Hi All,
After many years having palpitations I have finally been diagnosed with AF. In the last 4 weeks, I went to a&e twice due to severe episodes.
I was put on metoprolol 50mg twice a day and it seems to be working.
I am having an ablation on Monday week and I would like to get feedback from people who had this procedure- I read a lot about the procedure and would like honest feedback.
Many thanks
Lolo
I had my ablation in October 2017, after a diagnosis in March, and I wrote to the hospital to thank them for giving me my life back. My procedure was truly life changing. I did not realise how poorly the AF was making me until I regained my energy, lost my awful grey pallor and shed, without trying, the stone I had gained in weight.
For me the procedure, under general anaesthetic, was perfectly fine. I was able to take the advice to lift nothing heavier than the remote for a week as my adult children rallied round to help.
Wishing you well x
Many thanks for your reply. Very positive story, giving me hope.
All the best and take care.
Hi Lolo. I had my ablation seven weeks ago and this is how the day went.
I got to the hospital at 8am having not eaten since the day before. I saw one of the doctors who checked my records and he told me about possible risks and got me to sign a form saying that I had been told about them. The risks were very small so I was alright with that.
Then I had to get undressed and put on a hospital gown. My groin was shaved, that’s where they insert the catheters. All the usual then, blood pressure and heart rate, cannula inserted, that’s for the local anaesthetic, trip to the toilet, may have had ECG pads stuck on. Water to sip. The nurse was hurrying to get me and the other chap who was also going to be operated on that morning all ready for the electrophysiologists to start at nine.
They may have chatted to me, I don’t remember, but I heard them telling the other person that he was part of a trial and he may or may not have the ablation. Everything else would be the same. At about 9.30 he went into the cath lab and from the buzzing noises and the lights going on and off I’m sure he did have the ablation. He came out after an hour or so and seemed quite happy.
Then the nurse put a syringe full of Ketamine into my arm through the cannula and a few minutes later I was walked in to the lab and I got up onto the table. They put several pads round my body. I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t see the computer screens but quite soon I must have gone to sleep. Sometime later I woke up and I could hear the buzzing going on and off but there was no pain at all. I counted about ten or eleven but that was probably the tail end of it. I got off the table and was walked back to my bed. Apparently they did an ECG at 12.21 and I was given a copy when I went home.
The afternoon passed very quickly and I was given a sandwich and a couple of cups of tea which were very welcome. By half past four I was ready to go home. Unfortunately, when I stood up, my blood pressure dropped and I had to stay there till six till it was normal.
I had been there from 8am to 6pm but for some reason the day seemed to have gone very quickly. I thought it was a nice day and wouldn’t hesitate to have it done again.
The things that I had worried about didn’t happen. I thought I would be bored lying flat for four hours, I wasn’t. I thought I might have bleeding from where the catheters were inserted but it was very neatly done, not even a bruise and no bleeding.
Since then I have had just one short episode of Afib, nothing for the past five weeks.
Tessa
Tessa, thank you so much for taking the time to tell me about your experience.
It is very reassuring to read your positive feedback and I really hope the ablation is fully successful.
All the best and take care.
Lolo
Thank you so much - very encouraging and helpful.
Hi,
I had my ablation at the end of May and although I’ve had a few ups and downs, I feel so different to how I did before.
My quality of life had deteriorated so much in the four months prior to having the procedure and I don’t think I realised just how bad I was.
I went through 5 changes on medication, none of which worked to control the episodes. I also had atrial flutter which was treated during the ablation.
I was in hospital for 3 days as it was quite a long procedure and I had a few issues with the wound and sickness from the morphine, but I have absolutely no regrets.
The fact sheets under the pinned links on here are great and very reassuring. As are the members of this site who have helped me immensely through a really difficult year.
I wish you all the best. Let us know how you get on. 😊
Thank you for taking the time to write your feedback. I am shocked to hear no meds worked for you. Anyway delighted all went well and that you are on the mend. I agree with you, it’s impossible to realise how poorly we are as this is just constantly in our mind. Glad to hear there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
All the best and take care.
No problem.
I should clarify - the medication has too much of an effect and made me poorly. I took bisoprolol, digoxin, sotalol and had metoprolol as a PIP, but they all reduced my rate so much that I couldn’t function. Ended up with a heart rate of 40 after sotalol. I also tried flecainide which made my AF episodes worse and my heart rate was regularly 150+. This was all over the space of about 4 months so you can imagine what a relief it is to only have to take my anticoagulant now!
