Hi Everyone, I hope you’re all feeling okay, confident that you’re handling things and that you’ll speak out to someone if you’re not.
Well, I bet you hoped you’d seen/heard the last of me (hope in a nice way 🤔). So I had my ablation 12 weeks & 2 days ago. It was 2 days after that my sore throat worsened ( I thought was from the GA tube but that went on to see my throat seemed to swell a little & I inhaled fluids & it was hard to swallow food. Progressed to severe coughing fits every hour day and night, no sleep as couldn’t lie down then brought on asthma, chest pain, sore throat and chest infection. So 5 weeks ago from now I saw a lovely respiratory consultant who has sorted the cough and asthma but - would you believe I still have a chest infection for which I’m on more antibiotics. The ablation decided enough was enough (that was great for 7weeks) but the HR kept rising so we’re going to try to see what Digoxin can do to try to slow it down in the hope that I can avoid more procedures. Having been sick nearly a year now with all this I quite fancy a change, maybe a little bit of a fairly decent year this year!! Maybe?
I’m sure you agree when we have times like this it gets a bit boring doesn’t it. So keeping fingers crossed & remaining confident, I hope the majority of you are all doing pretty good right now. Wishing a good weekend to everyone, stay calm, positive and strong x
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Afibflipper
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So sorry you have been through the mill, what bad luck to get chest infection just after ablation.
There are times I thought the bad times would never end, but they eventually did and 9 years on after my second ablation and being diagnosed with Myasthenia, then had my driving license revoked, had to give up work and most of my sports, a TIA and several bouts of pneumonia, then COVID - I turned a corner, Mg stabilised, treated Sleep Apnea, Pacemaker implant I may be older but I feel I have a life again, a different slightly less active one, but I have many things to be grateful for and pastimes to enjoy.
We all go through bad times and staying positive is important and it’s also OK to be down and fed up and depressed sometimes.
Do hope you find something that works for you very soon and you have a better year. And no, we are not fed up with you, this is a safe place to put it out there how you really are.
Thank you for that, you too have been through it - more so than me - I try to think that that when I’m down, I have my little rant or maybe a few tears but then I tell myself to stop it because there are others who’ve been though or are going through a lot more and maybe for a lot longer. When you say you have a pacemaker - did you have pace & ablate?
Sorry you lost so much during this but what you I’m glad you feel you have your life back now (I’m determined to get mine too) and it’s very reassuring to hear how positive you are with all you had. I have found this sight an amazing place and the people to - everything people said got me through the last year.
I hope you continue to stay well and love life, thank you for sharing, have a good weekend x
hi flipper so good to hear from never fed up to hear of your situation let’s hope they are close to being on top of all your issues at least the weather will soon be kind to your asthma. Hope your now sleeping better than you were. Do please continue to let us know how you are .
Thank you so much Ludham, sleep still isn’t brilliant but get a bit more than just one hour out of 24 hours while the lungs were at their worst. The respiratory consultant is seeing me again in May to make sure the new inhalers are enough to cope with tree pollen and flowers during hayfever season. I hope you’re both keeping well so far this year - are you still pacing the night time boards with poor sleep? Lovely to hear from you, take care x
was pacing the boards until recently but am now on tablets and are doing the trick did leave it off one night but was then up till 6.00am so frustrating.keep me posted. x
Thank you Singwell, I feel pretty good today especially mentally like I’ve had a burst of happy hormone which for the life of me I cannot remember it’s name - the feel god one!! Slept very well for once so that must be it- enjoy your day & hope you’re doing good yourself
Dear Flipper, I'm sorry to hear you've had to contend with such stubborn conditions since your ablation. What a double-triple-quadruple whammy! In my experience lingering chest infections are horrid, and antibiotics while necessary also come with a bit of misery! Hopefully that will soon clear. And it's good the asthma and cough are now sorted. I'm sure the heart rate will find a steady pace. Be patient and be kind to yourself, and keep us posted how you're doing.
Hi Rainfern, thank you 😊- maybe 🤔 I’m the stubborn one for a change and fighting back is keeping me sane! Maybe I could bottle and sell it 😂 hope you’re ok Rainfern, take care xx
Hi , with regard to your continuing chest infection. did you give a sputum sample for testing.
Some years ago I had a chest infection that wouldn't clear and eventually after giving a sample it was discovered that I had a bacteria requiring a specific antibiotic (pseudomonas) I was shocked because it is usually hospital acquired and I hadn't been near any hospital .
