Racing heartbeat and ablation.

[wischo]

Hi all, am looking for anybody with similar experience. I was diagnosed with AFib a year ago and on Edoxaban and 40mg Atorvastatin. Always walked 5 -7klms daily and done some weights a few times a week! nothing too heavy just two 5kg dumbells and a hundred reps etc and my apple watch always showed my VO2Max as high 37-39 for my age. In the last few weeks my heartrate during my walk started rising from my average of 110 or less to up to 130 and average 122bpm. I actually feel less energetic and my VO2max has gone down to below average. My catheter ablation for the afib is this coming Friday and I wondered could this change in heartrate be down to the afib on exercise or as I have two stents!! well everything comes to mind. My kardia agrees with these readings and shows afib for up to 10minutes after my walk and then goes back to normal rate of mid 50s. My kardia then shows unclassified with 3 to 4 extra premature heartbeats on the 30 second trace for a while before returning to NSR. Do they check your heart for failure or stress before ablation as this has me concerned. I can still do the 5klm walk but more tired?. Any advice welcome.

[BobD Volunteer]

Afib will usualy reduce excercise tolerance and it is not a great idea to try and beat this. If you are having an ablation soon then for goodness sake leave off with the over exercise for a few weeks to give you heart a chance to recover properly or it will all be for nought.

[wischo in reply to BobD]

Thank you Bob. How long before you can get going again. Some say two weeks while others say 3 or 4 days so confusing, would cardio rehab afterwards be better do you think.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to wischo]

Short walks around the house or garden the first week, maybe slightly longer week two but very important to listen to your body and act accordingly. I will add our fact sheet on recovery but I would say leave it a month and build up gradually. I think many of us ruined our first ablations through ignorance and believing what the doctors told us. (they never had the procedure) but the fact sheet was written from patient experience so is generally more relevant.

healthunlocked.com/redirect...

[wischo in reply to BobD]

Great advice and thats what I will do.

[Buffafly]

Walking is ok but work up and avoid a high HR and breathlessness until after your checkup in six months or whenever. Forget the weights, not good for AF.

[wischo in reply to Buffafly]

Thank you.

[Cavalierrubie in reply to wischo]

Wischo, Just accept the fact that you are having a procedure to get better and to do that you need to take time off for your body to heal. You are not in a race. Let go and give yourself a chance. You don’t get better with pushing yourself too much, only put yourself back. You need to take care of yourself so please, please do. Let us know how you are. Lots of best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[wischo in reply to Cavalierrubie]

I will do and thank you for your reply. Not really one fot these type of procedures so a bit nervy at the moment which I am sure can be expected by most of us. Thanks for the good wishes.

[CDreamer]

It’s natural to be nervy about such a procedure but once the day is here and you are at the clinic the worst part is the waiting to go into the cath lab so do say you are nervous, the staff will be used to that. Great advice above, the best way of thinking about recovery is that allow your body to tell you what is best - if you are feeling tired - rest, if restless then move but be prepared that your body will sometimes also trick you so try anticipate and stop before you tire because often it will come on without warning. Expect some ectopics and they are often warnings that your heart is unsettled. Worry and fretting make things worse so relax, learn something new, practice breathing to relax.

If you have a broken bone you don’t use the limb until it heals - same for you heart - it needs healing time and some people heal much faster than others so it’s very individual.

Best of luck and wishing you long lasting NSR.

[wischo]

Thank you so much for your reply and I am taking everything on board. Great example the broken bone and makes so much sense now. Thanks for the wishes.

[KenRC]

I found the problem with “listening to your body” led me into a false sense of security- I felt so good for the first 4 1/2 days after my ablation I think I overdid it & my heart rate shot up suddenly after lifting my stupid automower! (After getting back from walking the dog). ECG showed I’d developed “atypical atrial flutter”. I have to wait for a re-ablation now, doctor said it’s a quicker procedure this time, under sedation.

Probably like you, I hate sitting about!

[wischo in reply to KenRC]

So sorry to hear that happened to you and yes I hate sitting around and all the advice is to go and walk when you feel better. Though in fairness the replies I received are from people that have had this procedure and none of them think that anything that exerts you is a good thing so I will do my best to relax for the next month or so. Hope your next ablation goes to plan and sorts you out.

[KenRC]

Thanks! I hope yours goes well on Friday, all the best!🤞

[MWIC]

AFib started to affect my ability to exercise and tbh I listened to what my body was telling me - I listened for once to all the great advice on here and when I had my ablation I was determined to do everything right - I had some trouble a week after it for about 3-4 weeks but all then settled down and been AFib free for at least 6 months now - good luck with it and give yourself some time afterwards for godsake

[Nantoone in reply to MWIC]

I am on week four to five now and my a fib episodes are lasting longer. Been having them since week 3. But they only lasted around ten minutes. Today I am in af since waking at 7am. Taken medication at 9 and still no change. Hoping it will disappear soon. Did you have AF after ablation or ectopics?

[MWIC in reply to Nantoone]

I had AF after for maybe 2-3 weeks from week 2 and tachycardia - 160bpm that lasted 4 days, went came back and lasted 5 days. All in all it started to settle down and was noticeably in a better place week 8 onwards. I do get occasional ectopics but absolutely nothing compared to AFib and nothing to worry about

[Nantoone in reply to MWIC]

I hope i don’t get tachycardia. So far heart rate is between 70 and 80. Just AF that doesn’t want to settle today even after Flecanide. It’s great to have friends here to talk it over with. Keeps the BP down 😃

[wischo]

So pleased all worked out well for you.