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Failed ablation?

honey1958 profile image
17 Replies

Hi have looked at this site for a while and found it so helpful. Long post sorry please bear with me!

I'm a 63 year old female with 30 year mainly asymptomatic history of mild mitral regurgitation. Odd palpitations but told ectopic?

A&E visit 2 years ago as heart going crazy AF diagnosed and prescribed 5mg bisoprolol and edoxaban. Mitral regurgitation no worse.

Since start of this year have been really ill. Crazy palpitations dizziness awful fatigue no appetite nausea and bad headaches.

Diagnosed with fast AF heart constantly 110 to 130 which 10mg bisoprolol and amiodorone didn't touch. Cardioversion in April reverted to sinus rhythm for 2 days only. Digoxin added heart rate down to 90s still in AF.

Last echo in June showed ejection fraction of 30% severe heart failure and severe mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. Urgent PVI? ablation carried out 2 weeks ago but went back into AF after 5 days. Have reverted to sinus rhythm for a few hours twice but now back in AF.

So fed up sorry to just moan. My next cardiology appointment is not for 3 months although have told them back in fast EF.

I have no life all I can do is my personal care and move from bed to chair and back. 5 minute slow walk on good days.

Sorry again to moan. Any advice please?

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honey1958
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17 Replies

Hello honey, I can understand why you are feeling down but it really is early days and it can take months for the heart tissue to heal and block the rogue impulses which cause AF. I’m not medically trained but from what you say about your heart, I can understand why you are feeling pessimistic but give it time and your situation should improve. Have you seen the factsheet about recovering from an ablation (link below) it’s well worth reading because it explains some of the reasons why you might be experiencing these difficulties. Anxiety of course will not help, but I’m sure the factsheet will……

heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

Lynnsj63 profile image
Lynnsj63

Hi, You have been through a lot and recovering from your ablation still too. It takes time for the heart to heal from the ablation which is why they give you your next appointment in 3 months. I'm sure if you are concerned re any issues you are having you could email your consultants secretary with any queries you have, they will pass those onto your consultant. But I would say give it longer to judge as everything is still settling. If after the 3 months you feel it hasn't worked there is sometimes the option of a 2nd ablation as they may not have got the whole area that is misfiring. That happened in my case. Yours will still be settling and calming down, too early to judge. Take care. Hope everything settles further for you.

etheral profile image
etheral

Hi, have had a similar problem myself. My EF before going into Afib was 36%. After going into AF it dropped to mid 20s and I went into CHF with pulmonary oedema. I was placed on Spironolactone,( a diuretic) , Entresto, ( combination of valsartan and an ACE inhibitor), a beta blocker (carvedilol) and apixaban. This partially resolved my CHF, but I didn't return to remotely normal functioning until I regained NSR by taking Tikosyn. Bottom line..Your severe heat failure can be aggressively treated and hopefully the Afib will resolve from the ablation. If you are in the UK, Tikosyn is not available, but the ablation and perhaps a follow up ablation if necessary will restore NSR an bring yor EF up to where you are no longer in CHF. Meanwhile ask your cardiologist or EP about maximal aggressive treatment fo the Heart failure. Best of luck, etheral

momist profile image
momist

Hi Honey, my huge long AF session occurred four weeks after my ablation, and lasted three days. It is not regarded as unusual at all. Within the first three months, basically, anything that happens can be ignored as during the 'blanking period' while the heart heals. Success or failure will not be judged until that three month appointment.

The best thing you can do is to keep a good record of what happens when, and do your best to take things slowly and carefully. Keep up with the medication and do not worry or over exert yourself at any time.

With regard to the other heart conditions you have, we are not medically trained people on this forum (with occasional exceptions) and we can't advise you on that, sorry.

Good luck with you journey through AF.

