I have my new date (26th March) for my ablation at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, under Professor Andre Ng.Does anyone have any positive experiences to share as I am getting really scared now reading some of the feedback after ablation which is making me doubt my decision.
I have paroxysmal AF which is awful when I get an episode as they last up to 36 hours. Like most I never know when they will hit but my heart rate now often hovers between 75 and 100 when in afib (in the early days it would be up to 170bpm). I do get low BP though but not symptomatic. Episodes about every 2 months or so.
I am thinking of cancelling as I am scared I will make my afib worse although I want to travel and equally scared it will kick off when I am out of the Country.
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Karendeena
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Please don't . Remember good news doesn't sell. Only bad news tends to reach the pages of this forum as all the many success sstories are off enjoying life. I will attach two fact sheet on preparing for and recovering from ablation. The preparng has lots of useful tips about what to wear and how to drink aferwards and the recovering one all the things doctors don't tell you. Both written by patients forpatients.
Thanks Bob, just he thought of a wire going into my heart ❤️Perhaps it's because I am under such a lot of stress at the moment trying to care for my 96 year old mum and a brother who is in hospital having had a bladder tumour removed, he also had lots of other health issues and anxieties. I think this is just making me worse
Please dont worry . Its not a difficult operation and the recovery period is less than a week. I have had two ablations and apart from from feeling a bit sick afterwards and a few ectopic beats I was fine. My second ablation was 7 years ago and since then I have only had a few episodes which have not needed cardio version . The few episodes i have had have identifiable causes.. e.g stress or indigestion. Do go ahead you will be in safe hands!
Everyone has these thoughts when the date looms large it's normal to worry. Please don’t cancel I feel you would forever regret it whenever you get a bout of AF. Just go through the motions if you have to worry then worry but the date will come and you will find the team doing the ablation are fantastically professional and will put you at ease. You have been told you can have an ablation so I am sure your success rate will be high. Think positive and tell your self you’re on the road to making your AF less burdensome. All the best!
HelloMy advice would be definetly not to cancel. I had an ablation in 2017 and 2018 at the Glenfield and the team were excellent. The first was for SVT which was successful and the second was for AF and was a success.
Whilst no procedure is pleasant the result is worth it and hopefully you can go back to a level of normality.
I would definetly say go ahead. Please feel free to get in touch if I can give further information which will help support your decision.
I would go for it… my AF is very similar to yours and I am planning on arranging an ablation this year. I have a good friend who had one 9 years ago, said it was a breeze, and has been AF free for 9 years so far. As others have said, the negative stories will inevitably be hugely over represented on these forums.
Proff Ng is world renowned, he trains others,including my own Proff Osman. One or two of us have had partly negative experiences, but the majority do not!From day 1 I have felt a different person, all my family and friends noticed too. A weight has been lifted, the daily dread of AF or Flutter kicking in, the fatigue and dizziness gone. I have had no flutter at all since mine ( June 2022) 2 AF episodes last Autumn which they are monitoring, and may need a further re do .
I know it's not seen as a permanent cure,but I can only recommend it if drugs or lifestyle or both aren't helping.
I tried to transfer to Proff Ng but would have gone right back in the listing.
It's only natural to wonder if we are choosing the right thing to do,choosing someone to interfere with our hearts is not like choosing to have your tonsils out after all.
I hope you feel more confident soon,our leaflets are great.
It is completely natural to feel anxious ahead of any procedure. If you would like some advice or a chat with our Patient Services Team, please feel free to contact us: info@afa.org.uk or 01789 867 502
Please be reassured everyone responds to procedures differently, so please do not worry.
You may also wish to download our AF Fact File for information about all treatment options including ablation: api.heartrhythmalliance.org...
I've been through all of the worries the same as you have. I even was going to back out when I entered the cath lab for the first time! All the equipment and all those people ! 😱 However I went on to have 4 ablations from 2009 to 2021 so can't have been so bad.
Make sure you are spoilt a bit afterwards! I had no trouble getting over mine and I can't say I was spoilt exactly 🤔 It really is no way as bad as you imagine. Interesting is a word I might use. Be prepared for lots of people to be in attendance in the lab !
I would be surprised if you didn't feel so relieved afterwards and wonder why you worried so much.
Best wishes
J
Ps....a full report from you will be expected !
( I was same age as you when I had my first ablation)
hi, I was very very anxious before my ablation and had been putting it off for ten years. My husband had a heart attack and we were in opposite beds in the cardiac ward. He had a stent fitted and I decided to go ahead with the ablation. I was frightened when I learned the electrics were going to be zapped so to speak round my heart but THEN five years later i no longer have the blue lights to the A and E. had mine done in Leeds. I am now living my life with out the worry of episodes whilst out enjoying myself. I give you my best wishes , kind regards Ursula
Hi MydogBrandy, I'm due to have an ablation at the LGI very soon, I don't have an exact date yet. I had two false starts as the first time I went to have it done the message that I'm allergic to contrast hadn't reached the surgeon so I was sent home. The second time I elected to come home as I had asked for a GA and that message hadn't reached them either. I've had so much surgery in my life - double nephrectomy, kidney transplant...the list is long, that I can't have a procedure without a GA as it's too stressful.
