I am new here but I love this forum as it’s been a great help and support to me.
I am Icelandic but live in the Uk with husband and children 🌸so sorry if there is any bad English writing here 🙈
I had my ablation 7 weeks ago and slowly getting better overal.
Still feel tired and have chest pain occasionally and sometimes even after not doing so much.
Haven’t been able to start work yet as my work is very physically demanding.
So taking it very easy and trying to listen to my body . (The best I can)
One thing I wanted to ask is I am on flecainide 100mgx2 day still and 1.25 mg bisoprol and apixaban 5mg twice a day.
I am totally ok with the drugs and don’t have any side affects (but only after they lowered my beta blocker dose) in that way but do have fatigue and headaches often…..
but been feeling very dizzy lately or over the last week and very fatigue and tired….
Could that be any of the medication that are contributing to that feeling?
I have never been on this strong form of medication before in my life so all new to me. But this dizzy feeling is very uncomfortable as is the feeling of feeling week.
Had blood test results that I have seen but haven’t had feedback from the dr as it comes through the hospital directly to me.
Anyway babbling on so sorry about that but the blood test results indicate that my blood is a bit to thin and low iron… and still still high inflammation going on…
Can the blood thinners then be cousing that?
Any tips are greatly appreciated thank you xxx
Had to have emergency ablation as I was passing out in my episodes as they were very intense.
Also only 43 years old so it was scary in the beginning of it all as I have always lived very healty and been active…
But I am so grateful that I had this done as it was very hard having the Afib episodes but now I understand the whole condition better so it’s easier to handle things.
But obviously don’t know what to expect still
As it’s still early recovery for me.
But we have some amazing Drs out there👍
And it all takes time and patience.
Have done a lot of life style changes also witch have been very helpful I believe xx
Thank you and have a great day xxx
S x
Written by
Sigi1
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I felt the same way as you, tired weeks later after my ablation, but then it was discovered that I had an underactive thyroid. Tablets for that have given my my energy back. Have you had your thyroid level checked?
Thank you for your reply🌸 good to here you have your energy back 🌸 no I haven’t I will ask about that but previous it has been very good. But will check 🌸 thank you x
Good to hear you are OK after ablation. Only the bisoprolol may make you tired but it is a low dose so more likely the ablation itself and also anaemia - are you having any treatment for that?
Hi rosyG - you wrote on another thread that you were having an aspiration to see if your TKR was infected. Have you had your results yet? You mentioned maybe having to have a revision. I really hope you can avoid that.
It can take many weeks and months for full recovery (read this fact sheet heartrhthmalliance.org/reso... so I wouldn't get too worried but if it helps then why not call the arrhythmia nurse where you had the procedure done and talk it through with them.
Anticoagulants (they don't really thin blood) are unlikely to be the cause of your fatigue but you are on quite a high dose of flecainide although your bisoprolol dose is very low.
Thank you BonD🌸 I will x they are keeping me on this dose for few more weeks as I had a rough start after the ablation 😨 so I amHoping I can come if it in the next 4-6 weeks x
Some people just don't get on with even low doses of Bisoprolol so if the higher dose completely wiped you out it might still be that. When you come off it you might need to wean slowly. Often doctors say that 1.25 mg is a low dose so you can just stop it but that is not the case for everybody. It depends to some extent how long you have been on it and how used your body has got to it.
The chest pain you feel is likely to be being caused by the ablation scars, which your heart is still adjusting to. That said, even 1.25mg bisoprolol brings on mild chest pains in me; I wouldn't, myself, call this a "low dose" since the drug isn't linear in its effect and some people are more sensitive to it than others, Why it brings on chest discomfort I cannot find out.
One cause of your feelings, perhaps, is that your previous fibrillation (or at least the tachycardia that came in its wake) weakened your heart and caused temporary heart failure (i.e. a reduction in its output). Following the ablation, your heart will now slowly be recovering its output, but you are still medicating it as if it were poorly, since this is considered good practice while the ablation scars heal (i.e. because it helps prevent recurrence of afib). This means that you might be suffering from the medication's effects on the heart, rather than from the effects of your previously weakened heart. Flecainide is a potent drug, after all.
Another thought is that one problem with chest discomfort or pain is the anxiety that can easily accompany it. This is my problem, for sure. This can then create a vicious circle in which more chest pain occurs; indeed, I feel sure that it can bring on arrhythmias.
As you are slightly anaemic, you are likely trying to address this with iron supplements, and this might eventually help with your tiredness. Also, perhaps have your thyroid checked to see if that might be the cause.
Finally, since you are íslenskur, I would advise listening to some of Bjork's more avant garde songs - in fact the weirder the better. This will surely divert you from all your feelings and bring you to realise that there are worse things in life than recovering from an ablation!
I wish you well in your recovery. You will "get there", for sure.
Hello Sigi. You have had lots of good advice here, and I have none for you, but will tell you my experience. I am sorry to hear you are having this problem at such a young age. My AF did not start until I was 79! I have been on every drug under the sun since then, (I am now 88) and nothing worked, until I went to an electrophysiologist who put me on Flecainide 50 mg 2x day for the rythmn, and .0625 Digoxin 1x a day for the heart rate. (At my age I did not want the ablation.) That worked, and I did not have a single episode for a year. But I felt dizzy (could be glaucoma effect) and very, very tired all the time. So I stopped both drugs for two weeks to see if that would change. It didn't. I still felt rotten, and then I had a 24 hour episode, so back on the pills again. But I have cut my dose of both in half, and that seems to work fine. I am not suggesting you do this. But I figured, for me, that less of the drug is less damaging to my body than more, especially if it seems to work fine. I am also on the anti-coagulant Lixiana, 60 mg 1x/day. Maybe this fatigue is just age, but I would like to know what is causing it. Doctors don't take it seriously, but it impacts everything I do. Good luck with your regimen, and I hope you have a good outcome.
I have never had an ablation. I have been wearing a pacemaker for about 2.5 years. No issues with it. On flecainide for same period of time. Take blood thinner apixaban for same time 5mg 2 times a day. After AFIB in January 2021 sent me to ER, started on Cardizem 1 time a day, 24 hour pill. No AFIB since. Continued flecainide. Was on metoprolol 2 years, stopped because blood pressure stayed too high and lost all most all my hair.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Afib worse since Ablation
I am new here
Some general advice please
Following ablation when am i safe to return to gym
New here Not new to AF
