Booked in for PVI in a week or so to hopefully improve my paroxysmal AF, which is only induced at 150-160 bpm exercise related efforts, so relatively well controlled. Healthwise I've got no issues and am as fit as anyone who exercises 6 days per week.
Monday operation, in hospital Monday night and home on Tuesday. Have already booked Wednesday as off. Didn't occur to me that would require much in the way of time off from work, as I have a desk based job consisting of lots of teams meetings which I can do from home. The most strenuous it gets is walking downstairs for lunch or coffee!
In browsing through the recovery sections on various websites there's a wide range of views on recovery times - some saying a few days off work, some saying a week or obviously much longer for physically demanding jobs.
I've got a few critical meetings booked in for Thursday and was assuming I would be able to do a mostly full day of work from home.
Is this realistic? I understand there's a wide spectrum, so interested in peoples experience of recovery in similar level of health to me.
Cheers,
Tom
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CyclingRunner
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Have just found all the posts related to the same question (my search was obviously inadequate). So the conclusion is it depends, but the whole week would be better!
If you scroll through the following link to AFA publications there is a leaflet on recovering from Ablation. I was trying to send you a direct link but have link problems today for some unknown reason.
I would suggest you need to rest your body and mind for a bit longer, putting yourself under pressure to perform even if you are well can have a negative effect in my opinion. A clear diary would be my prescription but we’re all different. Hope all goes well.
I am just recovering from a PVI myself (just over two weeks ago) and would advise you to take at least a week off from your desk based job. It’s not so much the fact that you won’t be walking around that’s the problem, it’s the fatigue that you feel after an ablation that might hit you at unexpected times throughout the initial days following one. The way you feel changes daily….i just wouldn’t chance it.
You wouldn’t want to increase any stress levels either during those first post days.
I'm just 10 days post my 5th ablation. You are correct in assuming a wide spectrum of opinion. With my 4 previous ablations I don't recall any problems recovery wise after a few days. However this one is a different kettle of fish!
I have been so exhausted if I tried to do anything much at all. I've fallen asleep at least twice a day just sitting in a chair. Night-time sleeping , bar the first night home, is better than its been for years but still I'm tired.
You may be perfectly OK but don't be surprised if you're not. I would say take at least a week off work if you possibly can.
To top it all off I'm having short episodes of AF every day and a few SV Ectopics thrown in to vary things up.
I know I'm not at your level of fitness (😂😂...bit late for me) but I've given you my experience anyhow to let you know how these can differ. My previous ablation was 3 years ago with swift recovery at age 76.
As an aside, are you aware that regular, hard physical exercise can lead to AF and is regularly the cause of paroxysmal lone AF in younger, fit and otherwise healthy individuals?
Yes - both my parents have AF (although only at around 75 years old), I am 6ft6 (which has increased risk) and have run marathons and now cycle 6 days per week. I’m well informed about the Haywire Heart Book - discovered this all 2 - 3 years ago when I first felt AF! To top it all off my family also has a high heart disease risk (2 of my father siblings have passed due to heart attack, all but one have had multiple bypasses and my grandfather passed at 52 from a heart attach). Bad genes!! Makes me very envious about the people running ultra marathons!!
I thought the same but it wasn't that easy. I would say no, you need to rest. I suffered aura migraines for 10 days which is another potential side effect from ablation. Appreciate we are all different but I think you are being too ambitious ❤️
I can’t comment on your question but am in a similar position, generally keeping my heart rate down and out of the cold, whilst running, weight training and swimming. So please let us all know how you get on.
Apart from the fact that you will be likely to be uncomfortable in the groin area of entry, extremely easy to tire and quite likely to have bouts of AF,you need to treat this as a significant proceedure. Your heart has been insulted and will protest!Also for the life of me can't understand why ,if AF is only provoked by strenuous exercise raising your heart rate above 150,why do it?
Fair question and 2 years ago my plan was to manage through beta blockers and toning it down. But my cardio (who treats quite a few athlete type people) has always suggested that AF begets AF and that while I am still relatively young and in PAF then I’m better off ablating as the chances of success are much lower once it progresses. Training for a major event this year and was more stressed about whether I would go into AF and manage HR. Hard to understand for the non cyclists but when I’m out on the bike seeing the sunrise at 6am I feel great and really contributes towards my mental health. So it’s a trade off and hopefully it allows me not have to be so worried about the HR when cycling.
