A few weeks ago I had my annual appointment (an on-line one this time) with my EP, Dr. Rodney Horton at TCAI in Austin. He told me that my chance of my Afib being fixed are statistically 96 percent. I do not need to follow up with him unless my heart decides to act up again. I am thrilled as it has been a process. For those of you who are still going through that process, hang in there.
This is my story. I had my first bout of Afib when I was 40 years old in 2003. My next episode was in 2009. Then in 2014, my episodes became more frequent and with longer duration. The event that made my decision to get an ablation was when I went into afib while hiking in New Zealand. I did not want to experience that again and wanted to try to live my best life. I had my first ablation in February 2018 and my touch up ablation in June of 2018. Things went well for the first few weeks after my second ablation but then I started having ectopics that were extremely unnerving. My last major episode was September 17, 2018 (outside of the 3 month blanking period). I took Flecainide as a PIP and it resolved itself in 20 minutes. I had a run of ectopics in August through September of 2019 that occurred whenever I laid down at night and would go away if I sat up. They slowly faded away. I just tried to make a conscious effort to NOT to be aware of my heart and to stop taking my pulse.
There are many possible reasons why I developed Afib - I have always been an athlete and I would get my heartrate rocketing, I am six feet tall and heredity - my dad and my brother both had it. Alcohol was a definite trigger for me, so I stopped all alcohol consumption and watch my caffeine intake. I’ll drink some low sodium V8 if I feel like my heart seems “jumpy”. At one point, I was taking quite a bit of magnesium taurine but I have not supplemented for the past 6 months - just because I forget. I have turned from running to jog/walking and actually enjoy it. Since Covid19, I have gained weight but hope to get my weight down. Those are the things that I can control. Once I can start to travel again, my protocol if I should go into afib is Flecainide as a PIP and a bottle of Xarelto if I should not convert.
So here is some advice/observations for those who are interested:
- The worst part of all of this was anxiety. I have never experienced it before my ablations. I would do meditation, walks in the evening before bed and stop taking my pulse. There are some great YouTube videos for mediations for healing and anxiety
- My blanking period went beyond 3 months. I think we all heal at different rates. After my second ablation, I eased back into working out. I did not hit it as hard as I did after my first failed ablation. Give your heart a chance to heal - it has been through a lot.
- Remember it is a process. Two steps forward, one back. The ectopics can be so disheartening but they will fade - it may take a year or two.
- Be grateful that your heart is beating!!
I know that I could be out of NSR in the future but today, I am not. Dr. Horton said that, for women, there is a slightly greater chance of a late recurrence (10 plus years) after an ablation. If that happens, I will go to Austin for a third ablation. Dr. Horton said that they have found that with late recurrence it is normally a new area that is causing the arrhythmias rather than reconnection.
But today, I am happy and grateful that I am able to live my best life. For those of you that are down about your situation, hang in there. If you need to just vent your fears, I’m here to listen and give encouragement.
Afib caused by low heart rate? Ectopics when exercising.
After ablation
Post Ablation Update and Concerns
Nurse predicts ablation failure
