After much deliberation and over a year on the waiting list I finally took the plunge and had a cryoablation yesterday. I just wanted to thank all the wonderful people on this forum from who I have learned so much about AF and gained the confidence to go ahead with the procedure.... and yes I read and am rereading the excellent fact sheets.
I was treated at Nottingham City Hospital Trent Cardiac Centre and I cannot praise highly enough the care I received - NHS at its very best. I arrived at 8 am but the ablation didn't start until about 1 pm - too much time to panic! I was surprised at how cold it was in the Cath Lab but I was in awe of all the technology and the large number of staff in there. A TOE was required so I was very glad I had opted for a general anaesthetic . The procedure lasted about 3 hours and I was transported back to the ward feeling like an elephant had sat on my chest - not pain, just very heavy pressure. Fortunately that soon cleared and I recovered in time to go home at 8pm. The groin incision has healed well with far less bruising than I expected (maybe it spreads as the days go by), my heart is steady and stable at 70 - 80 bpm and blood pressure around 103/74. Now I am faced with the tricky bit of 'not doing too much' which I know I'm going to be really bad at!
I'm feeling generally OK today with just a rough throat and a bit of a croak, presumably caused by the TOE. I also had about 5 - 10 mins of migraine aura (mostly just the light show without any migraine) this afternoon. Thank goodness for the fact sheets or that would have sent me into a panic.
The driving force for this decision was to drop the bisoprolol which I have really struggled with from the outset even with only 1.25 mg. I've been told to take it for the next three weeks, then stop. I'm looking forward to that and feeling optimistic that this amazing medical procedure will have made a real difference to the next stage of my AF journey. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and advice.
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Suze43
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Great stuff - I'm day 6 after and still coming in and out of very mild AFib. HR is raised from 55-60 to 75-80bpm and the bruising on my groin is spectacular. However I feel great and getting a great night's sleep. Funnily enough I just had a migraine aura! Only lasted 15 mins and was very mild.
Brilliant news and sounds like you had great care all round. Rest now. I am 2 weeks further along than you and just beginning to feel less tired. You will probably have a few more flashing light shows but nothing to worry about. You are right about the value of the wonderful fact sheets. X
Good to hear about the great care you received and good luck going forward 🤞 One little thing I would add, is that I wouldn’t just stop the Bisoprolol…have they advised tapering off? Even if only a short period? 1.25 mg is still quite powerful ( I’m on that dose too, so I know how you feel).
I just can’t wait to escape from the bisoprolol which was the main reason I decided to have the ablation. Having lived with PAF for the last 10 years or so, I found strategies for managing it (many picked up from this great forum) and was fine just taking apixaban and nothing else.The bisoprolol was added in extreme circumstances following post operative stress after some major surgery. I had 5mg to start with and could barely function - certainly wasn’t safe to drive. My GP has been very supportive and we gradually reduced the dose to 1.25mg but I was still spaced out and lethargic. I just felt sedated all the time and not myself at all. I had to really push myself to maintain my usual active lifestyle but I still struggle with stamina for aerobic activities. I have always had low blood pressure and the bisoprolol was pushing it down too low. On bad days it would drop to something like 96/64. I had a very extreme reaction to my second Covid jab which resulted in two blue light ambulance runs to the resuscitation dept. There I was dosed up with bisoprolol to restore NSR but it took several hours and pushed the blood pressure into the danger zone necessitating a couple of saline drips - all very frightening. My GP advised me to up the bisoprol to 2.5mg but after several weeks on this dose I was struggling with the spaced out feeling again and my GP decided I was over medicated and advised to to halve the dose so I was back to 1.25mg. The current guidance is to stop in three weeks time and use as a pill in the pocket if needed. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I totally understand that you want to get off it, after what you’ve been through and thanks for coming back. I’d love to get off mine too, believe me. I only am advising perhaps to taper off over a week or two weeks at least , if you can, perhaps cut it in half then half again as you go?
I was on 2.5mg for just 8 weeks and tried to come off it completely last year. On advice from cardiologist and GP and was told to taper off, but it was only over one week and it was far too quick - without going into detail it was awful.
I’ve now successfully reduced, very slowly, this year to 1.25mg, but strangely my heart rate and bp is really no different to what it was on 2.5mg. My blood pressure can also drop to your sort of level on this too (I too, always had low ish blood pressure before going on it) my HR can go to 53 on occasions, if I’m not moving…
I don’t think GPs or cardiologists know how strong these pills are, even at their lowest dose and they think it is very easy to just stop at this dose.
I am just very overly cautious now after the experience I had and I really would advise you in some form of tapering, if you can.
Encouraging to hear you are doing so well, you must be so relieved. I am just in awe of what the procedure involved and grateful to have been at the receiving end of the NHS at its best.
I havent felt so well for years! Must have got used to feeling under par. Follow up.appointment soon,so hope off flecanide and the dreaded 2.25 bisoprolol. Yes our national treasure,the NHS..xx
Hi Wilsond You had your ablation approx same time as me (7 jun) I have not heard anything about my follow up app yet I was wandering if you have heard anything yet? Sorry for hijack of post Suze glad your doing well 😊
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