Had Cryo ablation Tuesday and was free of AF and ectopics until this afternoon. I know there is a “ blanking “ period but has anyone had a recurrence of Af just after the ablation. Has it remained after the blanking period ?
Post ablation AF: Had Cryo ablation... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Post ablation AF
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kalgs
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I think you will find that is is quite normal to have short spells of AF in the blanking period. If they persist and are troublesome then do contact the arrhythmia nurse where you had your ablation for advice/ reassurance.
I had brief spells of ectopics and 4 short AF spells(not fast) in the first couple of weeks after my recent ablation but did not worry me as I know they are to be expected
Thanks for reply . Can you remember how long each lasted . Have had more than one ablation?
Ectopics probably an hour or so that I was aware of. AF very brief, only minutes and I'm very aware of that. I have Kardia so checked with that. This was ablation no 4.( 5 weeks ago ) Last one over 8 years ago
Thanks . I use a Kardia 6 L . My AF at the moment couple of hours . How successful were the first 3 ablations ?
They were successful to a degree , bearing in mind that my first one in 2009 was after a 16 year history of mainly persistent AF and I was warned that I would need more than one attempt. I could write a book on my AF history but it would probably bore everyone to tears!I went about 15/16 months AF free after 1st ablation, not so long after the second as I had a great deal of trouble with A flutter about 3/4 months after.
In the intervening 8 years between no 3 and no 4 I had alot of persistent AF requiring hospital admission and dccvs. Although I was still seeing my EP regularly I kept prevaricating over further ablations but finally had to agree to this last one! Not least because I had then had over 20 dccvs and was getting concerned about the cumulative effect.
Hopefully now I have been well and truly ablated with this last procedure. I'm feeling positive and grateful for all the treatment I've been given .
How is your AF at the moment? Is it fast ?
4 hours still going about 80 average on Kardia. Hope your ablation is successful
Try not to worry too much as this is not fast. You have to give the scars time to heal and it is so early. You are worrying unnecessarily at the moment. Would you even know if you didn't have a Kardia??! I am a great fan of the device but do use with caution! I'm an old hand at this so I don't get over worried with small deviations.
My advice at the moment would be to take a favourite book off the bookshelf and lose yourself in it. Try to ignore the deviations as there are likely to be plenty.
Best wishes
J
Totally agree with Julia. You need to bear in mind that your heart has taken a bit of a beating. No doubt your groin is bruised and these bruises should help you to appreciate what the inside of your heart must look like. You have seen the factsheets so you will know that the procedure rarely provides an instant result so hard as it is, you will have to try and accept that you will experience a number of different blips. Try and relax because added anxiety is the last thing you need right now. Everything you have experienced thus far is perfectly normal with the possible exception of continued hiccups. Hopefully these have ceased by now…..
kalgs• in reply to
Many thanks . Good advice . Hiccups went after a couple of hours . It’s so difficult I finding day on bed trying to relax
I had fast AF the next day after my 3rd ablation when I was due to go home. I was kept in hospital and it lasted for over 24hrs.
Then it kicked off again a few weeks later, lasting for days and I had a cardioversion. I think that was 5 years ago and my heart has never raced since, though I'm now in constant AF with a rate around 60-90. My life is good and there's little I can't do.
I truly find that the less I think about AF the better I am.
Jean
Sorry to hear the ablations didn’t work
BobDVolunteer
The important thing I think is to put away the Kardia and accept that for the foreseable future odd things will happen. It is also importanat not to put so much emphasis on the "blanking period." As we say in the fact sheet many people continue to improve at nine months or a year post procedure and in my mind the three months is optimistic to say the least. Remember the fact sheet was written based on members real life experiences not on what doctors told you.
OK I know it is all new but please be assured that nothing that is happening to you is any different to what we have all experienced.
Thanks BobI’m trying. Felt wonderful when I came out of Barts Tuesday . Today however, different situation. Been in AF for several hours, back pain and feel quite off . Seen GP who gave me more pain relief. I guess because I was so good after the ablation I hoped it would continue.
I’ve read a few international papers on the “ blanking “ period . Some suggest it should be shorter . If you have an ablation and continue in Af for a year there’s a real question about its success and what to do ?
Hi kalgs.
Your not even a week in yet. Just relax and don’t do anything else. If I remember rightly your in your 70s? I’m in my 30s and I felt terrible for the first week. First 4/5 days I did literally nothing but rest and haven’t done a great deal more since. I keep an eye on my resting heart rate once/twice a day and track heart rate during walks and exertion but that’s it. Sounds like in your case your best not too as it sounds like it may be worrying you unnecessarily. Just sit/lay down, relax and let your heart heal. I know it’s easier said than done and I’m struggling myself this last week but hopefully it’s all part of the process. 👍
Thanks . Where do you get 70s from ??No where near that age lol
🤣 oh right sorry must have been someone else then? How old are you? Thought I’d asked that already? 🤔 clearly not 😂
Certainly not 70
Your 68?