Morning Doodle68. Yes sent one recently to find its responsive to my usual asthma rescue pack one -but that’s what didn’t shift it initially with back to back course and now we’re on that again back to back - the two others suggested by the labs were for intravenous use but I’m allergic to the penicillins! I just need fumigating 😂 or a decontamination chamber 😝 - hope you’re feeling ok enjoy your weekend x
If I were fed up with you I would not click on your posts or would scroll through your responses to others. I don't - I always read what you have to say. Sorry to hear that you are going through a bad patch and I hope the second lot of antibiotics sort out the sore throat. As we age I feel it is often a forlorn hope to get back our lives as they were . Each new setback in health often ends up with giving us a different life to which we need to adjust and as CDreamer says find pastimes that can give us pleasure rather than hankering after being as we were before. Having a good cry can be a tension releaser !
You do not say whether your afib has come back or not after the ablation. The high heart rate is probably due to the ongoing infection and lots of people here have complained about a higher heart rate after ablation that eventually settles down.
After two years of severe pain and reduced mobility and having to have both hips replaced , followed by an increase in the frequency of my afib for a further year I feel I am since last October getting back on a more even keel, but if I look back on how my life was before my hips went I am less physically active -I can only garden 2-3 hours a day rather than 4-5 . So I read more -outside as much as the weather allows- and take pleasure in small things like the robin that comes and hops about beside me or watching two hawks soaring above the garden .
On a practical note - get your vit D level checked out. A low vit D level can make chest infections worse and harder to shake off.
Hi Auriculaire, really glad things are going well for you now! We do tend to forget what “being well feels like almost - yes the arrhythmia is back but on a good note we’ve got it so I don’t actually feel it and think that’s maybe the Bisoprolol - back up at 12.5mg. And the Apple Watch is not flashing it up like when it first returned about 5 weeks ago. They did my Vitamin D same time so on large prescription dose then maintain with over the counter ones. Hobbies are keeping me very occupied - painting Warhammer models (I don’t play the game) but they’re so intricate you need very fine brushes (start of as moulded bits of plastic you glue them then paint them. I’m on my second and literally you forgot everything because thes take so much concentration - mind you I now need to use a magnifying lamp to see the detail - hope you get a fine day to maybe garden today thanks again for your kind words they picked me up xx
I would get another test after the loading doses have finished to make sure they have done the trick. You should aim for a level well over 75 nmol / l and preferably round the 100-125nmol /l. If the loading doses have not got you up to this level then higher daily maintenance doses will albeit slowly.
I did question the dose/duration so yes I will wait a few days after the second course ends. If I send another that comes back same drug sensitive I will say I want incread dose and longer. They said I now have mild Bronchiectasis so I don’t want this chronic infection making that & the asthma worse. Thank you for the info x
Oh I’m really sorry to hear that you’re still struggling with your chest after all this time, you must be pretty tired of it. I hope things calm down for you soon and you can have a bit of peace.
Not bad today thanks, because I haven’t done a thing, which is a good idea. Quite hard to do nothing, but getting nicely used to it. Best of luck with your chest infection. Xx
Sending lots of get well wishes, you’ve really been through the mill since your ablation. I can assure you, and my husband would back me up, that I get far more grumpy for much less reason.
I had a straightforward recovery from my ablation, though I went back into persistent A Fib within two days. So now I’m convinced that it was all caught too late, once episodes were several days long. So although it’s only been continuous since October, I have convinced myself that future procedures will go the same way. I’ve heard that I have been listed for a cardioversion, but not heard anything about whether I will need to go on Amiodarone before/after. So hope I find that out before I get a date for it. (Not a drug that I look forward to, but would take short term if it helped.) At least I have an appointment for three month check now - so that’s helping a bit.
My Apple Watch shows declining ‘cardio fitness’, and although I know it’s just a silly algorithm, I still worry in case my heart function is declining. Then balancing the effect of the AFib against medications or procedures. I guess I just need to trust the advice of my EP, and just get on with this limbo period of three months. Also try to get my usual optimistic self back and start properly hoping again.
Hello Gumbie_Cat, don’t give up. That was my 3rd ablation and was great for 7weeks. I had 2 cardioversions last year (1st lasted 4 days and again a chest in fection killed it, 2nd 6weeks brilliant, got from struggling with house stairs to as much as 4 miles in breaks but in a day)
I didn’t want to go on Amiodarone and then reacted badly to it anyway (my get out clause). I’m on Flecainide instead. Heart failure has been my main worry so hope when I get digoxin shortly that will hopefully work it’s magic on me. If he said ablation I may try again (not sure) - not much left to ablate so it’d be pave & ablate. Enjoy your weekend do something nice treat yourself xx
I will! My daughter has been over from Canada for the week, so we are all off out this afternoon. Flecainide just didn’t do anything for me, other than bring the rate down a bit. Same with dronedarone. At the moment I’m just on Bisoprolol which keeps the rate in check. Isn’t it weird that medicines will work so well for one person, and not at all for another!
