I haven’t posted for a very long time but I thought I would share my experiences in case it helped others. Apologies for its length.
Just to remind you of my history. I was diagnosed with PAF in 2014 and was prescribed Rivaroxaban, Bisoprolol & Flecainide. Following diagnosis, I embarked on lifestyle changes. I lost about 3 stone in weight, gave up alcohol and changed to a high fruit diet. I also started taking a magnesium supplement. It worked and apart from the odd lapse with holiday alcohol, I enjoyed several years of relatively AF free living.
In about 2016/17 I started to become very fatigued in the evenings and I fell asleep most nights watching the TV. Friends suggested that this was caused by the Bisoprolol so I asked my cardiologist if I could stop taking it. He was not in favour but suggested that I should consider an ablation so I could stop all the meds (apart from Rivaroxaban obviously). He referred me to John Radcliffe Hospital and I had an excellent discussion with Dr. Kim Rajappan in September 2019. I was still reluctant to have an ablation so as a first step we agreed that I should stop the meds to see if they really were the cause of my fatigue.
To cut a long story short, I stopped the meds and it made virtually no difference to my fatigue (so it must be old age then!). However, the AF returned with a vengeance. October 2019 was my equal worst month ever! Forget the magnesium, lower weight, diet etc, etc. They may have helped but it was very obvious to me that it was my medicine that prevented my AF.
I recommenced my medication and things settled down a bit but I was still having A/F episodes. In the past I have tried to avoid an ablation but now I had to decide whether to have one. This would be a major change of mind for me but would it work? I was 69 years old and didn’t want to leave things much later. I knew that the only way to come off the medication (apart from Rivaroxaban) was to have an ablation and I really struggled to decide what to do.
I eventually advised Dr. Rajappan that I wanted to proceed with an ablation. When he analysed my position further, he discovered that I was experiencing atrial flutter as well as fibrillation and told me that the ablation would deal with both. This is an important point and I will post later about this.
I was booked in at JRH on 14th February 2020 (Valentine’s Day – hearts, get it?) and Dr. Rajappan carried out the procedure in the afternoon, under general anesthetic, with an overnight stay. I was told that everything went well and I felt no ill effects. I had some ‘bullet holes’ in each side of my groin but these healed very quickly.
Over the following weeks, I had two very short episodes of A/F but I had been told to expect this. It is now over ten months since my ablation and I have not had any further A/F episodes that I am aware of. (I use a Kardia device and app.). I do have occasional ectopic beats but I have been told this is quite normal and nothing to worry about. Best of all, I no longer need to take the Bisoprolol and Flecainide which must be beneficial. I have continued to take the magnesium.
Quite clearly, with the benefit of hindsight, I made a mistake by not having the ablation much earlier. In the past I believed that the success rate for an ablation was quite low and most people needed a second or even third ablation before it worked. Once again it shows that we are all different and we react in different ways. In future if I need a second ablation then so be it. I wouldn’t hesitate.
Hope this helps others who are trying to decide what to do.
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