Post ablation palpitations?

[RidaSimone]

Hello. I just had a cardiac ablation yesterday for SVT. They said I had 2 nodes and pathways and that they found the circuit and ablated it and considered it successful. Since getting home I’m getting almost constant flutters and palpitations. (Pre-procedure they were induced by running/jumping/swimming/heat) Now its pretty constant but not as severe. Will this go away, just part of healing? Has anyone else experienced this?

[jedimasterlincoln]

It's very early days and you have to remember your heart has been through a major trauma and it's going to take time to settle. Anything futtery/palpitations/AF episodes in the first 3-6 months after an ablation can be attributed to the ablation and doesn't always mean that the ablation therapy has been a failure.

You are going to have a scarred and bruised heart but they tend to settle in time. Just take care of it!

[RidaSimone in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Thanks! They said based on what they found and ablated that it was successful but it is scary when I’m feeling more flutters and palpitations more constant as before I could go days without triggering them 😕 hopefully it’s clears up as it heals.

[moodyticker in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Hello @jedimasterlincoln, read your reply above and I thought it was really encouraging.

I just had and ablation for PACs close to 6 weeks ago. But since until now I’m still getting PACs when I try to exercise. Can’t even hit 130 bpm without my heart getting into a episode of PACs. Wonder if this too is part of the healing process or if the ablation has failed. Any advise on this would be very much appreciated.

[BobD Volunteer]

read our fact sheet on Recovering from ablation heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[RidaSimone in reply to BobD]

Thanks I checked it out. Just thought it’s weird I’m having them more than I did pre-procedure but I’m hoping it’s just the inflammation.

[Hidden]

Early days, they may pass or you may be like me and still have palpations 3.5 years after my ablation (still no AF though)

[RidaSimone in reply to Hidden]

Yikes really? Is it better or worse or the same? Did they not try and schedule for a second procedure? It’s really psyching my out that it’s so constant as opposed to pre-procedure it had to be triggered from hot water or physical activity.

[Hidden in reply to RidaSimone]

Very little that can be done for palpations as far as I know, and I'm not in AF.

Everyone has ectopics, just most people don't feel them like us AFers do.

I have good days and bad days

[7164 in reply to Hidden]

Mike

Nice helpful reply.

I had my cryoablation 5 weeks ago and feel my heart stronger/pounding more than before. Also a few strong palps which I didn’t have before. Does your head a bit!! No Af hits but the anxiety is a bugger as praying that the Af is gone.

Rod

[Hidden]

Hi Rod, AF is an absolute bugger, even when it's gone you expect it to come back. It was worse just after I had my ablation, but even now I expect it to return and you are right, that anxiety is horrible.

Don't forget that 5 weeks is really early days. Your heart is still angry with you, you put it through a lot so be kind to it and don't expect too much too soon.

It took me 3 months before my heart rate started to return to normal and to feel like I had some energy!

It took 9 months before I really started to feel normal.

Again, take it easy, don't push it. The good work you do now will give you a better long term result

[Coco51]

Yes I had the same after both ablations but it settled after a while. It was so disheartening. So please don't despair.

First time after my simpler PVI ablation I had a 10 days stretch of AF then weekly bouts for a couple of months. Then was in sinus for 6 whole months.

I had a second more complex ablation and after that had four months of really bad AF three or four times a week . I was convinced it had failed. But then everything suddenly settled and I only get AF occasionally for shorter periods now and with a much slower rhythm. It is far more bearable. I am still on Flecainide though. But it works now whereas before the ablations it didn't work so well.

You may not need a second ablation. I was in persistent AF and that is harder to treat. Courage - and best wishes.

[Stobban]

Yea, The times I have for the ablations being successful is 8-10 weeks. After this they may do another. Good Luck.

[TroublewithAF]

Many posts out there suggest a blanking period of 3 months- and this means unless situation is dire no further ablation. I was fine for a fortnight after ablation but now in major flutter - fortunately hospital have been able to schedule a cardioversion which will be 11 weeks after ablation .Outcomes from cardioversion for flutter look betterthan for AF

[thumpthump]

Hi, this sounds like my recovery and is pretty normal. Expect this to happen for a while it’s part of the healing process. You will have good days and bad (like a run of say 5 days with nothing then bang it comes back again)!

I’m almost 7 months post ablation and it’s only just starting to settle down.

Good luck with your recovery.

[LMor]

Hi. I had an ablation for Svt too and it takes a very long time to fully recover. For a year after I had fast heart rates and flutters, so much so I was taken to A&e with a heart rate of 140 (no where near as high as when I had my svt attacks which were around 260). I’ve since had a loop recorder fitted and have only had around three runs of fast heart rate for around 5 minutes. So all in all, it’s looking good. My ablation was a couple of years ago now. Please don’t worry too much. It’s all quite normal as your hearts been through a lot and needs lots and lots of rest. Keep us posted and hope you feel loads better soon x

[Hidden]

I should have had an ablation for SVT yesterday at Barts, I decided to wait until coronavirus has ended. I,ve not had an attack for 11 months and read about the ectopics and palpitations afterwards, it scares me!