Ablation Success

[Boyatthood]

I thought I'd share my story as this forum has been a great help to me over recent years. Exactly a year ago I had an ablation for my deteriorating AF and I consider it to be a success. No more episodes. It has given me so much more confidence back in my life.

This was my second ablation. My first was in 2019 for atrial flutter. That ablation was successful too, at curing my atrial flutter, but by 2021 episodes of PAF started to creep into my life. Mainly at night to start with but as time moved on incidents in the day would trigger too. Flecainide was prescribed and it helped to terminate my episodes but it wasn't effective as a prevention. By the summer of 2022 my episodes averaged every couple of weeks so I took the initiative to see an EP privately. I went to the Heart Rhythm Clinic in Southampton, to the care of Dr Paisey. I cant recommend or praise him enough. He is an incredibly calm and reassuring doctor and the contrast with his care compared to the NHS was palpable. On the NHS ablation was not recommended and I was told to just stay on flecainide. Dr Paisey disagreed and suggested ablation was a far better option given my relatively young age of 47 and otherwise good health. He was right. It has been a better option for me.

Having an ablation is daunting, uncomfortable and tiring. A cath lab is quite a scary place but I trusted the skill of the team.

Following my ablation, I took 4 weeks off work and took my time. I didn't push myself to walk or run anywhere. I normally run 5k twice a week. I also ate sensibly, avoided all alcohol and especially avoided stress. Not easy as a Headteacher sometimes! I believe this slow, patient approach was worth it.

There were blips in my recovery. Migraines when returning home and then after 10 weeks episodes of ectopics. These clustered on occasions and I feared the worse but with some flecainide and breathing exercises these passed. I captured these episodes on Kardia and shared them with Dr Paisey. Again he assured me this was normal as the heart scarring heals.

After 3 months my heart settled completely and I have been in sinus only with a very rare single ectopic. I am now back running, sleeping well and even have the occasional beer. Most importantly the AF fear doesnt dominate my life. I know ablation is not a cure and one day AF may return but for now I am getting on with my life and enjoying it.

[BobD Volunteer]

Pretty much standard recovery as we describe in our fact sheet, especially the migraines. Glad all is well with you now.

[CDreamer]

Excellent post and well told narrative which I am sure will give hope to many.

How sad though that the NHS is no longer prioritising ablation over drug therapy for people like you 😒

[jeanjeannie50]

That's a nice positive post, thank you for letting us know about your AF journey, it will give others the confidence to proceed with ablations and have hope of being cured.

Jean

[Hidden]

Thank you for sharing your journey with us! It is wonderful to hear of such a positive outcome for you, it will bring hope and comfort to others that may be about to undergo the procedure themselves.

[waveylines]

Fantastic news Boyathood.

So glad you took matters into your own hands. On the NHS I think you have to meet certain criteria....and that can vary from trust to trust. And it seems the NHS is forever tightening those criteria to save money I assume?

So sad you had to go private to get the best treatment for you. Long may your ablations last. No one knows their future health even the people with no health conditions so I'm all for living in the moment. No point thinking about it.

A headteachers job is definately a stressful one glad you took time off.

[Chrissy7]

Good for you!

Im one month out and having some slight symptoms….

Keep up the good work.. 🤞🏻

[SeanJax]

people need to get ablation with this ep if you have the choice. Remember his name.

[MisterMagoo]

Thanks for this, I'm six weeks in to my ablation and getting daily ectopics and Afib episodes that seem to come on at the end of the day when I'm tired and when I'm due a dose of Flecainide.

I'm beginning to think that the ablation hasn't been a success but it's still early days and your story gives me hope.

[Boyatthood in reply to MisterMagoo]

Hang in there. My heart was a little restless for a few weeks until it settled around three months. Best of luck to you, patience and rest made all the difference to me. Thanks to everyone else with positive posts to my story too.