Why is the age such an issue . Don’t answer that
I wasn’t making it an issue kalgs I was merely stating that someone who I thought was in their 70s would more than likely take longer to recover from an op than someone in their 30s in general, all things being equal. You’ve clearly been offended by that and for that I apologise. Even though i was only 2 years out 🤔 🤣
The 70s can mean 79. I’ve known people in the 30s less fit and healthy than those in their 80s. It’s common sense that different people take different times to recover from similar procedures. Let’s not continue this conversation. It’s not what I’m on this forum for . I was not offended Just felt it was totally unnecessary to pursue the age point.
I had my ablation in may. I’ve had a fairly frequent runs of ectopicd with AF incidents every few days but they don’t last too long usually minutes
I had frequent daily AF before so vastly reduced in incidents and length of them so in that aspect I’ve now stopped all my medication except for apixiban and feeling less tired. I felt really off it for 3 months and slowing feeling better and currently having a 5 day holster test to see how effective it’s been before I see my consultant sometime in the near future. Following my ablation I found support from the cardiac team not good (and before) so I changed consultants to one I feel I can talk too
It’s probably fair to say that many of us replying have the huge benefit of hindsight when it comes to AF ablations - there are often significant expectations after the procedure only to find that AF rears it’s head yet again. That’s not to say it hasn’t worked and sometimes we have to have a top up second or third - but at the time that isn’t known so it’s a step by step journey. In August 2016 - 6 months after my second ablation - I had my last AF episode before 3 years of basically AF freedom. Of course I didn’t know that would be the case at the time!I’ve found the hardest thing to do when managing PAF is to forget about it . My episodes are now about once a month - but my time in sinus rhythm still far outweighs the time when in AF. I’m well medicated and anticoagulatesd and have access to an arrhythmia nurse.
Good luck, stay positive and take it easy.
Thanks for the message . I totally understand what your saying.
Hi, first post but I felt like I wanted to provide some reassurance. I'm 41 and developed paroxysmal AF back in Feb 2020 after food poisoning (with a very disturbing night in A&E resus). Fortunately I have private medical cover so I was able to get an ablation in May of this year. The first month after the surgery was, to be honest, pretty horrific. I completely ignored all the excellent advice on the fact sheet and went straight back to work etc. In my defence, I'm a contractor and don't get paid if I don't work! Anyway, I had multiple instances of AF some lasting 12 hours plus and was near constantly on the verge of heading back to A&E. I also had the visual migraine symptoms and bad ectopics. Since about 6 weeks after the ablation things have dramatically improved. I've had 2 instances of AF lasting about 60s when stressed and dehydrated and one instance of 2-3 hours when ill from another cause. The ectopics are still there, but less frequent than they were and I believe they continue to improve. Anyway, to summarise, I can reassure you that some tough times early on don't mean that you won't be significantly better off in the near future.
Thanks, Mike
Two really important things. Rest and try not to compare yourself too much with everyone else. I'm 4.5 months on and have had to have a cardioversion 2 weeks ago and have had silly pulse episodes this week BUT when you read of everyone else doing fine and dandy, it can be a little disheartening (no pun intended 😁) and demoralising if your recovery is different . So, I have decided to put my big girls knickers on and be very happy for the guys who are doing very well but also accepting my recovery will be what it will be. And once again.........rest. And, did I mention resting? 😁.
Give it time... I had Cryo ablation and wish I had it done years ago! it took 3 to 6 months at least for me to really get back to feeling perfect with some episodes like you are experiencing in those months. Now I'm almost a year out and feeling great ! I don't even look at my heart rate anymore unless I get on my elliptical and I'm always happy with what I see .
I really appreciate your kind and thoughtful response. It really helps to get messages that are so positive. Thank you
Stopafib.org comments: "Many people experience some atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter following a catheter ablation due to inflammation of the heart tissue. For this reason, the first three months are generally considered a "blanking period" in which success or failure should not be judged. Some folks have said that their afib following catheter ablation was as bad as before, or worse. That is due to the inflammation, and the arrhythmia is often different from that experienced previously. As the body heals and the inflammation resolves, the afib and atrial flutter generally go away."
So I would say that you don't need to be too worried at this very early stage following the procedure.
kalgs• in reply to
Thanks for your response. What I’ve noticed is things starting to calm apart from reflux .
kalgs• in reply to
Thanks
Too late, I know. I've been away for a week.
If you read my posts you will see I had a three day episode that landed me in A&E for 16 hours. I've had one small session since, and nothing in the last few weeks.
Friday and Saturday, I managed to walk over 4 miles each day, up hills in the woods!! Loved it, although very slow and tiring compared to prior to AF.
Yes had ectopics (pacs) and afib during the blanking period and 1st ablation was not deemed a full success (but meds worked better post ablation in reducing afib). Lots of ectopics though sometimes 1000s a day. 2nd ablation recently so fingers crossed I can slowly come off the antiarrhythmics. Best wishes to you post procedure and for a stable heart
Good luck. Keep well
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