I have only recently joined and posted last week about whether you have refused an ablation well I might not have a choice now, I am in paroxysmal but the last two weeks it has been getting worse and in the last few days it has got to the point where I thought I might have to go to hospital as yesterday my heart rate jumped up to 151 and my Fitbit wasn’t happy about it . By last night my Fitbit said I had done 11 hours of cardio workout when all I had done was a bit of housework and sitting down most of the time, so my question is if it was you would you still put up with it or choose to have the ablation ? It is now making me very upset as I am scared of having it done. I have messaged my consultant and she has said I can either go back to see her for a medication review or be refused for the ablation, I thought after my second cardio version last December I would be able to handle it with meds but I am not sure any more.
advice please: I have only recently... - Atrial Fibrillati...
advice please
I may be misunderstanding some of what you are saying but it should not be a problem if you change your mind about having an ablation once one has been offered although you will probably go to the end of the waiting list. Many are naturally very apprehensive about having an ablation, but the vast majority of those of us who have had one or more (of which there are several 1000’s) often say on this forum that it was nowhere as difficult as they thought it might be.
Hope you get the help you need to decide the best route for treatment…..
Sorry it should have said referred. The consultant will see me again but wants me to see about an ablation I just wanted advise on whether to carry on as I am or talk to a consultant about having the ablation at the moment I can’t see this getting any better.
If you plan to have treatment on the NHS and an ablation is offered, you can be reasonably confident that the EP believes that it will improve your quality of life. Bearing in mind the current waiting times are long, this still gives you time to pull out if you are still not comfortable nearer the time (bet you a fiver you don’t 😉)
Thank you for sharing your message, it is completely natural to feel anxious about having any procedure - ultimately, this will be a decision that you will need to make with the help and support or your family and medical team. Your consultant has access to your medical notes and will be able to provide the best form of treatment for your personally. If you have any questions or anxieties about the procedure and risks, then please do raise these with them - they will be able to provide the reassurance for you. If you decide to go ahead, then with some future planning for support and help around the home in the early days, this will allow you sufficient time to recover and not feel under pressure to over-do household chores too early! If you would like some helpful advice and information, please visit our webpage: heartrhythmalliance.org/afa... or contact our Patient Services Team anytime; heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...
If you look up my previous post on this very subject a few days ago,mught help you. I have no regrets at all about ablation although I was initially unsure xx
As I always say, when the pupil is ready the teacher will come. Stop prevaricating and go see the EP who will do the ablation. I was in your shoes in 2005 and declined but six months later was begging them for it.
As FJ comments here in UK you would not be offered an ablation unless the EP thought it would be right for you. Another thing I usd to say was I would rather have an ablation than root canal dentistry.
First off, your Fitbit is not ‘qualified’ to read your heart rate in AF. A Kardia* is what you need. Next, 11 hours is nothing considering you were well enough to do a bit of housework. I was in AF for 5 days and when I finally went to A&E they asked ‘What did you come in for?’ as they considered extra meds to slow my HR should have done the job. I am not suggesting you are a wimp, just showing you don’t need to panic yet. There may be a reason, such as a mild virus, which has ‘spooked’ your heart and the last couple of weeks may have been a blip. I had episodes of AF lasting several days during the hot weather in July and my GP contacted a cardiologist for me which resulted in a new medication as well as the Diltiazem I am on to keep my HR down. But panic over, haven’t taken it yet!
I was also determined not to have an ablation but really didn’t have a choice (long story) and given the choice of ablation or another surgical tooth extraction I’d take the ablation. I would have the medication review followed by a long hard think about whether the stress and uncertainty of frequent fast episodes/extra medication is something you would really want to live with long term.
Best wishes for a decision you feel comfortable with ❤️🩹
*Kardia is a device costing about £100 for the simple version which takes a two lead ECG showing AF/NSR/Tachycardia/Bradycardia and an accurate HR over as much as 5 minutes at a time.
I have a Kardia too and that has been showing tachycardia and unclassified for over a week I am one of those people that tries to do as much as I can why I am in Afib to see if it will revert back some times it has done but this time not. I am also seeing a private cardiologist with my husbands private medical insurance through work so I know that if I was to have it done I won’t be waiting long. My sons partner is a nurse and has told me that if I was in the HDU unit 151 is not high but if I was on a ward then they would class that as too high. I have now emailed my consultant to get a referral to see if I need the ablation.
