I had a catheter ablation at Bart’s in London ten days ago. I am told it was successful and to expect the odd ectopic beat for up to 8 weeks. Last night I went into atrial fibrillation and I was somewhat shocked and upset as I didn’t think I would get a full episode.
Has anyone any experience of this ? I will add that I was tired from travelling and had some wine (I don’t usually drink alcohol)
Please do two things. Stay well hydrated(no alcohol ) and read our fact sheet which I will link below.
healthunlocked.com/redirect...
Thank you so much for this fact sheet. I now realise that the visual disturbances were related to the treatment. Three days in I had quite bad visuals, flashing lights, double vision and migraine. It’s a relief to know it was related to the treatment
So much useful information especially about rest!!
Don't panic, what you are experiencing right now is quite common and doesn't mean that your ablation has failed.
No alcohol, big meals or exerting yourself for a few weeks. Also try to avoid anything that contains artificial additives, especially sweeteners
Wine has an additive called sulphite and it's a well know AF trigger.
Jean
Great. Thanks for this fortunately I don’t have any upf or sweeteners it must have been the wine. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply
I had an ablation 3 days ago and thank goodness for that fact sheet Bob has mentioned! Day one felt good, day two good progress, day 3 AF, which thankfully has now settled out as my heart was doing the can-can. It has left me exhausted and I didn’t get up off the bed all day. According to my iwatch my HR variability is better than it’s been for months - that must mean something!
Early days Be-still.
I had an ablation 3 months ago and still get short bursts of Afib a couple of times a week but I'm so much better than I was before.
At 10 days in I was still on Flecainide and started to get periods of Afib, sometimes for half a day, and ectopics and I was sure that the ablation had failed completely. But things improved gradually with the AFib replaced by more ectopics. After 14 weeks everything had calmed down and I stopped the Flecainide, a couple of weeks later than advised.
So I'm now waiting to see if the AFib goes completely after the 4 month period. If not I'll start enquiring about a top up ablation but I am still very happy about the result so far.
Hi. I had my first ablation 8 weeks ago and had an AF attack the day after which I wasn't expecting. However, I had all the triggers - overtired from not sleeping the night before the procedure, dehydration from 14hrs without water on the day of the procedure and overdoing things because I felt well. I was also due for one as mine were occurring every 2-3 weeks. Since then, though, I have been fine (touch wood) and still able to drink a couple of glasses of wine at the weekends so don't worry. Good luck
I am replying to this old post as I’ve found it very helpful and reassuring since I had an AF episode yesterday at day 6 post ablation. I’ve read all the sheets before hand and several times since but the upset is real when you see AF again after going through the procedure and feeling really well after it. Hoping mine will settle down during the blanking period as it has for others 🤞
Hope others find this helpful too.
I, too, am replying to this a bit late, as I am day 15 post ablation and currently in AF. No apparent trigger for it. Heart rate hovering around the 130-140 mark for about 6 hours now. Spoke to arrhythmia nurse earlier who reassured me, and took comfort from above replies to Be-still-my-heart. Remaining positive. 💛
I was wondering how you were doing. Is that your first episode post ablation?
Yes it is. It's actually my first episode in 7 months! Soul destroying 😔 Hiw longndid your episode last? I'm seriously thinking about taking myself to A&E for some medical intervention. I've had 100mg Flec and extra 2.5mg Bisoprolol earlier on advice of arythmia nurse, but not sure if I can have more. What a pickle. Hope you are feeling better now.
Mine lasted about 16 hours from lunchtime until about 6am. The arrhythmia nurse mentioned 72hrs as a limit before possible intervention. My rate was not that high and although a little more symptomatic than previously I managed to sleep it off in the end. I find it a whole new learning curve to manage the anxiety of it when it kicks off even though I’ve read all the information as you have. Been fine since but a few little blips when I think something is going on and it settles again. It seems we have to get a little more than we had previously before we get better listening to others.
Hope yours settles soon
Really useful to know. Like you I have read everything I can lay my hands on. Arythmia nurse told me to call on Monday morning if still in AF, so that would be my 72 hour point if it came to it.
Just taken another reading and Kardia is now saying tachycardia! Think I'll just try to get some sleep.
All the best to you
Headache post ablation 
Post ablation problems
Useful post ablation info. 
Post ablation concerns
Post Ablation Recovery