Your story here is very reassuring as I have been really worried about it and now I don't feel I will be shaking quite as much so thank you
Hello - this is my first post as I had my ablation nearly twelve years ago - after ten years of very symptomatic paroxysmal AF - and I’ve been grateful every day for the skill of Sabine Ernst in London. I joined this forum recently as I’ve been experiencing periods of “jumpy” heart and mild heart failure - now in my 70s. I started scrolling through posts and saw your one mentioning a double nephrectomy. I apologise for going off topic, but I have severe hydronephrosis of one kidney and will need it removed. I have desperately been looking for a forum where I can ask questions about this, but can only find ones dealing with kidney donation, transplants and dialysis. I just wondered if you could point me to anywhere I can get some advice. I joined the kidney care site, but none of the posts apply to my situation - a PUJ obstruction, probably from birth which has now become critical. Sorry again for going off topic.
I really don't know anything about your condition but I do know what it's like to have a nephrectomy. Is the kidney care site you joined within your local hospital? I know in my own hospital there is a patients run group and they give lots of advice from their own experiences.
I'm really pleased to hear yours was a success and that I'm not being unreasonable asking to be put to sleep, it can be done! ☺️ Stay well and thank you xx
Absolutely don’t cancel. From my own experience and from everything (and that’s a lot!) I’ve researched, ablation is the gold standard. We are lucky to have it as an option - most of the world doesn’t. Mine was painless and in no way an ordeal. I think you would repent at leisure if you don’t get it done. ☺️
I’m in exactly the same boat as you. Afib episodes 6 times a year on average, lasting 24 hours to 4 days. Quite debilitating at the time ie short of breath and I get a bad headache too.
I’m due to speak to the consultant on the 20th to say if I want the ablation. Again, like you, I’m scared. I wonder can drugs keep it at bay? Then I read no, it’s always going to get worse. Lots of arguments going on in my head.
I’d usually be on Google looking for pros and cons but I’m burying my head in the sand.
My ablation, carried out in 2019 at Glenfield Hospital, was by a colleague of Professor Ng. You are, so far as I am aware, in some of the best hands in the country at that hospital, and I believe it has the latest equipment and facilities. Whether having an ablation is right for you must depend upon the state of your heart, the current level of symptoms you suffer, how you feel - and, of course, your specialist's opinion.
One complicating aspect that makes a decision difficult, for me, is that when PAF become persistent, as it is said to have a habit of eventually doing, it seems that the symptoms can reduce and the condition become much more bearable. My elderly friend, at 90, is testament to this, and my son's colleague, although much younger at 76, is similarly coping well. In his case, he has had, I think, more than four ablations with the first right back in the early days of the procedure, but his AF has now returned (along with AFl) and he cannot have further procedures.
Thanks Steve. I understand Glenfield is one of the best and thank you for installing confidence in me. I see Prof Ng early March before my date so hopefully he can talk to me further about this. I think the highlighted risks (albeit rare) scared me and the fact that it can take up to 4 hours and I will only be sedated
Mine was under general anaesthetic. I think they prefer sedation and local anaesthetics these days as they can keep a better eye on you and it removes the cost and need of an anaesthetist - which likely means more ablations can be carried out.
My experience of Glenfield is overall very positive but it was also pretty clear when I was there that, as elsewhere in the NHS, it’s suffering from years of under-investment as well as a lack of doctors and staff. On one occasion, I was told there was a single cardiologist on duty and she hadd been called to an emergency elsewhere, leaving not a single specialist on the cardiac ward. I was also kept waiting Ina bed for a full day just for the pharmacy to fulfil my prescription.
I suspect that if the doctors and staff could tell tales, then we might all be completely shocked at what has been happening to our NHS over the last decade and more. I’m just hoping things will change after the coming election but I don’t hold out massive hope.
Best of luck with your coming appointment and ablation. You will be fine and look back on this period as unnecessary (but natural) worry, I’m sure.
I had a successful ablation for svt a few years ago , it changed my life ! Nothing to be frightened of . Routine procedure these days . Natural to be apprehensive. Good luck .
i think the staff at glenfield are wonderful. I’m going this morning to have a monitor fitted and ablation maybe on the cards and i feel ok about it because i trust them. Go for it!
