I have gone from one thing to another since my ablation on the 26th March! Thanks to you lovely people who have helped me through the physical and emotional side effects, I couldn't have done this without you.
I am fed up - am I expecting too much?
I am awake often hourly through the night, have vivid dreams and nightmares every night, really weird some of them and bear no resemblance to current thoughts in my life. I am now dreading going to bed
Will they go away? Is this yet another side effect from the ablation or is it just stress and anxiety?
Help me please 🥺
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Karendeena
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I don't think any of this is down to the ablation. I think your general high level of anxiety is a prime cause. I know it isn't much help to you but most of my life if I get four hours un interupted sleep I'm doing well. For twenty years I blamed a full time job and a motor sport team I ran at nights, but these days even retirement hasn't made things easier.
Thanks Bob, it's not nice but I suppose expected with my current circumstances and trying to keep my mother and brother afloat at the same time!I am hoping a holiday in the sun will help as we haven't been abroad since 2019.
I have been worse since I retired in January. I suppose I expected it to be better
You've had more time to think about things, that's probably why. Find some free meditation classes on YouTube and learn to meditate. It does wonders on calming things down. Go to sleep with a meditative sound playing, like the seashore, lots of apps do sleep programs like that.
You have been gifted an ablation. No one has ever even mentioned the chance to me. I've been left to get on with it, with AF, hypothyroidism and now neuropathy. I just read, learn, and experiment on myself to get better in all ways. I really think you need to accept that you are under stress with your family and not blame it all on the good thing you have been given.
Truly mediation has been really helpful in my life. And HRT. I could not be where I am without HRT, another thing I was left to learn about and sort out for myself. I have had practically zero NHS help with any of it. Try to be grateful for what you have been given and then to stop focusing on the bad things.
When you mentioned a week in the sun recently I thought you meant on your own, perfect. This post rather sounds like you intend to take the 2 stressful dependant people with you! That could be awful. You need to get away and relax.
Hi and thanks for your reply. Yes, I think anxiety is the main problem, I also get indigestion in the night, not sure the esomoprazole suits me but we will see No, I wouldn't be taking two stressful people with me, this upcoming holiday is for me and my partner - the only sane one in all of this 😊
I haven’t had an ablation - yet ( mine is due mid June, eeek!) so cannot help you with what you are entirely going through, but I do wonder if perhaps the anxiety about the ablation could possibly be contributing to your nightmares perhaps? Having suffered with it myself over the years and now, particularly bad times do affect our ability to get a good night’s sleep and I know there were times in the past where I woke every hour and I definitely had stranger dreams. It will pass, I’m sure, as you gain more strength and confidence in your ablation.
I know I’ll be worrying about exactly the same things as you when the time comes, so I don’t really know what the answer is, but for now, try and concentrate on the positives….summer is coming and warmer days….look forward to being Afib free 😊
P.S I can safely say that things ALWAYS seem bad at 3 or 4 in the morning. ALWAYS 😳😃 and then at 7 or 8 you wonder why you felt that way….
Well that’s a major positive thing, that your heart is behaving 😊….Thankyou, I haven’t got a proper date yet, apparently I’ll know in a few weeks, but they have estimated mid June for me, but I’ve been on the list since November.
Try and relax more, honestly. Challenge those negative thoughts ❤️ easier said than done, I know and I’m probably a fine one to talk, but I’m going to try when the time comes.
I am on Nebivolol. On the whole I find it better than Bisoprolol but I still get weird vivid dreams and I take a tiny dose .65 mg. Nightmare is a subjective term. Sometimes my husband who rarely remembers his dreams says he has had a nightmare . When he describes it I usually scoff as compared to the weird stuff I dream every night it always seems banal!
Some meds can cause bad dreams. Anxiety is a culprit too, However I have had nightly, multiple, graphic, vivid nightmares every single night of my life since being seven years old, they are exhausting. I can remember every one in great detail. I wake numerous times in the night too. I feel your upset. Wishing you well.
Strangely enough you do get used to it. I could write books with some of my fantastic plot line dreams. The worst though is when I scream long and hard out loud mid dream. My husband has to gently wake me to make me stop, sometimes I wake myself up with the noise.
My dad was the same and talked in his sleep, he would actually respond if he was asked a question while asleep.
