Need help from ablation patients, please.

[Abbyroza]

hello dear AF-friends!

I’m in doubt about having an ablation or accepting my asymptomatic Afib episodes that are rate-controlled with Bisoprolol.

To help me decide, I have a few questions for our friends here who have had an ablation.

1. Are you totally Afib-free after that single procedure? No other heart rhythm problems?

2. If not, how many procedures did you need to get 100 % Afib-free?

3. Are you off all AF-related medication?

4. How long did it take to recover completely

5. Is your quality of life the same as before you ever had Afib?

6. Would you do it again?

7. If not, why not?

Thank you so much for taking your time to answer these questions! They will be a valuable help in making this difficult choice!

[Jalia]

I understand your doubts, having experienced them myself. However as I'm certainly not a typical AF patient I don't think that my answers to your questions would be very helpful to you.

Please bear in mind though that the majority of those who were greatly helped , or indeed have had no further recurrence of AF, have normally left the forum and got on with enjoying their life !

Bear in mind also that any treatment for AF is only to improve quality of life. There is no guarantee that it will not return. Lifestyle changes can help greatly. ( healthy eating plan, little or better still , no alcohol, good sleep pattern, weight control etc)

[jeanjeannie50]

answers to your questions:

1. No

2. Have had three ablations and still have AF

3. Still on tablets to calm heart rate

4. I felt different after each ablation. After the first and second my AF attacks became worse. after the third I felt immediately better, my attacks were PAF but soon developed into constant after being refused a third cardioversion within 1 year. My heat rate is now between 60-90bpm and I can cope with that. Constant AF so much better than PAF. I lead a fairly normal life now

5. No

6. No - see no. 7

7. Given another chance I would try an artificial additive free diet before contemplating any ablations. I later discovered that artificial sweeteners were a sure trigger for my attacks.

[Abbyroza in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you so much for this very valuable real-life testimonial. Wish you all the best!

[Buzby62]

I still feel it’s too early for me to answer some of your questions, you can see my journey in my bio by clicking on my badge or name, I should really update it to say all has been well since my last update but I don’t want to tempt fate. I came off all the meds 2 months ago and immediately had more energy and less breathless after brisk walking up hills. I wouldn’t have said I suffered from breathlessness but the beta blocker was obviously holding me back.

The questions I had for the EP before deciding were:-

What’s your opinion on my AF burden and frequency of episodes? - Ans: a lot

Is it likely to progress? - Ans: yes

Am I suitable for rhythm control drugs? - Ans: no

Will the ablation help stop progression? Ans: you tick all the boxes for it to work.

I would read as much as you can from the patient resources on the following link heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

Hope this helps with your decision.

[Abbyroza in reply to Buzby62]

Thank you! All the best and eternal sinus!

[ozziebob]

I missed your deleted Post today, but have now read this previous Post of yours.

You can read my Bio and it shows, thankfully, that I am nowhere near a catheter ablation or any surgical procedure. But AF changes with time so it's useful to do wider research, as most have, in preparation for such possibilities.

At the moment, I have concluded that I would avoid a catheter ablation if possible. My preference, mainly because it "burns" the "outside" of the heart, not the "inside", is for a Wolf type minimaze procedure. You can obtain more info about this procedure on the website ...

wolfminimaze.com

... and you can read some very useful illustrated feedback on this procedure by saulger who journeyed to Tokyo from Greece to undergo a similar procedure with Dr Ohtsuka ...

healthunlocked.com/user/sau...

Good luck.