Oh don’t cancel. You are in expert hands. Having had two ablations which I can honestly say were surprisingly low key, I genuinely felt fine afterwards apart from bruising and within a week was ready for action. I know everyone is different and there are a few who have had a tough time in recovery but those are the stories you hear. When you have a successful fix you sometimes forget to chirp about it. And there are many many successes out there. The sense of relief not to have the worry of when an episode is going to hit is huge. Good luck and stay positive.
I can relate to all that. I had an ablation at Glenfield in September, although Dr Sandilands did mine. I was scared as well and when they took me down on a trolley to the Cath Lab, I felt like jumping off and running out the door🤣 but they looked after me very well and explained what was going on and I was ok. Don’t cancel it, you’ll regret it. You’d have to wait a long time for another appointment, if you did that.Just get the information sheets off here, they are really informative. Ask any questions on here, people are really helpful. If I can go through with it, anyone can. Good luck and hope your AFib stays away, afterwards.
I had sedation and painkiller injections. Did make me feel a bit woozy, but tolerable.I think I was in there about 3 hours, but it goes by quite quickly. You have to lie still afterwards for ages as well. If it gets rid of the awful AFib, it’s worth going through it I say. I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s the fear of the unknown, that makes you scared. I have my follow -up appointment this afternoon, at Glenfield Hospital. It’s 2 months later than they said it would be. Good luck.
I have nothing but good things to say about Glenfield Hospital.I had an ablation there almost 7 years ago, performed by Dr Sandilands. I've not been in AF since.
Dr Sandilands cycled in to work on his day off (good Friday) to get me discharged, even went to get an ultrasound machine to check himself as the radiography team would have taken hours to get to me!
My brother had an ablation there performed by Prof Ng 2 years ago and is also still in NSR.
It is scary , I nearly walked out when I was on the trolley on the way to the lab.
So glad I didn't .
The cath lab was very cold, and I was amazed by the number of people in there, a large number of whom were in a side room just monitoring the procedure and making sure that Dr Sandilands was operating in safe limits.
Recovery was slower than I had hoped for and it took me 9 months to get back to pre ablation fitness.
But if I ever needed to, I'd do it again in a heartbeat
Great to hear yours has lasted that long. Hope you continue to stay AFib free. I suppose we’re lucky to have had such an experienced Doctor to do the ablations. I have my follow-up appointment at Glenfield, this afternoon. I have one or two questions to ask Dr Sandilands, about the meaning of some of the things written on the copy of the report sent to my GP. Hoping my AFib will stay away. 🤞🤞🤞
It's always a pleasure to see Alistair, I'm so pleased he's still at Glenfield incase I need him in the future.Terms used by doctors can be confusing and sometimes worrying but I'm sure you'll get the answers.
If you need any help deciphering happy for you to message me and I can try and decode. I've learned a lot on my AF journey 😁
I think the fact you are stressed waiting for another episode is having an impact on your well- being and having an ablation is a good idea and hopefully will lift some of the stress from your shoulders. I was very anxious before and was helped greatly by people on this forum to make a decision to go ahead.It isn't à cure but hopefully like many of us on here you will get a long period of tranquillity.
I can relate to the above. I was hoping ablation was a cure for AFib and keep reading that it’s not and there is no cure for it. Wouldn’t you think that with so many people round the world having AFib and it being the most common heart complaint, that someone would find a permanent cure for the condition.
Those pesky rogue signals always manage to create another path eventually which makes it so difficult for drs 😄. My cardiologist has a patient who was Afib free for 16 years so who knows.
I am 69 with episodes which had become more frequent from every 9 months to every week over about 8 years. I was very nervous but my EP and the team on the day were so professional and caring. I needn't have worried and apart from a couple of blips in the first 3-4 months, I have not had an episode since December so my advice would be go for it. Good luck
my ablation was 10 days ago and after multiple daily AF episodes for months I have been completely free of any symptoms Since the procedure. I assume you are having the standard cryo thermal ablation under light sedation but I was lucky enough to be chosen for the very latest pulse field ablation carried out under general anaesthetic which took 3 hours but I knew nothing about it so a good experience. Which ever one you have, statistically I think the success rate is 66% so a good chance your AF will be cured by it. Best of luck.
Hi Karendeena,Please don't cancel the ablation. I was having regular, very bad bouts of af from early 2017 until my ablation on November 5th 2019. I was in hospital one night and rested the day after. Then I was out and pushed an elderly man in a wheelchair. I then had ten days af free and then one week of mild af. Then nothing, I have been af free for over 4 years and it's great. I have to admit to being a little apprehensive about the ablation but I can honestly say now, DO IT!!! My brother has had to have two ablations and now he is 100% better. It's well worth a try. Don't miss out.
Much more good will come out of the ablation than not. Think forward to traveling and enjoying life with less possibility of a-fib lurking in the background. Everyone's scared before having it done. I say go for it.