Hi Karendeena, you're not alone. I was woken up from a strange dream last night. 04:14! I occasionally get an odd sensation in my heart area with a new feeling of doom and I wait a few seconds for it to pass. Not sure what physically it is but I'm fairly confident it is because of a physical change. But then I get new aches and pains in my body too but I guess the significance of the heart causes the mind to attribute doom to the scenario.But here I am, I did get back to sleep but just eating my breakfast and I've missed two hours of my normal morning. It's sunny too after a miserable day yesterday.
So I'd better make the most of it and look for the things that will make my day better. I'm fortunate being retired so my days are mine, mostly. I think a longer walk and listening to the birds might be good.
I will find the energy and there will be moments that are normal and the negative doom is banished.
I haven't had an ablation, I have a malfunctioning ICD, that's doing odd things to me, but it's beyond my control. I have lived a fairly controlled life, it's uncomfortable.
I hope you can find something today that you like doing, reflect on it, I hope it will help. Then plan something else for tomorrow. Take back control!! In a nice way💓
Thank you for your kind words ❤️I took her the aches and pains and thinking I am now having a flare of polymyalgia after coming off the steroids and going into remission in January. I expect the internal inflammation from the ablation is to blame so hoping this settles too as I don't want to go back on the steroids!
Thank goodness for this awesome group. Don't know about you but find it a great comfort and support
PS I am now in Costa having a decaf coffee and feeling more positive with the sun shining 🌟
Hi, sorry to read of your upsets. I have just dumped Edoxaban and returned to Warfarin because my dreams and nightmares were more like horrormares .... in fact they made any Vincent Price Horror movie look like a Mickey Mouse cartoon. They were mind blowing. I had a feeling Edoxaban was to blame as I have been on it for over 4 months and that covers the time they have worsened.
I haven't ever had an ablation ... it wasn't the way I wanted to travel, and I'm glad. I don't think ablation is your problem - so, in this post ablation time you are now in, are you on any medication, particularly, Edoxaban or any of the other 3 DOAC's ? I'd be betting medication is the cause.
I have also just had full range blood tests and got the results on my NHS App - I passed with flyin' colours, everything in the green of the bar chart. So looking at all those results I am even more convinced my horrormares were from edication - Edoxaban. Now I've been back on Warfarin a week no dreams/nightmares/horrormares. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
😂😂 Bob, you are a braver man than I Gunga Din ............ in all my boozing on both sides of the planet ..... Scrumpy or any variations on it in the cider family, even a whiff, would have me begging for the end of days. 😱😱😊🙂🙂 Yuk !!
Drank three pints one night in the Anchor at Porlock Weir and I think it was four days before I was normal again. (in the Gents there was a sign that said " Kilrex summus es".)
Thanks John. I have had dreams and disturbed sleep since I went on the meds (Sotalol and apixaban), but they have got considerably worse since the ablation. I do think the anti arrythmic Sotalol can cause disturbed sleep so I am hoping after the 12 week blanking period I will be able to come off them. I used to sleep like a baby and love my bed now I have become phobic about it
I had a very similar reaction after my ablation and I'm certain it was a reaction to the anesthesia.
I think, especially as we get older some of us do not clear the anesthesia as well as others . Do you know what they gave you? Was it general anesthesia? Were you awake or were you totally out?
The good news is that eventually it should clear your system and the vivid dreams should stop. That could be tomorrow or it could be next week or it could take longer.
Meanwhile try not to stress too much over it, but I know easier said than done.
Thanks Jim, I had conscious sedation but I kept feeling pain in my chest and up the back of my next so they kept 'topping me up and knocking me out. Not sure exactly what they gave me but the nurse on the ward said I had a right cocktail of drugs when I complained of feeling sick and agitated.I know in the Cath Lab the Prof requested one drug and the answer was "We haven't got it at the moment, waiting for it to come in"! Charming 😜
I couldn't have morphine or codeine/tramadol as my BP drops too low and morphine makes me sick. I also had anaphylactic shock from an anti sickness drug in my teens so they were treading very cautiously. I know it was intravenous paracetamol but goodness knows what else. I am hoping it settles.
