Hi, I know there are many articles around Ablation on here which i will look over... I had my cardiologist appointment yesterday following a 7 day heart monitor as my PAF had become more regualar. I am on 200mg a day flecanide and 1.25mg bisoprolol. Cardiologist suggest ablation is potentially the route to look at and has referred me.
I am nervous around this procedure and operations in general so any positive comments to calm and nervousness i have would be greatly appreciated.
Worth noting an option he did give was to stop/reduce exercising levels that i am currently doing. I'm 38 and play competive football which i re started this year which arguable has coincided with the increased AF occurrences so after sleeping on it and i thought that it may be worth trying reducing the amount of exercise (& weight training) i do to see if this calms it.
My resting heart rate is 60bpm so he said increases the bisoprolol isnt an option.
Thanks in advance.
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tom0985
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Your cardiologist seems to be on the right path and you also might want to take a look at the book Haywire Heart by Dr. John Mandrola.
In it, he talks about how strenuous exercise and especially endurance training can both caused atrial fibrillation as well as increased its burden.
Another interesting read is The Maffetone Method by Paul Maffetone. He makes a very good case that being fit and being healthy are not necessarily the same thing and lays out a plan where you can have both.
Already being on Flecainide, ablation may indeed be in your future sooner or later. But even successful ablations can eventually fail, especially if you test their limits with too much of the wrong kind of exercise.
This doesn't mean,of course that you should necessarily give up your Foorball, , just be very aware of the risks.
My son was a competitive canoeist, and he and a number of his friends had to have ablations. My cardiologist told me that the largest group he sees after age related and familial AF (I'm familial, but my family don't develop it until they are older), are extreme athletes, particularly canoeists ! Seventeen years later my son prefers to hike and cycle !!
They like to offer ablations early now as it is easier to do and has a higher chance of being successful. It would be a shame to have to give up competitive sports without considering all options but exercise can certainly be a trigger
hi Tom. My AF is also triggered by exercise. Been out of action for a few weeks with tendinitis of the knee and not had one episode. First time back on Tuesday and wham, episode that evening. Cardiologist said to stop exercise will do more harm than good and to try, instead of daily Bisoprolol, take up to 5mg when episode starts. If that doesn’t help , ablation 🤦♀️
Thats interesting to know - do you do quite intense exercise? I did wonder about the pill in pocket approach but I think I need to take my bisoprolol as a condition of taking flecanide. Assume you don't take that aswell?
Hi Tom i was 35 when first diagnosed not much exercise at the time, my triggers were too much wine then a sudden chase of the dog when it ran down the road, coffee the same. I only got episodes every 4 or 5 years. I resumed my football at age 45 and trained and played hard as well as ocean ski cross training with running. I did that for 11 years during which time i only got AF once. Interestingly my AF kicked off again in 2017 again from too much red wine then a cardio session at 8 am the next morning triggered it. Then since 2022 i've had a few more.
The point i'm making is that with me there was a catalyst, too much coffee or wine then exercise soon after, so too me it was the combo of both not the exercise on its own. I'm 66 now and still very active, just smarter with setting HR limits and backed off alcohol and only decaf now.
Thank you - I see some similarities my what I think can triggger it also. Exercise in the moment wouod very rarely trigger it but there would often be a delayed effect. Also with my improvement in fitness has meant my resting heart rate can be 40-60bpm and I often wonder whether when I’m relaxing on the sofa in the evening and it drops in to the 40’s that can sometimes trigger it
Maybe… I’ve read sometimes when it’s too low this can happen. The delayed effect may not be from exercise it could be the residual alcohol or caffeine then exercise.
I noticed when I was on Flecainide at 100mg twice a day with metoprolol my HR would also be as low as 40 the doctor reduced me to 50 then 25mg of Flec twice a day with low dose metoprolol and now my resting HR ranges 52-62 and I’m feeling a lot better
I am older but went through the same worries about ablation. My episodes were infrequent (every 4 months) but with a high heart rate and lasted approximately 36 hours. Medication (anti arrythmics) didn't really control it and I wasn't happy taking these drugs that have a black box warning for life!
My well respected EP informed me that AF will never go away and will progress over time (however long that takes).
I decided on ablation (big decision) which I had almost 4 weeks ago. Yes, it's been a bit of a bumpy recovery, not sure what I was expecting, but.....apart from a slightly increased heart rate, it's behaving at the moment, only time will tell.
I followed my EP recommendations that early intervention with ablation is the best chance to hit the beast, with a success rate at first attempt of 80 to 85% I hope I don't need another.
What is nice is that I can make plans without too much concern that AF will might hit me at times like on a long haul flight.
I did remind myself of what my afib episodes felt like and how they were affecting my life which confirmed ablation was the correct route to take.
Unless you are going down the private route I would get on the waiting list for ablation as it can be long.I went down the route of trying to self help by getting fitter.It didn't work.
Interesting, years ago I worked at a Life Assurance company and I know that competitive canoeists were rated for life assurance policies.
I had an ablation about 8/9 weeks ago, still in recovery I believe. I have to have a monitor for a week beginning of May to check rhythm. ‘I’m feeling ok.
I have taken organised exercise since 40’s, I’m now 66. I did use the gym for some years, I’m a swimmer and swim 3x week for about 20-30 minutes and also do aqua exercise. I took a rest after the ablation for couple weeks or so. Had a couple of breaks, so back to swimming and little water exercise, being careful not to over do it.
Ablation procedure was ok and I was wary because I know a lot of Anatomy & Phys due to my training. You will HAVE to rest and I didn’t want to undo the good effects, especially as i had mine by private health scheme.
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