Hopefully that’s all behind me now and I will be forever grateful that my cardiologist went ahead and did my ablation when he did.
Obviously, people may think differently about them but I am so glad I had it done!
All the best to you to.
Thank you - very helpful.
I'm on the list for ablation but am gobsmacked that you are being done so quickly into your diagnosis. You must have a very efficient hospital trust. Best of luck.
Yes it all happened very quickly. I am in Ireland and I have health insurance so that helps. Publicly it would have taken 12-18 months.
Thank you and best of luck to you too.
I think it depends where you live. Allowing for the lockdown I actually had my ablation done on the NHS 18 weeks after I was recommended for one. I read somewhere that AFib patients are put at the top of the queue.
I say 18 weeks because the doctor sent an '18 week' letter to the cardiology dept.
Hi ducky, likewise I’m very jealous it’s so quick. I’ve been put on a waiting list which is a year long although having AF most days. Hope you get yours sooner rather than later. Kind regards
Is anyone on here from the Merseyside area? I've been recently diagnosed with PAF and its getting worse. I've tried Flecainide which made it worse, Amiodarone which worked but I couldn't breathe properly, now on Diltiazem but its not working. On the ablation list but don't know how long it is. My doctor is not very nice basically telling me to go to work and ignore it . I feel I cant phone them anymore if I have problems. Feel like my life is on hold at the moment. I've offered to go privately but again I've hit a brick wall.
I'm under UHCW. I was put on a list 3.5 years ago (diagnosed 4 years ago) Sadly, when my then consultant left, there was some mix up with records and lists and I was accidentally removed from the list. Back on it now since June, had cardioversion number 3 on Weds and anticipating a few months wait for the ablation. Did read the article about the new ablation procedure done in Leicester last week and will be looking into that further.
Hi Lolo! I am 5 days post-ablation, so things are a bit up in the air still.
I've had palpitations for at least 3 or more years, but was not diagnosed until March withAtrial flutter. Visits this summer for a second opinion to two separate highly regarded EPs added a surprising diagnosis of Afib. Both were of the opinion that I was an "ideal candidate" for catheter ablation, being relatively "young" and lacking any of the usual co-morbidities (although I do have RA). In view of the ongoing CV19 crisis, and the reasonable expectation of a second or third wave here, it seemed an opportune time to take advantage of the medical window, so to speak.
The procedure necessitated an overnight hospital stay as I was the last patient on the roster for the day, and it was perhaps a bit more involved than the EP had anticipated. From what I gather he discovered an anomaly in the right atrium, there being a pouch-like formation where it was difficult to ablate the miscreant cells. Having had a Foley catheter only one time before and getting my one and only UTI as a result, the team was careful to prophylactically treat me with an antibiotic during the ablation. (Highly recommended! Even so, for the first 12 hours post-ablation it was rather uncomfortable to void.) It was a 3 1/2 hour procedure, and did require 4 hours of total bed rest afterwards. Of course, they monitored my heart rhythm the entire time of the procedure and until my discharge, and I maintained Normal Sinus Rhythm from the completion of the procedure until the time I left the hospital.
It seemed very cold in the hospital, and I left feeling a tad shivery and of course with mild to moderate chest pain. Shortly after coming home, I became woozy and briefly nauseated, but that was alleviated by sitting down and putting my head between my knees. That evening I came down with a fever of 101 F with flu-like aches and bothersome neck pain.
Luckily, the doctor had prescribed me Colchicine to ward off inflammation that might be provoked by the RA and the trauma of redecorating my atria! So the fever subsided by the morning.
Unfortunately, on Day 2 post-procedure, I experienced about a 10-minute long period of visual disturbances. It looked as if I were seeing through both eyes with a kaleidoscope of broken glass, very shimmery, and very disquieting! My first thought was that it might be a stroke, but I did remember reading on this site about post-catheter ablation migraines, and indeed, that is what the doctor diagnosed it as, an Optical migraine. He rather offhandedly attributed the brief fever to pericarditis.
That night, I awoke at around 5 a.m., back in Afib. The palpitations resolved within 6 hours.Disappointing, but not unexpected. Since then, a few hiccups rhythm-wise, but nothing devolving into full-fledged palpitations.
To be honest, it took me a good 3 days before I felt ready to start doing some of my normal routines, and am still taking it pretty easy.
My advice: Prepare for the unexpected!
Thank you for sharing your experience! It seems it was a bumpy road but it is hopefully behind you now. Put your feet up and rest !
All the best and take care.
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