Although I had long episodes last year, I would have a month of blissful sinus rhythm in between. I’ve never been a gym bunny, but would like to be able to walk up slopes again. I seem to be discovering slight inclines that I always thought were flat 😂
Heart failure scares me too. I’m hoping that the echo due next month will be reassuring,
Yes any incline I find difficult, it’s others that don’t understand that say “it’s flat” - thin some think it’s laziness or should have done more! Yes it should be one size fits all shouldn’t it. I find 250miles distance from my daughter hard, how I’d cope that far away, mind you you have to don’t you! My friend lives in Whistler BC in Canada but their parents are over her. Have a good week with them x
Mainly for clarity/possibly some encouragement for others, my understanding is that persAF gets more problematic/refractory to ablate after 6 months rather than a few days. I also know of a couple of folks who have had successful (12 months + NSR) AF ablations after having permanent AF for 3 years - although this is in the hands of Natale in the US and Jais at Bordeaux.
That is good to know, I really need to keep hoping. Hopefully there will be more clarity at my three month check. There is an excellent team where I live, so cross fingers,
really sorry you still have this horrible infection. I am used to having asthma and infections that simply go on for months so know how you're feeling. I hope you will feel a lot better soon and can enjoy life again.🙂
Hi Bassets, thank you 😊 Are you generally pretty controlled with your asthma? I hope you’re fighting fit right now! Think the longest event by far, often 5 weeks but this one’s a corker. New inhalers have sorted the breathing brilliantly just stubborn (like me) infection lingering this time. Stay well
I am managing to feel pretty normal with my inhalers now but dread getting another chest infection. They can linger for months in some cases. Hopefully with the spring on the doorstep you will be able to shrug it off in warmer weather. Take care and look after yourself x
hi there once again, we sound a bit alike although it’s been shorter time for me. I started on digoxin Christmas week. It helped but only for two weeks. Then it was doubled and it helped for another two weeks. Tomorrow will be one week since my pacemaker implant, I will tell you I still feel lousy. The pain of the implant is not that bad. It has lessened by the day. But since day one I have had a really bad headache that lasted four days I have stomach pain and chest and back pain between my shoulder blades , I just feel lousy and don’t even know how else to explain it almost constant nausea. None of my meds have been changed yet. I will be to my doctors office tomorrow so that part should be OK. They will know how I feel I was trying to give it a few days obviously. Tomorrow is just to check the implant side etc. the 27th is when I have my ablation of the AV node and get wired up and go live as they say on the radio and TV lol my major concern is having pericarditis again I have had it twice already following procedures. my heart rate has been under 100 since I got home from the hospital. However, right now while can I feel palpitations.
Because you and I have been so similar, have you had anything like this where you almost feel as though you have a bad flu? I have had chills and sweat and very little thirst or hunger, which has decreased my urine output to the extreme. I am a very big water drinker. Normally not so much right now it feels as though my stomach fills very fast. I am also using sport drinks for the electrolytes not a drink with caffeine or anything.
I don’t know what is normal after this. I guess none of us do the first time which is probably all you do with a pace and ablate lol. I am not rolling on the ground dying. Just wish I felt better then again my doctor told me I would probably worse because in reality, nothing was done other than the implant.
from what I am told I think you told me plus even the tech in the hospital, after the next one, it should feel similar to my successful cardioversion I had once. That would excite me.
Please do not trip out of sight. You have been so helpful to me.😊❤️
I think possibly I felt a little like flu after the Nov ablation but I just put it down to the op - but then I was I’ll with this chest infection later on ( I has isolated for a week before voluntarily so that is why I put it down to inhalation of fluids.
So sorry you feel so bad after this pacemaker insertion - didn’t realise it could be so bad, also that they are ablating your node so soon too - for some reason I thought it was a couple of months?
I don’t know but could some palpitations be due to the high sugar in the sport drink as you’re not actually burning it off with exercise - I may be wrong? I really hopRee things improve fast and you pick up soon (I’ll be watching your progress for future ref ) rest up now 😊💐
Thankyou, I’m sure I’ll get there soon, I’m obv not trying hard enough, it’s the only way to get a change of scenery or making the most out of my insurance (joking) making light of it all when able to I feel is good for you xx
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Multiple palpitations for 2 days
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2 weeks today and now leg pain. 
