had my 2nd ablation on August 19th and sadly last night I’m back in AF with HR at 105 resting .
I know it’s apparently still early days but after 6 weeks of being AF free since the procedure I can’t help but feel down today and I’m seriously gutted .
still on 100mg twice a day of flec and 2.5mg of bisoporol.
Sorry to post the bad news and I feel bad for doing that and I know people say this is normal after an ablation but how normal is it really ??
How many have had breakthrough episodes but it still stops for good after blanking period is over ?
thanks for the replies in advance and again sorry to only post now when I’m down etc .
Thanks
matt
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mjm1971
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Get in touch with your EP or the AF nurses where you had the ablation. My heart went back into AF many weeks after my ablation and I was given a cardioversion.
Went back into AF last week after ablation in March. Don't understand references to EP or the AF nurses. I've had AF since 2013 and never heard of or come across EP/AF nurses, until I started on this site and other people mention them. GP spotted it so now he's contacting cardiologists
Your cardiologist may well have AF nurses working for him. Mine has at my local hospital. Also my EP, who performed my three ablations, is in a different hospital and has AF nurses I could contact too. When I went back onto AF about 6 weeks after my last ablation, I rang my EP's AF nurses and they arranged for me to go back to the hospital for a cardioversion within a week or so. I've had AF since 2005.
Surely it was an EP who did your ablation? I would have called the hospital and asked to speak to one of his AF nurses.
don't know what an EP is, looked in google it says electrophysiology so that doesn't help. My ablations have been done by consultants. Complicated as last one private so no follow up there.
You are feeling exactly how I was feeling when I posted a very down beat post a few weeks after my second ablation. I have had 3-4 since then and I am doing my up most best to keep my head up in the hope that they will get less frequent as the healing process continues ( maybe 6 mths or more) I know exactly how you feel as the second ablation is the one you think will terminate the AF. I think and hope that we need to be a little more patient and have to expect these setbacks, after all it is done for quality of life and not a complete cure.
Hi. I had the second of 2 ablations exactly 6 weeks ago. I had no AF, Flutter or Tachycardia for the whole 6 weeks and previously had them all in turn 24/7 ! Then last week I went on 4 day break with some old friends, took it easy and didn’t eat anything different or drink alcohol. I did the same amount of gentle walking as had done for previous 6 weeks but suddenly went into flutter and it lasted for 30 hours before self converting. My EP wants me to go on short term Amiodorone if it happens again, probably to hold the heart in rhythm up to o 6 month mark. As this is my last chance before pace and ablate I will do anything to try and make it work but I admit to feeling downhearted like you. I know the power of positive thought so I am trying to be positive but it is hard.
I guess that it must be quite common so maybe there is time for improvement for us all. I must admit though that I don’t quite understand the logic . I always imagine that things would improve as scar tissue builds not get worse. Hey ho, ours is not to wonder why…..
I had an atrial ablation for AFib 6 weeks ago and went into Atrial flutter last week for 112 hours- at which point my EP cardiologist did a cardioversion. Very disappointing and I’m very concerned that there’s a good chance that the AF of Flutter could return, at which point I’ll probably be looking at another ablation or shock. I feel your pain. I’d like to get back to cycling but afraid that might cause more harm than good
yes. It is a long story 😝. First RF ablation 7 years ago wasn’t totally successful so scheduled for a 2 nd touch up job. During this I suffered a rare complication so ablation was aborted with nothing done. EP then said he wouldn’t do another ablation. NSR was then mostly maintained first with flecanide and then sotalol and when both stopped working I was scheduled for a pace and ablate. I then met a new EP who said he would try a cryoablation instead under GA so he could do a TOE to keep an eye on things. I had this done in July. It seemed to fix the AF but I was left with flutter and tachycardia so he did an RF ablation 6 weeks ago to target those. He was absolutely sure that I would be fine as he felt he had zapped everything so I am trying to focus on that thought.
So, in answer to your question, In effect I have had 3 and a half ablations and I think he feels he has done as much as he can do.
As you have only had 2 so far, you should be able to have at least another if necessary,
I wish you all the very best and let’s both of us keep positive. X
Whenever I am in afib I feel like it will never go away. That feeling seems to go with the territory. After my ablation I went into afib on day 17 and it went away on its own in about an hour. If yours has continued I agree with others here that it would be good to call your doctors office and maybe they can schedule you for a cardioversion . My doctor acted like that would not be an unusual occurrence at all and may keep you in sinus rhythm indefinitely.
I had my second ablation at end of April, I went back into persistent AF after a week. Rang the arrhythmia nurses, they discussed with my EP and he said another cardioversion which I had early July and so far it is holding me in NSR. Good luck.
Hi I had ablation done in feb this year then had a one off AF attack in june which lasted 5 hours due to dropping my med dose. Since then i've had nothing since so hopefully this will be a one off. I was told in may to start reducing my meds back in may which probably cause the attack to happen. Because of the attack I decided to say on my meds for at least another year as I don't want AF back like before, attacks 4 times a month or more.
