Hello All, I have had my cardiac ablation and my GP has signed me off for 4weeks. I have read it takes 12 weeks for the heart to heal. How long did you have off work? My groin still aches and I feel fatigue easily at the minute.
Do I meed to be careful in the 'blanking period' or just get back on with life?
Everyone is different as I was back to normal and working the next day.
Hard one to answer Rpxy. Maybe you'll start to feel better in a couple of weeks - it could take longer. I suggest two weeks of total relaxtion and go from there.
You will there get my freind.
Paul
We are all different but read our fact sheet on recovery written by patients for patients. I will print a link in a moment. If your work is physical then four weeks may not be enough but if sedentary then just take each day as it comes.
I would say that it depends how much physical effort your job involves.After my first ablation I was off work for just over 2 weeks but I had a desk job. I did whinge and worry for a week or two more but working in a nursing home I enjoyed having trained nurses keeping an eye on me.Jean
No one size fits all. I'm retired, but probably would have needed at least 1-2 months off to comfortable venture outside of the house, other than for short errands. Some, like Paul, were able to work the next day. Not to say you shouldn't listen to your doctors, but in this case, I'd listen more to what your body is telling you. Only one chance to recover and heal properly and you don't want to do too much, too soon.
Jim
As they others have said, we all heal differently. After my 1st ablation I was able to function normally after about 3-weeks. After my 2nd one 4-week ago, I could not go back to work at the moment.
If I were you, I would take the 4-weeks and see how you feel after that. Maybe you will be able to go back to work part-time at first.
Anyway, your body tells you when you are ready.
I’m just four weeks since my ablation and personally I would have needed that time off work. I’ve struggled with erratic heart since and wouldn’t have coped well at times had I been working. However we are all different and I’m no youngster so that will make a distance. Best of luck with your recovery
Good advice above - I would just add that if you can negotiate with your employers and ask for a graduated return to work and some flexibility as many people find that although they maybe able to return to work within a few weeks, they will tire much more quickly and ‘pushing through’ can irritate the good work done and cause a relapse so as James says - Listen to your Body - your doctors are the experts in the condition but you are the expert on you so be body aware and stop and rest at the first sign of fatigue.
Thank you for your kind words everyone, I really appreciate you taking time to reply. I have 2 more weeks of rest and will review with the doc. Phased return might be a good idea to save on eating up sick pay. Hope you all have a good recovery as well x
Phased return was a godsend. Remember too that you continue to accumulate holiday while off sick so can perhaps use that to top up the phased return. Acas has lots of good info or your union, if you need help.
I was extremely fatigued for months so didn't return to work as my job is active (teaching exercise classes) so I think it depends on what type of work you do. Good wishes
Well I’ve been given no verbal advice and had mine 2wks ago, told just to stop the Dronedarone 🙄 and yet when put on I t told it takes a while to work. I looked on Harefield/Brompton site and said differently, so weaning g myself off, middle rd. I had top Prof who works in one of this hospitals but by insurance. Not had any dates from the NHS since b4 Christmas and I didn’t want to get worse because I don’t think it’d work as well.
I had 4 weeks off and wished I'd had longer as it took 6 weeks for the painful swelling, due to bruising of my entire leg, to go away. My work is quite physical (chiropody) so there's no way I would have gone less than 4 weeks.
I was off work for 6 days then into a business trip up north followed by daily commuting to London. It was OK. If you work for yourself, you can't afford to take too much time off.
I tried to go back to work (desk job) after one week but was too tired. I could do half days and then was back to work full time in 2 to 3 weeks after. Could not resume my workouts until 2 months later and started very, very slow. By 5 or 6 months later I was back to normal.
think my GP put me off for about the same time and I was OK to return to work by then my job can be quite physical but what the hospital said on discharge was to make sure I rested well that first week. something to do with letting the groin area heal proper
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