Hi - Look it’s not always a walk in the park straight after and you may have a few weeks after where it’s less than good as was the case with me but there’s a big BUT - 3 weeks after mine it’s all settled down and I’ve spent the last 5 weeks with no sign of AFib and if this continues along the same lines it’ll be worth every second of the few weeks of hellishness I had, not forgetting the last year where it hit me every 2 days - The procedure itself was actually not a big issue - but uncomfortable but that was all - Best of luck with yours, let me know how you get on and if you need any more info just ask
I don't even know what type of AF I have. I was diagnosed about 10 years ago. I have never been offered any ablation just put on an anti - coagulant and never called into the hospital for a check. Is this normal?
I think everyone varies and it depends on whether the consultant thinks you will benefit from an ablation. I was told that af is easier to treat by ablation if caught in it's earlier stages
I had my ablation at Glenfield in January 2020, aged 66, done by Professor Ng. No AF since. I too was terrified, especially as Prof Ng said he prefers his patients to have sedation rather than GA. I was also worried about being given morphine, as it makes me vomit a lot, and worried about what would happen if I needed a wee during the procedure!
The team were lovely and so reassuring. They said it would be weird if I wasn't scared, explained how they would deal with the morphine issue ( and weeing, although they said it wouldn't be an issue, they were right).
Professor Ng explained everything beforehand, and was so friendly and reassuring. I don't remember much about the procedure itself but was fascinated by the giant screen and marvelling at how he could do what he does.
They kept me in overnight, which I understand was standard practice. Recovery took me several weeks but I'm so glad I had the ablation and you will be too. In my opinion, you can totally trust Professor Ng.
Thanks so much Ecki. You had all the fears I have! Did you remember much about it or did you keep sleeping? I am worried I'll need a wee and also about the sickness as I can't take morphine it does that to me.
I hope prof Ng does mine. I see him privately but the ablation is on the NHS.
The morphine sickness won't be a problem, they gave me an anti nausea drug which I was told would stop any sickness and they were right. The lady that controls the drugs said she'd never known it not to work. I said about the weeing and they said that if someone really needs a wee they get a bedpan for them but it rarely happens. You know what it's like when you're nervous, you keep thinking you need a wee but only manage a few drops, if that. Once I was in the cathedral lab I totally forgot about wanting a wee.
I remember bits and pieces. At one point, I must have started to fidget because I remember them all shouting 'don't move' at me. I also remember feeling a bit of pain, not bad, at one point and saying it was hurting so they put more morphine in.
Professor Ng came to see me a few hours after the procedure. He said they always finish by putting in a drug that triggers AF if they haven't burned away enough tissue and he said when they did that with me, there was no AF and I've not had any.
My recovery was quite slow compared to some people, from what I've read on these forums. The first 2 or 3 weeks I did very little. Found even going up stairs hard (our stairs are very steep). Then I started doing very short walks, just round the garden at first, and gradually built up the distance until I was back to my normal distance for dog walking but it took a couple of months or so.
You will be very sensitive to what your heart is doing but try not to worry if it feels a bit strange at times and remember it's had quite a battering and needs time to recover. I would say don't try to push yourself too soon, lots of rest and gradually increase what you do.
I'm sure it will all go well for you. You're going to be in good hands.
Hi, every medical procedure has risks, but ablations are at the lower end of risks. There can be discomfort with the procedure and afterwards, I've had 3 ablations and fortunately, everything was fine, no pain, no bad scaring, in and out same day. You just have to be careful afterwards and don't do too much for a while, probably longer than docs suggest.
I suppose as I've had cancer surgery, 5hrs and open heart 5hrs, I just go to sleep and expect to wake up, I'll do my best and surgeons will do theirs. If the worse happens, well thats a bugger.
one question, have you had or been offered a cardioversion as I have found they have kept me out of AF longer than ablations, say over 12mths at a go.
Not sure I understand that. My understanding is both procedures are to put you back in sinus rhythm, neither are permanent cures. Ablation is more of a procedure, cuts, insertions etc, whereas cardio is just plates on your chest and back, zap.
Cardio version is to convert from arrhythmia to sinus rhythm and I believe you won’t have one if you’re already in sinus rhythm. So with Paroxysmal (PAF) as Karendeena says it reverts on its own without CV.
Ablation is to treat AF and reduce its burden whichever type. Hopefully to stop episodes for those with PAF and for those with persistent to convert to sinus and a CV may be performed to restore sinus as part of the ablation or afterwards if required but not always.
For persistent AF a CV is often tried first to see if sinus can be achieved even if only for a short time to assess if an ablation would be worthwhile.
When I am not in afib my heart is steady, regular at around 64,BPM.When I have an episode my heart immediately goes at a fast rate and irregular. I don't need a cardioversion (well, I haven't up to now) as my heart just goes back into normal rhythm itself.
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