Back in AF

[stoneyrosed]

Back in AF this morning (139 bpm) emailed cardiac nurse who quickly replied. Told me to go back on all meds until work out a further plan. Brief history of mine is ablation last March stayed on meds until November, since came off meds a few ectopics and now this is the second AF attack. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Still in AF rising to 140. Not sure what to do next, don’t really want to go back on meds should I wait it out or do has he says?

[Hidden]

Obviously disappointing but I believe you had a Cryoablation and although the medics rarely tell you, it’s actually quite common to need a second radio frequency (heat) ablation to treat any parts of the pulmonary veins which might have been missed by the expanding balloon. This happened to me and I needed a second ablation and so far, so good. The procedure can be relatively quick and judging by the response you’ve had from your medics, you appear to be in good hands…….

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Regarding what should you do, I suggest you follow the advice offered by your medics……

[stoneyrosed in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for reply flapjack, just checked my pulse again and it’s risen up further to 152 so taken flec beta blocker and a thinner. See how I go on. Yeah hopefully I can have a second ablation and things improve. Thanks

[BobD Volunteer in reply to stoneyrosed]

Stay on your anticoagulant please for your own sake.

[stoneyrosed in reply to BobD]

Yes Bob will do, managed to get AF under control

[Hidden]

If you have been prescribed Flecainide, it might be worth asking if you can try using it as a PiP provided you do not exceed 300 mg within any 24 hour period.

[stoneyrosed]

Managed to get my AF under control today, Cardio recommends i go back on all meds. So 10 months after my ablation I am back to square one, BUT I’m not going to let it disappoint me too much, hopefully plan b will be a second ablation and hopefully more successfull than the first. One thing I think I have learnt in all this, is this, forget looking for triggers, AF will make an appearance whenever it feels like it no matter what you eat how much you exercise or how much you sleep. Enjoy the times your not in AF and look after yourselves when you are. Lovely people on this site, thanks for putting up with me 👍

[secondtry in reply to stoneyrosed]

Good to hear you are back in NSR. The value for looking for triggers is relative IMHO to how vagally mediated your AF is. The more the Vagus Nerve is involved the easier it is to identify the triggers.

[Lbeat796 in reply to secondtry]

Yep mines definitely triggered by vagus nerve ie turning head as pressure on neck, bending down, touching neck, speaking low. Doctor at hospital confirmed this.But so annoying when folk say calm down as they automatically think caused by anxiety

[Lbeat796 in reply to stoneyrosed]

I agree Stoneyrose re triggers. Dont know how many things I have cut out as have thought they were a trigger as just happened to have a tachycardia attack when eating something or doing some kind of exercise.

[FancyPants54 in reply to stoneyrosed]

Some seem to have obvious triggers and things they can avoid. The rest of us don't have any and can never predict it.

[stoneyrosed in reply to FancyPants54]

Drives me mad trying to predict it lol. If the pathways have been made in the atrium I think unless you have a successful ablation nothing is going to stop AF recurring. IMHO

[FancyPants54 in reply to stoneyrosed]

I'm in AF permanently now and it's so much better than having it out of the blue every now and then. I've got used to it. I mostly can't feel it. I just wish my HR was lower, it runs top of the 90's most of the time but I won't take an increase in BB because I'm hypothyroid and already tired as hell.

[stoneyrosed in reply to FancyPants54]

Glad your able to cope with it fancypants. Lots of people seem to say they prefer permanent. I think if I still have a chance of a successful ablation I should go for it, albeit the cardio says ablation is not deemed by success it is merely to cut down occurrences, although some people have been AF free for yrs after ablation. So who knows 🤷‍♂️

[DKBX in reply to stoneyrosed]

Bingo! My experience exactly. We fight the staying on meds for life part thinking ablation alone will fix things a bit much. As well as trying to find triggers. It’s all been idiopathic for me too.

[tunybgur]

Try and keep the stress levels down, easier said than done I know, otherwise there will be adrenaline in your system which doesn't help.

Are you taking magnesium and vit C? These seem to be the most important natural supplements for keeping AF at bay.

Good luck

[stoneyrosed in reply to tunybgur]

Tried everything, no alcholol for over 2 years, regular sleep pattern, mainly salads occasional chicken, plenty of water. Vit C also. AF started again a few week after coming off all meds which suggests the ablation has been unsuccessful.

[Singwell]

Glad you came out of AF. Flecainide doing its job. Please stay on the anticoagulants with long runs of AF like that. Discuss wuth your arrhythmia nurse obviously. One option is to go on lower dose of meds but regularly to see if this keeps you stable. Am in a similar position to you (RF ablation but AF never stopped for more than 2 months) and waiting for a top up now. Or, as John suggests, ask fir advice on using Flecainide and your BB as PiP. Effectively this is what you've just done.

[stoneyrosed]

Thanks, yes I have decided to to take 2x 50mg flecanaide a day. 2.5 mg bisoprolol one a day and a daily Elequis. Not sure how long I should be doing this for, will the cardiologist get back to me or should I mail him again in a couple of months regarding another plan for eg another ablation?

[tunybgur in reply to stoneyrosed]

I've been on 150mg of flecainide for 5 years and it has kept me AF free all that time.I was originally on 100mg but after a few years AF attacks became more frequent, 150mg seems to be the optimum for me, but we're all different.

I expect to be on flec for the foreseeable future, I wouldn't worry about 100mg/day, imo flec is the most effective med for AF, it fixed mine within a few hours of my first dose.

Good luck

[stoneyrosed in reply to tunybgur]

Thanks, My wish is not to take meds for the rest of my life as I’m told these are powerful drugs and can effect the liver & kidneys, however it’s good to hear your coping just fine for a long period of time. Is there a reason you haven’t gone down the ablation route tunybgur?

[tunybgur in reply to stoneyrosed]

Never been offered one and flec seems to do the job ok. Unless you have structural heart problems flec seems to be ok long term, but is not used if you have a long Qt interval as this can cause problems.

If I was on 300mg/day I think I would be looking for alternatives, but being AF free and on flec is preferable to the long term problems with AF....imo.

[stoneyrosed in reply to tunybgur]

Yep can’t argue with that. All the best !