It's been a month since my ablation and I have a terrible time sleeping. The ablation only lasted 6 days then I went back into Afib. At one point I did sleep for 3 days and nights. I am terrified. I can sleep occasionally but then sometimes will wake up breathless and go into a panic attack. Has anyone tried a wedge pillow? It seems it might work.
Also has anyone elected to have a Pacemaker put in?
Thanks!😇😇😇
Hi and good morning.
I am sorry your ablation didn’t hold. Have you been in touch with your EP/clinic who did the ablation as they may consider a cardioversion?
I have an electric bed and have it set at so that I am not lying flat and find that can be helpful so I guess you could try a wedge pillow. Have you been tested for sleep apnea? That feeling of fear of sleeping and waking up gasping could indicate sleep apnea which can be treated and that can stop nocturnal AF.
Yes, I opted for resynchronisation pacemaker back in 2018 - stopped most of my episodes as I cannot take any heart meds. I was electing for Pace and Ablate but the pacemaker worked so well that I didn’t need the AV node ablating. I had to have a revision of the pacemaker in 2019 and as soon as it was disconnected - straight back into AF so for me it was the silver bullet. I was not in heart failure but my EP thought it more than likely that without I would be within about 12 months. I had had 2 ablations, one which held for about 3 years.
The two best things I did was get the sleep apnea treated and have the RST pacemaker which has improved my QOL.
You don’t mention your age - which can matter with PM. I was 69 when I had implant and considered ‘quite young’ for a pacemaker. Pacemaker or any permanaent implant for the heart is often a last resort for younger patients because the battery will need to be replaced every 10-12 years.
May I also suggest that you also look at some sort of strategy for managing your fear. AF is unpleasant and it can make you anxious but it is very rarely immediately life threatening and considered a chronic condition. Many hundreds of thousands of people live good lives in permanent AF. It is the symptoms caused by the AF which require management such as the increased risk of stroke - prophylactic anticoagulants, managing heart rate, managing other conditions such as high BP, diabetes and anxiety etc which are essential.
I hope that is of some help, a lot to digest I know so take your time and ask any questions.
Best wishes
PS - it can be helpful to put your world location and your age into your profile as different countries have very different options and protocols.
Thank you for being such a wealth of knowledge..
Hi Mike,my ablation in October only lasted 3 days and after waiting three weeks with breathlessness and a high heart rate I got in touch with the hospital some distance away who carried out the procedure , you should have been given a telephone number when discharged.
They were great and arranged cardioversion at the local hospital, that didn't work. I was then prescribed Dioxin which helped then was switched to Flecainide and have been stable with no AF for some weeks.
Waking up unable to breath sounds like sleep apnoea. as CD suggests. Maybe best get checked for that. In any event your anxiety is your worst enemy here so do investigate strategies to control that.
Yes and sleep apnoea is a risk factor for AF as well but there are several other obvious possibilities too given details in A_PMechanic's post. The most obvious is the panic attacks causing the breathlessness and vice versa. The other, given the wedge pillow comment is GERD i.e. reflux. Wedge pillows and elevated bedhead etc are useful for reducing acid reflux from the stomach travelling back up the oesophagus while laying down, which can definitely cause you to wake in the middle of the night gasping for air. I've had that happen on a number of occasions including just 2 nights ago.
I normally try to avoid eating or drinking for a few hours before going to bed but currently on antibiotics which need to be taken with food. This forces me to eat something close to going to bed. I try propping myself up but end up flat at some stage after falling asleep.
It's best mentioned to his GP (especially if it continues) so the cause can be identified in case it's something requiring treatment.
Hi APMechanic,
I had the same along with horrible nightmares when I did sleep.
Turns out the Sotalol that they put me on was the culprit for me, so I switched after over 2 months and it took a little time to get right.
Anyway it’s 3:45am so you can see I am still having some flare ups of insomnia.
The good news, I have more good days than bad and now looking for a shrink as I think that will help.
Remember this is all some heavy stuff we have all been through so I hope you get some rest and just felt the need to share.
Be well my friend!
JP
Thank you everyone. I appreciate all your inputs. I did leave a detailed message with my Cardiologist and I'm waiting for a reply. He gave me three options prior to now. 1. Redo the ablation which he said is not guaranteed. 2. Shock me back in to sinus rhythm, still not guaranteed. 3. A Pacemaker, feels scary and 10 years ill need a new one. I really want my heart to stop being in this condition. Soon I'll be 64 and I'm a jet mechanic that worked at the same job for 38 years. I really want to make it to the finish line and retire. This Afib thing has put the brakes on my plans for the future. BTW, I live in Arizona and there's so much to do here. If I can get this sleep anxiety under control in the meantime that would be great!
Since you live in Arizona and if you don’t want another ablation you may want to look into a MiniMaze which is a minimally invasive surgical ablation don’t on the outside of the beating heart, is not open chest and carries a much higher success rate as well as occludes the LAA so you get off blood thinners forever for AFib.
But sleep apnea would need to be addressed first if that is an issue. Just a thought.
Good you are speaking to your Cardiologist..have you looked at side effect of your medication you may be on.
First and foremost have you discussed this with your doctor/cardio? After my ablation I suffered all sorts of symptoms, in short it didn't work and as a consequence of very low HR I was recommended a Pacemaker. This was a life changer for me, albeit I still have to take meds but it made a huge difference to my life. As for bed, yes raising your head will help you breath, I have an electric bed and now never sleep flat etc., however you must seek advice if you are having trouble breathing whilst laying down as this may need further investigation....it could be a symptom of fluid overload but needs checking out. As for the panics, if you get a feeling that you cant breathe it will cause panic however you could investigate calming methods of breathing/relaxing etc., which may help. Good luck x
I had a sleep test last week revealing mild sleep apnoea.
The medic (NHS in UK) said treatment would be advisable as 1) the SA could be more serious if I did sleep without interruption 2) my working/leisure life was being more seriously affected due to frequent night time visits to the bathroom and often difficulty going back to sleep.
In the mornings, the first thing I do is open the window wide (kept almost closed due to traffic noise) feeling short of oxygen.
I sleep on my back with 3 pillows and 2 more on the left side to stop turning over that way as my Vagus Nerve has triggered AF episodes in the past. I also use a BreatheRight nasal strip and practise just nose breathing (ref. James Nestor & Patrick McKeown) on my daily walks.
The bottom line is you have to listen to your body, keep learning through trial and error and Quality of Life will then determine what interventions are necessary. For me 'the cure' has been hybrid... Flecainide & Lifestyle changes.
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