cryo.

The main reason to try it first is that a more complete circle of scar can be made than by a series of dots as in RF.

[Leeson]

I have had two ablations, the first dreadfull chest pains for a few days, thought I was having a heart attack, panedine forte, and a warm , not hot, hot water bottle on my chest which gave me comfort...

[dwright12]

After my ablation for flutters I had pain in that area everyday. I was given a script for colchicine and the pain was gone.

[DotB]

Hi. Had a similar procedure three weeks ago and suffered migraine aura for a couple of days and bad chest pain which slowly diminished over a week or so. So gang on in there.

[poohbear1 in reply to DotB]

Thanks Dot. I was only told a week prior that I was having a procedure and only on the day that it was a Cryoblation so no time to do any research. On discharge I was given no aftercare advice by the ward and was just left to carry my bag and leave with my tablets. Unfortunately I believe this is the worst ward in an other wise excellent hospital. Hopefully each day will get a little bit easier.

[lacolyn]

Poor you. I had appalling migraines with initial vomiting for about 2 weeks. I add that I had had migraines before but not of this intensity for a while. Anyway, they did fade. I was told that it's not unusual and was due to the small hole made in the heart during the procedure and that headaches would clear as the hole healed. That seemed to be true. Plus no real migraines since, at least not like I I used to have. Good luck. You'll be fine. Colin

[poohbear1 in reply to lacolyn]

Thanks Colin it is nice to be reassured that I have not come out with something more than I went in with.

[Deadwoodmike]

I did have a little pain after my Cryoblation. It hurt when I would try to take a deep breath. I took it real easy and practiced breathing exercises. The pain eased up in a couple of days.