Hi all, just giving you a quick update, this might be useful for anyone planning to have an ablation: 2 years ago today I had my first (and hopefully last) cryoablation procedure at Liverpool heart & chest hospital. Prior to this I had been suffering regular runs of arrhythmia / palpitations over a period of several years but they became much more frequent in 2018.
I have always had a grumpy ticker, unable to drink any alcohol since I was about 30 years old (56 now) as it triggered arrhythmia, palpitations and then in 2013 my heart needed a cardioversion to get back into sinus rhythm.
I had always wanted to have an ablation but never really had the nerve to go ahead until in 2018 it became the lesser of the two evils, after several GP appointments I went to Dr Derek Todd - cardiologist at Liverpool heart & chest (he's a total legend). I nearly fell off my chair when he offered me a cryoablation the following Friday - one week away!
Due to my persistent symptoms I said yes and a week later I had the ablation under local anesthetic. The recovery was slow but gradually over a few weeks my heart started to settle down and symptoms started to ease, I would say even after 15 months I felt like the improvements were still happening. Fast forward to today and my quality of life is so much better, I do still get a couple of quivers / palpitations some days, then some days nothing at all but in general I feel so much better.
The ablation wasn't very pleasant to be honest, I would recommend a general anesthetic if you can, but the benefits are definitely there having little symptoms rather than one's that ruin your days. I still don't touch alcohol, I eat reasonably healthy and I keep my BMI where it should be, I try to avoid stress and other than that I live life as you do. The message of my story is if you are suffering and don't know whether you should have an ablation then I would suggest getting it done, the benefits far outway the negatives. I hope all of the lovely folk on this site are keeping well and take care. Dave.
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Good stuff mate, pretty much same story here, April 19 I had mine and it has even improved over this year until now, I couldn't tolerate alcohol, but can have the odd bottle now in moderation.
Good to hear its going well , long may it continue 👍
Really good to hear that. Having mine done in about three weeks time. Hoping for a good outcome. May you continue to get better and better health wise. 👍🏻
Thank you and very best wishes for your procedure, I was very nervous on the day but in hindsight it was the best days work I ever did. Since that day my quality of life has been so much better.
Just remember the recovery is a marathon not a sprint and you have to look after yourself, stay healthy and enjoy the benefits of having a wonderful NHS to support you during this difficult time 👍👍
Had mine 2.5 years ago and have had the sane outcome as you-a few quivers here and there but no more AF. I can drink alcohol without problems and I’m off all medications. Totally worth it, long recovery, great outcome!
Brilliant news, although my three haven’t worked in that I’m not in sinus rhythm each one seems to have given me quite an improvement so worth it. Keep well x
Thank you so much Dave. At 53 I’m probably at the stage where you were at the same age. I’m currently losing weight as I can feel ablation looming. Had electric cv 3 weeks ago and my heart is very active with palpitations. So a bit down. Your post was just what I needed to realise there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you.
Fantastic to hear your doing well, I too had mine 18 months ago and it was a marathon recovery but worth it. I get quivers occasionally but no af. The medical staff are amazing and have improved my quality of life for definite. I hope you continue to enjoy your newfound health
Had an ablation june 2018.i had vagus afib on and off for nearly 20 years.it took a while to settle after the ablation. Nearly 2 years free of afib.i did not think it would work but it has. I still get the vagus acting up in the stomach area but it does not go into afib.
Please can you tell me more about your journey with vagus AF.
I’ve put my husbands journey on here but I did forget to add to it as it’s the longest text on here... that funny enough he always suffered with belching...
I mentioned this at his last consultation that is there a link, as I’d noticed every time he has a big bought of burping he had gone out of rhythm??