I have not long got off steroids (after 3 years) for polymyalgia and the pains in my neck and shoulders have returned, giving it time and hoping it hasn't given me a relapse of this dreadful debilitating condition. I expect my inflammation levels are up, so hoping they settle too. No fun getting older 🥺
Give it time. Of course anxiety could be playing a role, but those vivid dreams tell me it's probably more than that. Whether the anesthesia, meds, or the physical insult of the ablation itself, your body has been through a lot. Just give it some time and it should resolve although with me it took months.
I agree with others that anxiety is playing its part. You've got a lot on your plate with your health issues and responsibilities. Just be kind to yourself and remember thoughts in the middle if the night are very rarely rational or proportionate.
I just had PFA under a general and a massive cocktail of IV drugs. I am not sleeping great but no nightmares. I am only taking eliquis but I know that all three of my adult kids have awful nightmares from certain meds and all have anxiety disorders along with more serious stuff.
I think a lot of this is down to your anxiety, something in your subconscious maybe. I know if I have 'worries' particularly family then I too wake in the night or, cant get to sleep in the beginning! If you have had an ablation and that was successful all should be well however if you are taking prescription drugs for A/F still, as I am, then the nightmares and sleeplessness could be attributed to them, ask your pharmacist. Continual waking throughout the night is actually habit forming so you need to try and break it, maybe a short course of sleeping pills from your doctor could help with this, get you back into the habit of sleeping. Also, make sure you are tired when you go to bed, maybe read in bed for a little while etc., I am up every morning at 6.0 a.m., my dogs timetable not mine and then out walking by 7.0 a..m and I have to be careful I don't then nod off in the afternoon because if I do I know I won't sleep etc. With regard to your anxiety, there are exercises that may help to relax, even Yoga or something like that, I know, easier said than done but if you are constantly anxious and on edge it is not doing you good. Good luck x
Thanks, yes I am anxious. I was awake again at 4am with a feeling of panic, my heart was faster and I had indigestion (which is something else I am getting in the night that worries me). It does appear to be habit forming and the times over waking are the same. Getting paranoid now when it comes to bedtime 🥺
Today, have a look at the contraindications of any meds you are taking, see if this is possibly something to do with it, you can also checked them out on line or ask your pharmacist........if the drugs are ruled out as a factor make an appointment to see your GP and explain what is going on because there are things he can do to help you. You don't have to deal with this on your own. Maybe counselling, breathing/relaxing techniques, music etc.etc., maybe a short term course of sleeping tablets, there must be options because this is causing stress in itself let alone the inability to sleep. Stress is not a friend of A/F, it exacerbates the condition so you need to find a way of controlling it in any way that you can but check out your medication first and if this is a contraindication then again consult your GP or Cardio and request alternative medication.
It could be related to a medication you are on. Look up the side effects. I noticed that beta blockers can both cause hallucinations so would not be surprised if the could cause bad dreams. I had some amazing visions in ER on these, although no problems with low dose.
Thanks, yes I have mentioned this before, I think Sotalol does this but it's got worse the ablation, I am hoping my EP will take me off if the heart stays steady
It is quite possibly related to the cocktail of drugs you were given during the ablation or the ones you are taking with a good dollop of stress thrown in . Bisoprolol caused weird and very vivid dreams for me .
I was also a very bad sleeper but since drinking Camomile tea during the day and just before bedtime I sleep much, much better. Might be worth a try ? I have no idea if it will help with your nightmares but if stress is playing a part Camomile might help.
hi Karendeena, I’m sorry to hear you’re not feeling good at he moment 😢 your dreams sound anxiety related to me. Fear and anxiety causes all sorts of horrible things including wierd dreams/ nightmares etc.!! I hate it when my anxiety kicks in and know how you feel.😢
Try just taking it easy and a day at a time. You won’t always feel like this👍
You’ll get there, it’s not easy but you will get there.👍❤️
Thanks Ron, I am very downhearted at the moment and wishing I hadn't had it done. I was awake at 4am this morning with heart going a bit fast (probably the anxiety) and some indigestion again (probably the large salad with spicy beef and fruit cocktail that followed). I don't seem to be able to tolerate evening meals much now either.