If Kardia is not showing AF then it could be flutter or tachycardia with ectopics. Kardia sometimes determines AF wrongly but I don’t think it misses it.
Any time my Kardia said unclassified I eventually found out ,for me , that it meant I had superventricular tachycardia which makes me feel on a detached high eg lousy. I had my first ablation and I found it very difficult and I wished I had never had it but then I was offered a second one about a month ago and I don’t know myself. It was easy and I’m healing well and staying in sinus rhythm so fingers crossed. Every ablation is different as is every person. Good luck with your choice
Can’t add much to the excellent replies above except to say that ablation is nothing like a surgery but recovery times can vary.
Not medically trained but if you are otherwise healthy, yes have the Ablation. I was always high rate typically 165 bpm resting but up to 195 resting. I had an ablation after spending 8 days at those rates and only eventually getting cardioverted by flecainide infusion in my local hospital coronary care unit. After that was on more drugs ( with side effects ). It was also obvious that I was getting more frequent, longer, more difficult to resolve, Afib attacks. AFib begets AFib - the more you have it the more you will have it! One Afib ablation in Jan 2018 and i have not had Afib since. I have not taken ANY drugs apart from paracetamol since May 15th 2018. The ablation itself is not an issue. I have had many worse visits to the dentist.
Best wishes
Hi I don't know which Fitbit you have .I have a charge 4 and it says I have excellent cardiac health for my age and I am in persistent AF.I have consigned it to a pedometer.I knew it was inaccurate but low not high.When you say Kardia says tachycardia what rate is it ?Anything over 110 shows as tachycardia on my Emay.Can you not get an Ecg at your GP's which may help move things along.
For me bell50 it was always about quality of life, mine got so bad I bit the bullet and went for ablation I think we are all apprehensive about getting it done but it was the best thing I ever done ,4 years later no AF only take anticoagulants rivaroxaban and life is a breeze🙂
It's a very anxious time for you, I bet. I'd say that you need to find a way to get your racing heart down to a comfortable level. The AF itself is far less of a worry, all else being equally, than the tachycardia, assuming any anticoagulation has been sorted (e.g. with rivaroxaban).
My GP has prescribed bisoprolol, a beta blocker, for me to take as needed (although I don't get a heart rate as high as 155bpm these days, my maximum, usually is 120-130bpm). The bisoprolol works within an hour or two and lasts around a day.
As for an ablation, be guided by your GP and specialist. There is evidence that the earlier the better. Hopefully, also, you'll have had an echocardiogram or MRI scan to show how your heart is performing generally.
A Fitbit will likely struggle to measure the heart rate if you have AF as it can be very variable. Try to confirm it with your finger on your pulse but also be guided by how you feel, trying to separate the feelings brought on by anxiety from the physical effects of the heart. I found it nigh on impossible to know which was which, to be honest, but, once I had an MRI scan and found all was, generally, well, my anxiety levels did drop a great deal. An Apple Watch or KardiaMobile are useful for identifying the AF.
It's a tough time for you.
Steve
I was diagnosed with Asymptomatic persistent AFib in August 2021, this was improved to Paroxymal AFib by using medication. In March 2022 I was placed on the NHS waiting list for an ablation, this was performed in June. I was very anxious before the procedure, but it was the best decision I have made. I am still only 9 weeks into the blanking / healing period, but I can see and feel the improvements.
My AFib episodes have reduced from regularly lasting days to now lasting hours and sometimes only minutes, all confirmed with my Apple Watch and my Cardiologist. AFib begets AFib, but Normal Sinus Rhythm begets Normal Sinus Rhythm.
Much of it depends on how you feel. Don't rely on the Fitbit to te you when your pulse is high as I have one, and have been sat watching TV and its telling me my pulse is 130 when in fact, taking my own pulse showed it was half that.Did you feel your pulse was racing at those points or just going by the watch data?
I've even had it telling me I've got a pulse reading when I've not been wearing the bloomin thing.
Be guided by how you feel as well as using technology.
As others have said, get yourself on the list if it's offered as you can always back out nearer the time.😊.
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