Post ablation arrythmias

[Sakhay]

Hi everyone.

Went through cathether ablation for parax. AFib a week ago. Im only 29. Had AFib episodes every day before my procedure. Since the ablation I now have had atrial flutter episodes 5 times in 7 days, which last up to few minutes each. Also lots of strong ectopics when lying down and trying to sleep that keep me up at nights.

Cardiologist that performed the procedure said I am fixed now and should not have any flutter or fibrillation episodes anymore, but reading different sources on internet suggest I may have arrythmias up to 3 months after ablation? I am not using any medications since my ablation except aspirin.

Has anyone else felt so many arrythmias after the procedure that early? Did your episodes fade away eventually? Should I be worrying?

Cheers!

Sakhay.

[BobD Volunteer]

Read this heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[Hidden]

Hello Sakhay, welcome to the forum. Cannot be much fun knowing that you needed some work done on your ticker at such a young age. The factsheet will provide you with some helpful advice on how best to recover, especially as hospitals sometimes give the impression that you can get back to normal life within a week or so after the procedure. Those of us that have actually been there know it can be a bit more complex than that, so don’t be too surprised if you get some arrhythmias as the tissue heals. You may want to give some thought to what might have caused your AF so that you can avoid tempting fate! Being young, you may be into extreme sports activities which is a known cause and should be avoided. The same is true about alcohol so be careful if that’s likely to be a problem for you......take care and read that factsheet.....😉

[Sakhay in reply to Hidden]

Wow. Thanks alot! And you are absolutely correct.

I sure loved to run up to 3 times a week and I don't drink alcohol or smoke so I thought I am so healthy I should be last person on Earth to develope heart problems 😀 But turned out I had extra hidden pathway for electrical signals from atria to ventriculars, probably since birth. Just took 28 years to have my first AF attack. And it turns out it is pretty common.

Thanks for your advice, this surely helped to ease down my anxiety.

Sakhay.

[Hidden]

It’s common to have the symptoms that you describe after an ablation. They are *not* an indication that the procedure has failed. You need to wait for three months to allow things to settle down. That said, I would recommend that you contact the hospital which carried out the procedure for reassurance. It sounds like they should have given you more information concerning what to expect.

[The_Lord_is_with_Us]

I've had 4 ablations. First for Atrial Flutter; the rest for AFIB.

My 2nd AFIB ablation performed 9 months or so after the first 'failed' ablation gave me nearly 10 years of normalcy. Just had recent ablation on OCT 23.

You're in the 90-Day blanking period where you can expect rapid beats .... PVC's ..... and other odd beats while healing. My Cardiologist said the heart is unhappy and needs to settle down and heal.

However ... if you get arrhythmia later on after the blanking period .... then you may need another ablation. It is well known by Electrophysiologists that it often takes two ablations to get the high-percentile success rates.

Even when I was 'cured' I could still set off AFIB by drinking cold water or eating cold food (which stimulates the Vagus Nerve). It only lasts less than 10 minutes and resolves, but discomforting, at first. Now I'm used to it.

I had a few rapid heart beats after my ablations .... some missed beats. But nothing that abnormal. However, my EP's are the best of the best, which I always recommend finding by other AFIB patients, too.

In my experience, if the EP says your cured .... then that's pretty good news. They don't usually say that unless the procedure went very well and they're confident of a good result.

But, again, don't be depressed if you need a second one ...... it's all part of the game.

[Hidden]

Hi Sakhay, From my experience after two ablations, I would say it's very common to experience some 'irregularities' even beyond 3 months but my symptoms did improve over time. After the first one, I can remember feeling very upset as I thought that the procedure made it worse but it did eventually settle down and it was a 10 year gap before I needed a redo. Good luck with it.

[rosyG]

I think the replies so far cover everything. Just wanted to say that if you do need treatment for flutter in the future it’s a swift easy procedure so don’t worry now- probably will just settle anyway

[Sakhay]

My EP told me I am cured because after the ablation on some particular spot they usually try 2 times afterwards to stimulate the part that caused AF episodes. If they can't make your heart go into AF they consider this part fixed and ablation suffient.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

[Tennisbud in reply to Sakhay]

Is your ep not going to treat the flutter? I had to go back in for an RF ablation for my flutter two months after my cryoballoon ablation for Afib.

[Snowgirl65]

After my ablation in 2019, my heart went into a-fib frequently, once necessitating cardioversion, because of normal inflammation from the procedure. This lasted for about 3 months in attacks. They suddenly stopped, like a light switch turning them off. Episodes returned a year later, but infrequently. At this point, I'm leaning toward another ablation. I'm 70; you're young and should bounce back much quicker. Good luck!

[Sakhay in reply to Snowgirl65]

Well, at this point im back on meds and I am really losing my hope on this just being a "blanking period". Had to be electrically cardioverted two days ago. I can hardly get any sleep. During the day I feel mostly okay, but as soon as I lie down to go to sleep, I start having runs of ectopics, sometimes two or three in a row even. They tend to trigger fibrillation and flutter sometimes, but metoprolol and propafenon are trying to keep me out of tachycardia. In every other day or twice a week my arrythmia wins the battle. I talked to my EP and he said that this extra pathway he found was maybe not the reason for my arrythmias, even though it usually is. Next step would be isolating pulmonary veins, but we have to wait longer before going though another ablation procedure. Also this procedure would be much more complicated and risky which makes me worry.

[Snowgirl65 in reply to Sakhay]

Sakhay -- I'm so sorry to hear that. As a suggestion, maybe you might try one of those wedge pillows for sleeping at night which will raise your upper body a bit. Hopefully that might help some. Also, is it possible for you to get a different opinion? I know it's frustrating having to do that, but another EP might have a different approach. Good luck to you.

[Sakhay in reply to Snowgirl65]

Thanks for your advice. I visited different EP back in december who advised not to go for ablation so easily and try living with "pill in the pocket" at first. Sounded reasonable, but if you need to use your pills almost every day than I couldn't see how this could be a long term solution for somebody under 30 years old. My current EP in the other hand was convinced that pills are only shortterm solution, usually AF is progressive and sooner or later you will either have to get used to living with AF or go for an ablation and try to keep AF under control.

Thanks for your reply. Really appreciate the support.

🙂