Post Ablation breathlessness

[Lollysmum]

Hi,

My husband suffers from persistent AF. He had an ablation on 30th April. He has recovered really well and is back doing his part time job. From what I have read on this forum he is doing a lot better than some and I keep saying to him that his heart is still recovering from the procedure, but his main concern is the ongoing breathlessness he is suffering even though he is still currently in NSR.

He has previously had 2 cardioversions - after the first he felt immediately better, his breathlessness went and he felt like a new man. Unfortunately that only lasted 6 weeks. The second one he had was while taking Amiodarone and this was still holding him in NSR 8 weeks later when he had the ablation. He felt better after this one and the breathlessness diminished but not as much as it did after the first one.

Since the ablation he has stopped taking the Amiodarone. We are managing some short walks, very much at his pace, but he is still very breathless. I think he thought he would feel immediately better after the procedure, whereas I was a lot more cautious about his recovery. Is he expecting too much too soon, is it likely to improve as he continues to heal ? He has his follow up appointment booked on 31st July at the end of the 3 months, but it would be interesting to hear others' experiences. The breathlessness is so debilitating, I just wish I could do something to help.

[Buzby62]

Still early days in my opinion, I’m almost six months in now and still improving I feel. He might still have some inflammation from the procedure, I would keep his arrhythmia nurses informed, I was in contact with mine in the first couple of months prior to my 3 month review, that’s what they’re there for. See my bio by clicking on my name/badge.

Best wishes

[Lollysmum in reply to Buzby62]

Thanks for the advice, we did discuss calling them so we'll give them a ring

[pip_pip]

Hi. I think you need to look further than the AF. The breathlessness might be from other issues. If its so debilitating there could be another underlying cause. You might discuss with your GP.

Phil

[Lollysmum in reply to pip_pip]

He is under a respiratory consultant too, but the fact that it improved so significantly after the first cardioversion leads us to believe it is more to do with the AF.

[DiyChas in reply to Lollysmum]

Does he have asthma?

[CDreamer]

is he breathless at rest or only on exertion?

If on exertion, things may continue to improve for six to nine months out - it will take that long for heart & system to recover. If breathless at rest your husband should get checked out.

Everyone’s experience is different but one thing seems a common experience is that the more interventions & drugs you have, the less chance of returning to pre AF fitness. Keep the balance of exercise and rest recovery to suit to limit symptoms is my best advice. That may be accepting that we have to adapt but don’t stop exercising!

[Lollysmum in reply to CDreamer]

It is really just on exertion. I personally think he is doing well. His general fitness levels must be pretty low as he just hasn’t been able to exercise prior to Cardioversion/ablation as the breathlessness just knocked him for six. We will carry on slowly but surely and hopefully things will start to improve. Thanks for replying

[BobD Volunteer]

Goes with the territory but still very early days yet . He should be slow enough to walk and talk.

[mjames1]

Catheter ablation is a much bigger procedure than cardioversion. Give it some time and take it really slow. Keep your doctor(s) in the loop.

Jim

[Buffafly]

Amiodarone can affect the lungs and takes a long time to totally clear from the system - possibly months - so you need to make allowance for that.

[Lollysmum in reply to Buffafly]

Oh that is really interesting thank you and definitely worth beating in mind.

[fairgo45]

I agree about the amiodarone it affected my breathing a lot and I had to stop taking it but also early days for walking normally when I had one of my ablations we had to go to a shopping mall and my husband was walking along at his normal pace while I couldn't keep up at all so told him I'd go back to the car sometimes people think you have the ablation and immediately your back to normal but it takes time he's lucky to have you as your very thoughtful it's par for the course to be slower at first at walking it becomes easier as the days pass but if your worried contact the EPs secretary see what he advises

[kkatz]

It is very early days to be doing a part time job and I was probably just taking my first walk over half a mile.Probably about a mile .Been in NSR for 15 months now.

Sometimes get a little breathless on inclines.

[ClareGott]

I am 6 months post ablation.

Have suffered breathlessness and fatigue since but I have to say it is slowly improving now. I question the blood thinners actually as I think that is a side affect.

I am a very fit 65 year old. Not overweight and the long recovery surprised me. I actually find that the more I exercise the better I feel.

I have been in sinus rhythm ever since ablation. Give it time…

[tcpace]

It's possible that the breathing problem is the result of some damage to the phrenic nerve which can stop the diaphragm working properly and hence breathlessness. My wife had this on her first ablation and it took about 10 months to rectify (but in many cases it can be a lot quicker than that). It can be checked out by an X-ray scan.

[Efka in reply to tcpace]

Hello that is so interest (and of course not in a good way as it happened to your poor wife!!). So they could detect the phrenic nerve issue through a normal X-ray? Did they use a contrast?

And if you don’t mind may I please ask how it improved, did they do anything medically or was it just a case of time?

My husband has had a multitude of new symptoms after a two lead ICD was implanted in February, main one is continuous breathlessness (with weird abdominal muscle spasms). We’ve kept asking if it could be due to the phrenic nerve (and/or vagus nerve) being triggered or damaged but so far have gotten nowhere.

Many thanks and I am glad your wife is now feeling better.

[tcpace in reply to Efka]

Hi Efka

I believe it was a normal X-ray but I'm no expert. She didn't have any treatment for the damaged phrenic nerve. The electrophysiologist said it should repair itself in time and, in our case, it did fortunately. One day, about 10 months after the ablation, my wife has a strange tingling sensation around the bottom of the rib cage. Next time she went for a checkup, the X ray showed the diaphragm to be functional again. Sounds like your hubby needs to be X rayed to rule out phrenic nerve damage.

Hope it gets sorted soon 🤞

[Efka in reply to tcpace]

Wonderful that time was a healer, I am sure a lot of patience was practice though as 10 months is a long time bless her.

And thank you yes I am trying to push for appropriate imaging to be done to if nothing else exclude issues with the leads and nerves.

Thank you again for helping, Eva

[Ppiman]

If I were your husband, I would be phoning the arrhythmia clinic (or emailing) and, if that's not possible, then I would be phoning my GP. Being short of breath is important enough to be poirfessionally checked.

However, I also have no doubt it is the post ablation and post amiodarone effects and these will slowly recover. His heart might be in NSR, but the efficiency of the lower chambers is likely not up to speed at all yet given the ablation's various effects on the atrium and, possibly the valves.

Steve

[Morzine]

Awe it’s hard isn’t it, how short is your short walk? Can u walk to a cafe from car and walk back that’s what I did first ablation now this one I’m two weeks. I will do the same soon It gives you a break and also feel you achieve something

Slow pace is normal. At three months last time I messaged here and said is this real I’m still getting odd days I cannot walk far abs everyone said yes …..

As for part time work maybe that’s knocking him out heart wise I don’t think I could have worked last time for ages….best wishes

Sue

[Lollysmum]

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments. I think you have pretty much all confirmed my feeling that time is a great healer and we are perhaps expecting rather a lot very soon after the procedure. We will give the arrhythmia nurses a call just to touch base and keep them up to date.

Fingers crossed it will continue to improve over time x