It will be worth it in the end K. things do get back to normal eventually. I can’t remember which ablation I had that was worse than the others. It may have been my second.???? My heart rate was all over the place for a good while and the fatigue and lack of energy was also all over.!! My anxiety then shot through the roof and I became very withdrawn and couldn’t concentrate on anything and my appetite went really down hill too unfortunately.!!! My family, or my doctor couldn’t convince me I was going to be alright.! I had to have a good few months off work too which isn’t like me at all. But fast forward some months and surprisingly I did slowly start getting back to normal and so will you.👍
Whatever anyone says to you won’t make a difference at the moment but I bet you start picking up slowly without you even realising it.?👍
Thanks so much. This is exactly how I am feeling. I now have a fear of going to bed which is not me at all. I also worry because I get some indigestion in the night and now convinced myself they have damaged me 🥺🥺
You’re a carbon copy of myself with what you’re saying. When I could sleep I found myself waking up suddenly in a frightened state having to catch my breath.!! Then I couldn’t get back to sleep for fear and anxiety which then made my heart race. Which in turn got the anxiety going through the roof.!! I was in a rite state when I look back.😳
My new health obsession which has just been born is because my cardiologist has just told me my atrium is slightly enlarged due to AFIB and although he says I’m ok I’m now slowly getting myself nattered about it and I know for a fact it’s going to be in my head for a long time winding me up.?
Good Morning , I had the same nightmares but they did go away. The Ablation was a total " i wish I had never got involved" it just caused some many issues particularly loss of vision in one eye , pixilation in the other, falls etc. I refused further intervention. Roger ps much better now.
Thanks. I am on the same line at the moment, wish I had never gone there! Anxiety and indigestion wake me most nights and I end up reading and losing sleep. I pray it will settle soon.
You don’t mention what sedation/anesthesia you may have had for your ablation. Mental side effects of anesthesia (brain fog, cognitive issues, sleep disorders, confusion, etc. ) are more common than realized. They generally resolve over time.
Conscious sedation, but was knocked out as well as It only remember bits and some pain. I know I had a cocktail of drugs according to the nurse on the ward
It's your heart - You're allowed to worry. When I had trouble sleeping, when AF started, cumulative lack of sleep made me worry more and it was even harder to lay down each night. Temporary use of a sleep aid helped (prescribed by a sleep doc). It was hard to get off it, but the weeks of better sleep helped get my mind right.
For me, it was the drugs, as others have said in their replies. Once off them, I slept fine (meaning pretty okay—nothing like 8 hours straight with only pleasant dreams) and felt so much better. It takes time. And good “sleep hygiene.” I determined a pre-bedtime unwavering routine and stuck with it, doing everything in the same order at the exact same time every evening. I included listening to a short guided meditation. I noticed a difference within weeks in my ability to fall asleep easily. Staying asleep for more than 4-5 hours and having to get back to sleep is still an issue, but that might come from being 82 and I’m learning to go with it miserable sleepless nights are truly miserable good luck on getting past this bump
Anxiety doesn’t help, of course, also as others have pointed out. Taking an ablation in stride is not easy, but we don’t really have much of a choice. A heart takes its own time to settle. For me again, one of the most helpful things to quell my anxiety was a deep dive into learning everything I could about afib and ablation.
If you’re in SR, just say hallelujah! The rest will ease off.
I also has horrible nightmares after my ablation and kept seeming myself in the operating theatre every time I closed my eyes. I do think its trauma and anxiety related as ablation is a big operation. Once I was able to get out and about a bit more the nightmares stopped and I could picture nicer environments, parks, sunny days, not the operating theatre. As you become calmer you mind should settle down just take things slowly.
I take Sotalol think that does the same but it's got worse since the Ablation. I am hoping my EP will reduce/stop this when I see him for my follow up appointment in July
Ugh, I totally get this post. I have been completely exhausted from not sleeping because of my arrhythmia and then started Sotalol. Slept well for one night, then last night woke up once after a horrible, vivid dream of my daughter being kidnapped. Woke again feeling like I couldnt breathe, crazy racing heary. It was awful. Not sure which is worse, the med or what it is treating. We need a special place in the forum where us sleepless folk can gather and chat. It is so awful. First to not sleep, second, to be in a house of sleeping people, and have no one to talk with! Hope it gets better for you soon!
Hi Karen, I had a terrible time with my ablation. At first I had bad dreams, I had people tell me it was from the surgery drugs. My ablation failed after 6 days. At that point everytime I laid down i would be short of breath and I was gasping for air. I'm now 3 months out, I had a cardioversion and back in sinus rhythm. I'm sleeping good finally and getting stronger. I know its hard but let time heal.
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Mitral Valve Af and fed up
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