My experience, 8 weeks post ablation

[rof182]

Hi all

I wanted to share my story after I found the information in this forum super helpful.

I had an ablation done both for Afib and Flutter exactly 8 weeks ago. During the past year, prior to the procedure, I hardly had any episodes after I had been put on Flecanide and Diltiazem. I went for ablation anyway as it runs in the family. I am a 55yrs old man.

The weeks after the ablation were tough, at times I thought I had made a mistake.

I had very high blood pressure in the first week, and a high heart rate.

In the second week I got lots of ectopic beats. In one episode, during 10s or so, my heart skipped every other beat. I rushed to the ER however they found all ok organically.

I walked on eggshells during weeks 3 to 6. Whenever I was not doing things in slow motion, my ectopics started. Nevertheless I slept like a rock during nights.

During week 7 things slowly settled down, and I felt more energetic. I even went for a run towards the end of that week. I did 3k at slow speed, my heart rate rose to 140 (I used to do a couple of 6k runs before I had the procedure). I felt good after, no set-back.

Now my ectopics are almost gone, I notice a couple of single beats during the day, esp after eating unhealthy stuff… sweets, fizzy drinks, processed food.. avoiding that now.

I went for another 3k run 2 days ago and, again, felt well after….and I just had my first pint since long.

So things do look good, but it was much more of a disruption than expected. Someone here made a comment that it will take 8 weeks for the heart to heal, and another 4 weeks for the heart to re-wire… I believe this is a spot-on statement.

[pkc05]

Hi. That's good news. I hope your recovery continues on the right path. I was 53 when I had my first ablation and the first two or three months were taken very easily. But, after that I started building back my fitness to near pre AF. However, I did need a second ablation four years later. I have been fine since. I am 63 now.

[Graham194]

Hi Rof,Good to hear things are progressing well for you.

I had an ablation last November and it took exactly four months for everything to settle down. Up until then l was in and out of AF like l hadn't had the procedure- l was pretty disappointed but then again we all know that we may need it doing again. I saw my heart consultant and agreed that l should be put on the waiting list for another ablation. That was just prior to everything settling down. Hopefully, when the time comes l won't need it. In the meantime l am back on the bike doing 100 miles a week.

I do feel as though l am missing a low gear or two on the hills and l also notice blips of AF of a few seconds on my Garmin readout after the ride.

Just keep on adding little challenges to get back to normal. You are 12 years younger than me so l would imagine you won't be 'missing the gears on the hills' as much as me! Good luck.

[rof182 in reply to Graham194]

Thanks Graham…let’s see about the gears

[CDreamer]

We sometimes trick ourselves into believing ablation will be this miraculous ‘cure’ and it can be very helpful but it’s less than half the story - the rest is up to us to rest and recuperate and then alter our lifestyles so that it doesn’t return.

Best wishes for your continued recovery and long may NSR continue for you.

[Ppiman]

I read of a major study in which some people were still improving well after a year from their ablation and by two years most were still well.

Steve

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Ppiman]

WE do say in our fact sheet on recovery heartrhythmalliance.org/res... that manay people are still improving at 9 months or even a year.

[Shcldavies]

That is good news, what I can say is that I am over 2 years post ablation and convinced that I am still improving, or are least can do more without experiencing ectopics or short runs of tachycardia. Yes the improvement is much more subtle but it is continuing.

[Hidden]

Thanks for posting this. It’s encouraging to know that ectopics can eventually calm down even after they occur very frequently. What you are saying confirms what doctors say about the need to remain patient during the three month blanking period.

[Snowgirl65]

Good news -- thanks for relaying your experience. We're all different in that regard. My ablation (2nd one) was done about the same time as yours. I had my ups and downs immediately after, but (knock on wood) everything's settled down now. Best regards for your future.

[Visigoth]

I’m so glad you are doing well. Could I ask if you used to get ectopics before the ablation? I am trying to decide whether to go for it but my problem is that before I was put on amiodarone my ectopics were far worse than my AF, so I’m wondering if I would suffer from them more than most post ablation. I found them so debilitating that I’m afraid to put myself through it!

[rof182 in reply to Visigoth]

Hi Visigoth. I had them before, with low intensity, but they stopped when I started taking Flecanide and Diltiazem. There are some articles on the web stating that ectopics can be treated well with ablation, I’d guess all of it can be done in one go… best is of course to discuss this with your EP. Best of luck

[Visigoth in reply to rof182]

Thank you. That encourages me! But yes I need to have another discussion with my EP.

[Lesleyray]

Hi, I’m having my first cardio ablation July 6th and I’m very nervous, since December I’ve had 14 AF episodes from 40 mins to 2 hrs and many short AF spurts (have a scan watch that records AF episodes) also have many ectopic episodes during most days and low heart rate. I take flecainide only but episodes are breaking through and take top ups when in AF, I hope that I am as successful with the ablation and ectopics as many of you are

[rof182 in reply to Lesleyray]

Hi Lesley, with the anesthesia the procedure was a no big deal, just allow enough time for yourself to heal during the weeks after…best of luck

[12Potter]

“8 wks to heal, 4 to rewire” thanks for this info Rof182. Sounds like you’re doing really well! I’d see “rest rest & rest” till follow up & as long as you need after! Great post to read 😁 - love these progress post ablation updates - think we all do! Long May your progress continue.

[Lesleyray]

Thank you, will dom