A little disheartened!

So I'd rather keep things positive but I suppose I can only be honest!

Its 7 weeks since ablation for afib. Before ablation I was symptomatic during afib (shortness of breath,dizzy and palpitations and sweating) but when it self terminated after a while I was generally fine. And could excersise generally unimpeded except for the odd run where I would stop and let it settle a while before carrying on.

Since ablation I have been experiencing exhaustion and shortness of breath and high hr with exertion (when I say exertion I mean walking up stairs or walking the dog) my heart rate is regularly creeping up above 100 even when sitting down. Dizziness when standing up is a problem now too.

I'm 35 and staring to feel I'm worse off now than I was before. I felt ablation was the right choice as I didnt like the idea of afib potentially leading to heart failure and felt that early intervention would give me the best prognosis, but now I'm starting to question my decision. I've experienced a few recurrences of afib over the weekend along with some earlier recurrences that I attributed to the healing process and I'm really disheartened at the idea it may be a failure and I now feel worse off for nothing!

I know people will say it's still early days at 7 weeks and maybe I am being premature but at the moment I feel as if I am experiencing heart failure. I expected to feel better or at least the same but not worse. I knew I would feel a little rough for a few weeks after but I expected to experience a steady improvement post procedure and not a steady decline. 👎

Apologies for the negativity and I dont want to frighten anyone off if they're deliberating on the having the procedure as there are lots of success stories out there and please God mine will eventually be a success but I'm just a bit down in the dumps about it at the moment! Cant wait for the follow up in 2 weeks to get checked out and get some answers hopefully .

[barge5]

Hi there. I had mine six weeks ago. Feel exactly the same.I rang my cardiologist and the reply back was " there's a blanket over you for 12 weeks. I won't see you or speak to you unless it's serious. Expect to have tiredness , breathless and palpitations it's part of the healing" Have to say all that's passing now. Biggest issue with heartburn that's making me feel terrible so with some lovely advice off this Group today I requested more pills.

Mandy

[BobD Volunteer]

Surely they told you it will take soem months for you to fully recover, three to six is about normal and this sort of thing is very common so close to the procedure. Try reading our fact sheet on recovery heartrhythmalliance.org/res... for a patients view of recovery. Please gove yourself time and don't try to push too hard.

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob. Thanks for the link I had read it when I joined here after ablation. While I know it takes time I suppose I've always demanded more from my body and it's always responded without fail. It's very disconcerting to see it struggle to get back health now. Im certainly not pushing it and have pretty much written off excercise for the near future except a swim with the kids on the weekend . I find myself in bed before 9 in order to have enough energy to go to work and have even taken the odd day off due to exhaustion. You know how it is, the uncertainty is tough and I'm just feeling a bit crap 🤷‍♂️ the advice here is great because if I was only looking at medical advice and not patient experience I would definitely think there was something seriously wrong! Peoples experience here is invaluable. And hopefully my experience will be useful to someone else down the line 👍

[Bennera513]

I'm right there with you. Ablation last Wednesday. I haven't made the one week mark just yet, but had my breakthrough Afib episode yesterday. Six hours in all, coming at the end of a 3 day run of PAC's (24/minute) for long stretches. Just attempting to find the right mix of perspective, Flecainide and Atenolol and sometime Anti-Anxiolytic and light activity to enjoy as much of the next three months as possible. Or at least have a reasonable Quality of Life.

This part counts as our life experience too. I'm also trying hard not to perseverate over counting each hour as it ticks slowly by. One positive to remember is that even if we need another ablation or this one does not go the way we'd expected, it was a journey we were always going to have to make. Good news is we are further along that journey now,...closer to the ultimate resolution whether it be from this procedure or the next. I've just met with my therapist. Can you tell? Hang in there! I'm amazed at how many people in the world are going through this exact same experience right now, with all the same doubts and challenges. And, that's just those of us wrestling Afib....

[Hidden in reply to Bennera513]

Great advice and I also had a bumpy first few weeks with PACs and afib. It settled for a while from the 2 week mark but the fatigue and breathlessness remain with the high hr. And your right this was a journey that was going to have to happen at some stage in life so why not now 👍 best of luck with your recovery I hope its smooth sailing for you from here on out ❤

[JohnEagel]

Oi mate,

Yeah can relate, been there, done that.

Just listen to Bob, he is our wise guy. He was there before time and before Afib.

Had my ablation 2017 and it took me almost a year to calm my heart down.

Since then it is gone and it may stay away for long long time.

If there is one thing I learned from Afib then it is to be patient. But guess thats easier to say past 50 compared with your energetic 35.

So take your time. Small, small steps, no cross country runs with the dog. Slow and gentle.

You find here a treasure chest full of knowledge and experience and a fantastic crowd, ready at any time to support.

None of us is alone in this.

You will see, in a few month all will look much better.

Cheers

J

[Hidden in reply to JohnEagel]

Thanks John. It's good to hear this kind of thing. The uncertainty is tough, so it's important for me to hear peoples experiences. Hopefully things will settle soon and i'll be back with some positive vibes soon😁

[bassets]

I had mine in August, had a bad bout of AF followed by a milder one and now at 7 weeks or so I'm feeling ok but I'm still getting tired easily. After a morning of shopping I can feel the energy draining away and have to retire to bed, but I was expecting that and so quite enjoy a snooze. I suppose age has a lot to do with it but I would not be able to work. It's difficult when you have been used to being busy to suddenly have to stop, but as they say, time is the great healer. Hope you feel better soon, but in the meantime feel free to moan on here

[momist]

Yep, too soon yet. Your heart won't reach full capacity for many, many weeks. Take it easy and build up slowly.

[Dodie117]

It took 5 months for my various bumps and arrhythmias to stop and almost a year for resting heart rate to return to normal. That was 2013 first and only ablation and still AF free. So be patient, gentle on the oul body and good luck ☘️

[Singwell]

Lots of good advice here. I wonder if you could do a short week at work, not every day? It sounds as if you weren't really ready to go back. I know you're young and that the 'advice' is you should be ready to work after three weeks but not everyone is the same. Gentle exercise - slow walk with the kids, not swimming. Kids are energetic. Watch them, don't swim. I experienced bouts of lethargy well into the 12 weeks and it wasn't until I'd done 4 months that I went back to mowing and strimming and reintroducing gentle interval walking. I'm just over 6 months in and only now feel my energy returning. My HR is higher than it used to be overall and is still changing. All of this is making you feel more stressed because of the uncertainty. I actually experienced MORE anxiety post ablation than before - it's the unknown that bugs us. Give yourself some slack - your heart will thank you for it.