Ablation working for me so far, about to come off flecanide so we shall see( abated AF and Aflutter) long story should have been off before now.Hey,didn't mean to sound Nursey,I Hope you get the result you want .Best wishes
Just my own opinion, but I think there are two different questions to ask here.
The first is, how long might it take for one to feel reasonably able to get on with light duties. The second is, how long should I avoid activity which will make my heart work harder than when I'm at rest?
The answer to the first is often a matter of days. In my case I actually felt fine on the day I had the ablation.
The answer to the second is where differences of opinion lie. This is mine. Lesions (burn scars) have been formed inside your heart and need time to heal and form barriers through which rogue signals cannot pass. Healing is best achieved in a heart which is not put under strain during that vital time. How long is that? It inevitably varies, but from my own experience I'd say you shouldn't be going anywhere near your trainers or bike for at least a month. I was still noticing tiny improvements 18 months after my ablation, so it's a slow process. By all means aim to get back to a level of fitness you're happy with, but be patient. I'm sure you know the importance of rest as part of any fitness programme; you simply need a few weeks of that element post-ablation.
I have a fairly physical job, in that I hump a trolley in and out of my car (I'm a Foot Health Practitioner). I took 4 weeks off and wished I'd had longer. I would take as much time off as you can, but certainly at least a week.
I can’t help with Ablation question but with high level of training over many years I’ve experienced similar. Following a hard hit out cross training ocean ski/run sessions I could go into AF. My first episode was 31 years ago and have noted each episode and found a common link. It’s not so much the intensity of exercise but what I did before it. Each time the previous evening before training I’d had a few too many red wines. On one occasion I’d consumed 2 strong coffees before a run. During first 29 years i had 6 episodes and would revert through exercise.
In 2022 for some reason excessive or rich food also became a trigger and I’ve had a few episodes since.
I now take a very low dose of Metoprolol and a low dose of Flecainide, each well below the recommended dosage. It seems to work and I continue to paddle, indoor cycle and gym work with no problems, my max HR is more controlled with the drugs and generally max out at 130-140
Maybe have a think about what you were doing the day or night before you went into AF. You might just find a catalyst. It certainly made a difference in AF frequency for me once I understood my catalyst’s which resulted in me not training hard on those certain days. Good luck with ablation!
Thanks. Red wine is a killer for me. Had my wife’s 50th a month ago and consumed far too much red and spent 2 days with masses of ectopics. Also excess food consumption - so big family gatherings where you eat your body weight in cheese before even eating. For years after a solid night I had a high ectopic burden - just thought this was normal. Coffee seems ok. I actually think it’s more aligned with muscular effort rather than just HR. For example I can run at 150-160bpm ok (if no red wine), but have gone into AF when bodyboarding and had to duck dive repeatedly and kick. Probably the one which is would be more concerning would be switching into AF and lunch on the 3rd day of a 4 day cycling trip. First time unrelated but to effort and back into NSR after a beer later in the day…
It’s certainly a journey that I would prefer not to be going through.
could be dehydration maybe, but I’m sure if you cycle you get that. Anyway if you haven’t yet done bloodwork check levels of magnesium, CoQ10 and Vitamin D3. Mine were all quite low. I’ve now been supplementing for nearly a year and virtually no ectopics. I read Steven Carr’s blog a year ago and whilst it’s only anecdotal I thought I’d dig into it.
I chatted to an EP who suggested RF for flutter and PF for AF at the same time. Also there’s an Aussie company Imricor that has designed an MRI guided Catheter for flutter ablations. It’s yet to be approved by FDA but is in Trials and appears to have the best accuracy than anything on market.
Hi, seems you are assuming everything will go perfectly , no hiccups and you will be ready to go. Lots of posts indicate there can be various issues from excessive bleeding, soreness, in my case my heart rate was too low to be sent home as scheduled on same day and had to spend extra night in hospital. I think you are cutting it a bit fine and the last thing you want is to go back into AF caused by stress, anxiety or physical exhaustion.
Thanks. Unfortunately one of my kids was sick on Monday with cold / fever and passed it on to me.
Flagged this with the EP and they’ve postponed my op. Depending on the next slot this could be a couple of months which is frustrating. I did also note that they wanted me in for two nights in hospital so I think next time I am booked in I will book the week off work just to be safe.
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