How long to "recover" from ablation

Just started talking to my ep about ablation and he wants to move forward.How long are you off work realistically after the ablation

I still work 60 hrs a week at 64.

Also my other cardiologist in same practice wants to move forward on watchman implant.

A bit nervous here.

Any advice? Experience?

[CDreamer]

Good morning, very variable days/weeks or even months? and depends on general health and fitness, how quickly you heal, how many episodes of ectopics or AF in the blanking period, the type of procedure and GA or sedation and what sort of work? If it is manual then you would probably need a graduated return. Doctors normally underestimate recovery time and tell you 1-2 weeks. General consensus of opinion on this forum would be first week doing nothing, second week gradually more active and return to sedentary work for a few hours a day.

You will be more than likely to be in usually tired and fatigue easily for some weeks so realistically for full time, none manual labour 3-4 weeks?

Have you read the Fact Sheet written by patients about what to expect? You may find it very different to your doctors’.

Having said that, I have seen the occasional post where people did recover quickly and back to work within two weeks. Plan for the worst and hope for the best was my plan ie:- listen to your body and rest when you are tired and stop pushing yourself, you could threaten the success of the ablation.

Preparing for ablation api.heartrhythmalliance.org...

Recovery from ablationapi.heartrhythmalliance.org...

Hope that helps

[CDreamer]

PS - Watchman is rarely performed in UK and never as an elective so I would read up on ALL of the recent research both positive and negative before deciding. I wouldn't go for it unless I absolutely had to, very personal opinion.

[Chrissy7]

Hi,

I just completed week 5 "post ablation" had PVI ablation June 28...still getting exhaustion at times...had to start taking some Diltiazem again as well....as my heart was acting up.

It's such an individual response, I think?

[mjames1]

Some people can go back to work in a week and some take months. Depends on how you heal and what type of work you do. Remember, too much too soon, can undo all the hard work you and your doctor put into the ablation. In my case, I didn't start feeling near my old self for two months after my ablation.

As to Watchman, do your homework. Has plusses and minusses. You should know, however, that you will still be on low dose aspirin for life.

Jim

[Stumpy47]

My own ablation took approx 3 hours under sedation,which worked a treat the time just passed by. I felt the actual RF burning a bit like bad attack of heart burn each time it was used. As for recovery time I felt ok again within a couple of days. It does take a while for the heart to fully recover & scar tissue to develop hence the 3 month blanking period before check ups etc. Just listen to what your body is telling you. My pacemaker IMPLANT was far quicker & easier . Best wishes on your journey.

[Fullofheart]

My advice would be to take as much time as you need and don't just go by the bare minimum, which is what they'll tell you.I had 3 last year and each one was different. I took a month off after 3rd one and probably wasn't long enough.

[Ducky2003]

I took 4 weeks off and it wasn't anywhere near enough as 2 weeks later I was back in AF and feeling like poo. However, we're all different so you need to just listen to your body but take off as much time as you can.