Could you help me with what your journey was for 20 years.... and outcomes please!
my afib started after i stretched my stomach moving suddenly one day. I went to my doc who sent me to the casualty.it had stopped by the time i got there. I was seen by a cardiologist .I was put on cardicor 2.5,aspirin ,blood pressure tablets. . After a while i eventually ended up on 1.25 cardicor only. My afib would come from stomach sensitivity.if i drank too much beer i would wake during the night with it. sitting forward in a chair could cause palps. I had acid reflux as well most of my life from working shift work. I was on nexium 20 for that. My afib always came on in late evening or night time.it usually only lasted from 2 to 5 hours. the longest episode was 12 hours. It always stopped on its own.each year i would have about 8 or 10 episodes. there is a connection between the stomach area,vagus nerve,and the bowel and afib. My new doctor who did the ablation 2 years ago ,when I was back 2 weeks ago for my yearly checkup, told me he now has a few patients like me.I have discovered if i keep my bowel moving on a daily basis it helps a lot.If i get gas buildup in the stomach it can cause palps.They used to trigger the afib. Since the ablation these stomach palps still try to trigger the afib but it cant get through.by eliminating the gas problem it stops 99 percent of that. My doc said he caught it happening once on the 24 hour monitor before the appointment.I take ,very rarely,COLPERMIN for the gas.i dont eat any vegetables that can cause gas .I try and avoid anything with milk.In my opinion all my afib was caused by my vagus nerve caused by a very sensitive digestive system.I am not on any other medication. If i get a touch of acid in the stomach i take a rennie to settle it.
There is a German doctor who wrote about the gastric heart conection.Dr. Roemheld.
Thanks for sharing your journey. I always thought there was a connection. They tried to blame his on achohol .... he wasn’t a big drinker... also they tried to blame caffeine too. Just so glad you’ve confirmed my workings out of the piece of the jigsaw.
I mentioned this to the electro cardiologist last Monday and made him aware... “ I have noticed that every time my husband has gas and belching he seems to go out of rhythm, is there a connection with this?”..... reply.... yes, could be nerve related! Didn’t elaborate more than that! So I asked does he need to be seen then by a consultant for this... his reply ... no!!
Thanks for that and I wish you well, and I will read that article!
There is also a very good cardiologist online called Dr.Sanjay Gupta.If you look up York Cardiology he has lots of very good articles on Afib including Vagus Afib.
That’s so great to hear and so encouraging. I’m 30 and have has palpitations since teens that got very extreme last few years. I have an 8 year old I couldn’t run, jump or swim with which really pushed me towards ablation though I debated for about a year. The first month was awful. I had palpitations/ectopics every 2-5 mins first week. I’m almost 2 months post ablation now and it’s vastly improved, ectopics are rare palpitations are never. My quality of life is slowly returning. So nice to be able to lift my daughter, have a drink, run if I need to lol. I suspect I will continue to feel better as time goes on.
I was wondering how you manage a recovery post ablation with the demands of family life? My family are older (15 & 20) and I work full time. I am worried as I keep reading that recovery is slow, but the demands of a busy household can’t be paused indefinitely- how did you manage without hindering your recovery please? I have atrial flutter and am on the waiting list for ablation, aged 53. Thank you.
Hmm yeah that’s hard. I went back to work after 3 weeks (initially only took off a week and my doc put me on sick leave). I personally feel like I coulda used one more week of taking it easier. I guess everyone recovers differently so I would play it by ear if you can. But as for family life... ugh that sucked. I never did get to rest the way I should. Making supper and dishes and stuff, that’s fine but I found it impossible to avoid lifting and overdoing it with grocery shopping and stuff. As a result I got a pretty big blood clot so just be really careful within the 10 days after with lifting. But if you do get one- I took homeopathic Arnica Montana 300 tablets and it dissolved my blood clot in days thank goodness but it was pretty uncomfortable. Hope it goes well. Best you can do is really prepare your family mentally that the doctors consider it fully healed at 3 months. It’s hard cause it doesn’t look like your recovering cause it seems like you can do everything so I think my family figured I was fine. So if I could go back I would prepare them on what kind of support I need and really educate them that even though I look fine and seem fine my body needs to conserve energy for healing.
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76 years old with A F
apixaban and hematuria 
shortness of breath
3% Afib burden and proposed medication
breathlessness 