It was the reduction in my meds, i reduced too quickly from 100mg of flec to 50mg twice a day. I'm still on 100mg twice a day which is my choice. I will try to reduce next year then come off them completely if I have no AF attacks for at least 8 months. I'm also been back in the gym 4 days a week weight training since March with no problems. Since i had the ablation over all I feel like I got my life back. before I felt breathless and really old, i'm only 57 and now I feel like I'm 40 again. Good luck
your post gives me hope! Right now I am sitting here feeling 100 years old at 61 and up to now super fit.
I am on lowest possible dose of beta blockers for the last 2 weeks and adapted ok, just felt a bit breathless on walks, which is all I can do now (was a keen runner and gym bunny until my major AF episode 2 weeks ago).
Today my pulse is very low and the BP equipment failed to work. Doc has now told me to stop the beta blockers. But will I get another massive AF again and end up in hospital? I feel horrible and pretty scared by all the possibilities right now. Any positive thoughts or hope from anyone would really help me. Many thanks
I totally understand where you're coming from, I suffered with progressive AF from the age of 50. My heart doctor advised me to have the ablation done before I went in to permanent AF. I was really scared at the thought of someone going into my heart trying to fix a problem could also make it 10 times worse. But also the thought of being in permanent AF for me wasn't an option when like you I like the gym and workout hard 4/5 times a week.
This is what I've learnt.
1, Don't panic if you heart skips from time to time ignore it. Everyone gets skips and jumps but if you suffer with AF we just presume it's our heart starting to play up.
2, I was really breathless even after the ablation which I put down to my sitting around to much panicking I was going to have a heart attack so my fitness level dropped off. So I bought myself a punch bag and boxed 1 min on 1 min off for 15 min 5 days a week working my way up to 3 min on the bag to 30 sec off. I found by doing this slowly I'm now back to full fitness and my heart skips and jumps have gone.
3, I got myself and apple watch that tells me everything I need to know about my body from the fitness side, heart and sleep. I also use the meditation feature so when I feel stressed it bring me back down. The new apple watch ultra is amazing I must say, worth the purchase.
4, DON'T PANIC think positive and make fitness goals
First, thank you SO much for making the time to reply and give such useful details. I read it several times! And I will try to maintain a positive outlook, as I know panic makes it all worse. I am normally pretty chilled and so I am hoping I can get back to that, even with a dodgy heart. Its a challenge indeed. I know that in some way I have to keep as fit as possible, as that is part of who I am. I like the idea of the boxing and working back to fitness. And the apple watch is a great idea also.
Like others have said it really is too early to tell for sure what the future will bring for your heart (though I can empathize as to how challenging it can be to experience afib post ablation). For myself I had a good 7 month period of no afib after my second ablation (though did have to stay on my meds) - just had a third ablation a couple of weeks ago and have experienced a few episodes so far (but in the blanking period so am not resigned to anything yet) . My father in law in comparison had one ablation and held strong for over 5 years with nary a murmur.
Definitely far too early to determine whether your ablation was successful. Had 2 in 2015 and 2016 and it took a good six months for my heart to settle down - lots of quite lengthy AF episodes which at the time was very dispiriting. After that I had well over 3 years AF free for which I’ll always be grateful. However I’ve had LBBB for years so wen AF broke through again two years ago I was unable to have flecainide or similar. Eventually it became permanent with Stage 3 HF but that’s another story.
Your heart has been through the mill - time, as they say, is a great healer- I wish you well.
Please don't despair. It took longer than six weeks before my AF settled down. Months even. I'm now 46 months past my second ablation. I still get what I call little micro bouts occasionally lasting a few seconds and the last significant galloping bout was eight months ago but that was quite mild and only lasted four hours. Whilst I can't say I'm totally cured, I'm more than happy living with that and can get on with my life without concern. To me it has been a success. Wishing you well on your journey of recovery.
I had first ablation in June and I haven’t ever been afib free… sadly I still have episodes at least once a week for 30 hours minimum. scared to have a second for this reason
Matt, you may read this from others as well, that you're still in the "blanking period," i.e. a 3-month time period after an ablation where a-fib could occur from the healing process. I had a couple episodes during the blanking period after my last ablation. Can you contact your EP to investigate? If it continues, a possible cardioversion may be in order. That's nothing to worry about; it's quick and easy. Best wishes to you and try not to worry.
I had my first ablation 6 weeks ago and was in and out of AFib for 3 or 4 days and since then I've been in permanent AFib. My EP assures me it will revert back to NSR but right now I feel I have swapped paroxysmal AFib for permenant AFib!
But stay positive as stress takes you backwards and 105 you are almost there 100 or under!
My position is waiting for AF to disappear on Controlling drugs at the moment and hoping for my heart to return to normal after thyroid synthetic hormones because of Ca Thyroidectomy in Feb 2022.
I've read it and the cardiac special (National) doesn't mention it and did not ask but to take my Pradaxa for life!
The other day I am 99% sure I did not take my Diltiazem in the morning so I left it out. My h/r and h/r that day was great.
I'm back to keeping an eye on BP and H/R.
I've been told that I am NOTa suitable candidate for ABLATION or CARDIVERSION etc.
But these all alter your heart big time - kill off areas of your heart.
Food for thought.
PRADAXA is under inspection as 33% risk of causing a heart attack. Glad I'm on 110mg twice day and not 150mg twice a day.
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