Buffafly profile image
Buffafly

Hi Honey, that’s really tough but I hope things improve with time and rest. As you have the valve problems which are in themselves a cause of AF I suggest you post in the British Heart Foundation forum as there is more likely to be someone with similar conditions. Best wishes 💜

sdweller profile image
sdweller

You may still improve...give your heart time to heal. We understand how you feel!

angel343 profile image
angel343

Hi honey i hope things start to improve with time for you, i have no experience with ablations. i myself am in heart failure AF and ongoing heart problems, it can be very difficult , a lack of energy and anxiety doesn't help but sometimes sharing how you feel helps. there are lots of people who can offer brilliant advice and support, unfortunately we are all different and medications vary for each individual. I am on 2.5mg bisoporol apaxiban rosivastatin and frusemide. Some days are better than others. I hope you can find some comfort in you are not alone and people do care. I went down the path of adding coQ10 supplements. However i wouldn't recommend anything unless you discuss it with your health provider first. I sought advice and was told it could help my situation with the heart failure as statins can deplete the coQ10 we need. I have been taking them for two weeks now and can honestly say iv'e had more better days than bad, however it's early days for me. It's just my experience, we are all different. Take care and good luck Xx

Franny50 profile image
Franny50

I'm not a doctor, and do not claim any medical knowledge.

Please consult with your own doctors before taking any advice.

But please take a look at this article re: the potential benefits of amino acids taurine and arginine for heart failure and arrhythmias.

I use both and found them helpful after a failed ablation.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/167....

Franny50 profile image
Franny50

Also, just for general discussion of effects of taurine: webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingre....

solarjdo69 profile image
solarjdo69

Sorry to hear about your travails. I've been living with afib diagnosis since 2014, but know that I struggled for years before that. I have gone the 99% all natural herbs and vitamins route and have had great success. My most recent trial of natural substances has been using Banyan Botanicals Ayervedivc Heart Formula. Since i have been taking this (about 4 months) many of my issues have subsided, such as periodic swelling in feet, higher heart rate.

banyanbotanicals.com/heart-...

I can't say enough about this stuff. I stopped taking some of my other TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicines) since this one tablet appears to fill in the gaps for me.

If you look for my other posts I list all the other herbs, vitamins, etc that I take. The only prescription med I take still is Cardeziem 360 capsule 1 each day, down from 500m /day.

My primary blood thinner is Natookinase which also is clinically proven to dissolve blood clots ( might be good to prevent the odd covid vaccine induced clots).

honey1958 profile image
honey1958 in reply to solarjdo69

Thankyou everyone for your advice and kind words.Sorry can't work out how to do a reply to all.

Deep down suppose I know it's very early days and need patience but always hoping for a miracle especially as my AF has been resistant to treatment and having felt so awful for ages.

Back in rhythm at the moment having spent last few days flipping back and forth. That's so anxiety causing as never know what's going to happen next!

When in sinus rhythm my heart rate is in the 60s. Wonderful after months well over 100. But don't feel any better yet.

Ethereal my consultant said we need to see what effect 3 months in normal rhythm does for HF/valve before extra treatment. That assumes I spend the 3 months in rhythm!

I will post on the BHF forum and look into the complementary treatments.

Thankyou for letting me rant and moan and being supportive x

Adalaide2020 profile image
Adalaide2020 in reply to honey1958

Hi honey1958. I dont do all the technical stuff but I just wanted to say it's very ok to say how you feel. You might call it moaning, I call it being human and needing to get stuff off your chest (no.pun intended) and to get a listening ear. I wish you well and hope with all.my heart you see an Improvement soon. Take care 🌻🌻🌻

honey1958 profile image
honey1958 in reply to Adalaide2020

Adelaide thankyou for your kind words. It's great to meet the lovely people on here x

Jetcat profile image
Jetcat

Hi honey, I’m really sorry you’re feeling so fed up at the moment and I’m sure things will improve. but don’t be sorry because you think your Moaning. You are certainly not moaning. We all need to let people know how we are feeling whether it’s good or not. Xx

honey1958 profile image
honey1958 in reply to Jetcat

Thankyou for your kindness x

Jetcat profile image
Jetcat

👍❤️X

Kivancsi profile image
Kivancsi

I am really sorry I do the same. I am fed up to. I am not happy

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