I asked about how long I should sit out post ablation tachycardia on Saturday and got lots of very kind replies and many asking for an update.
So I did go to A&E and after three hours was admitted to the A&E ward. HR was 95 but trying to convert back to normal speed. Doc kept me in for observation to check everything.
At bedtime when I laid down it hopped up to 120s. Had ECG where it went back to 95.
At 3am it leapt to 148 and I was in a lot of pain.
Long story short blood pressure was 70/50. Crash Team busy next ward so my ward assembled their own of several nurses, doc, critical care nurse and anaesthetist about eight in total. I was in loads of pain and passing out but they wouldn't let me shut my eyes!!. BP then 53/33! I was sweating profusely. GTN reduced pain but they were all working fast and urgently so I knew I was in trouble. Did think to.myself that I could be on the way out!! It was decided there was not enough time for amiodarone via a central line, something had to be done much more urgently!! So a electric cardioversion at the bedside! Woke myself up when I cried out. HR back to 108. IV amiodarone lowered it to 60s and I was admitted to High Dependency Unit.
Blinking heck! I've had faster HR with afib but never pain like that, lack of oxygen to body I suppose. The HDU team told me "you gave the crash team a scare"!!!!
Seems BP so.low I was going into clinical shock....😱
Now I'm in cardiac ward. HR fine. Back on oral amiodarone after 30 hours of IV.
Feeling exhausted, I'm only four weeks post ablation so there's all that, than a marathon running HR for 29 hours and very little sleep. Ironically the fourth ablation was to get me off amiodarone and I was dead against having it done... Let's hope it's the infamous blanking period.....
Sorry for too long post. Hope it makes some sense.
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Jajarunner
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Oh wow, I'm glad you took the decision to go to A&E and that you got seen. Must have been quite a shock. I hope they find what's going on and get you stable again.
Goodness, what a time you've had! Was a reason given for your BP dropping so low? Could it have been lack of fluids that day? I'm guessing your CV was without any form of sedation?
No, fluids ok. Everything ok. Potassium low normal. It's a (scary) mystery. They said it was afib in the end but no light on why BP went so dangerously low. Luckily they did sedate me,I didn't feel it but I did yelp. I've done the yelping thing a few times before so I must feel something subconsciously 😂😂. Thank you for your message xx
In the course that your BP gets so low, your heart has to "almost" stop pumping the blood. Why would it be? One way is that the RPM gets very low, meaning that you should have been bradycardic, what was not the case... The other way is, when you are in tachycardia as you were, that the ejection fraction gets very low, what obviously was the case. Why? It happens only if the heart is in ventricular tachycardia (SVT or VT, both give a very low efficiency of the heart). I know that you have been diagnosed with AF in the end, but the above explanation is the only one that "holds the water".
It'll be interesting to see what the EP says. They read the ECGs differently from the cardiologists. I've often been told it's afib only for it to be aflutter for example.Thank you for your reply 🤞
I always ask my son who works in emergency why my HR can sit around 90 or more for a day when it’s normally around 65. Many reasons but one is lack of sleep can increase cortisol levels and hence higher HR. It can take a few days to catch up. In your case I’m not sure if that contributes to the higher rate and or Tach or AF
My cardiologist put me on low dose metoprolol, I’m on 10mg twice a day which is about 1mg Bisoprolol equivalent. He said it wasn’t to keep my HR low as it is already in the 60’s but to tamp down that adrenaline or cortisol effect I get from my triggers, coffee, alcohol stress then exercise seems historically my triggers over the last 31 years. We’ve now added Flecainide about 20mg twice a day as I was getting 1 or 2 episodes a year(I’m getting older) and previously it was one episode on average every 4-5 years.
It’s getting the right balance isn’t it? We are all so different, but your burden is low so can be kept well under control. I am getting episodes once a month right now after having a gap of 18 months with nothing. Stress is the major downfall for me. Take care.
Yes I always believe that for many individual reasons we are not all the same. One thing we do know is it’s progressive especially as we get older.My son keeps reminding me! I’m trying everything to kick the bucket down the road. I even tested for coq10 vitd3 and magnesium and I was low in all 3. Now supplementing for over 12 months. Maybe it’s a combo of all, my cardiologist lowers his nose to coq10 and says we don’t know if it helps. I still take it!
We try this and that which all helps to keep us healthy. It must make a difference to our constitution and help to keep us strong when being attacked by this monster. Like a coat of armour 😂😂😂.
apparently it’s those stress hormones our body uses to keep us awake. The example is our plane kept getting delayed then I couldn’t sleep on the plane for the 6 hour flight so basically 18 hours without sleep then we returned during the day!
gosh what an awful scary time you have had. So pleased you were in the right place when it happened and you had all the best people around you to help. Glad things are all calm again and you continue to recover. Take care.
WOW, Thank goodness you got yourself down to A&E ! How scary was that. I had a scary moment when I laid down in bed about 10 hours after my ablation & got horrendous pain for a few moments. But had no tachy to speak of. Best wishes on your journey back to a full recovery. Lessons to learn for us all don't delay finding help.
Yes, it was all very different to my usual afib. Just HR in 90s so thought it was just a bit of tachycardia post ablation. Turns out it was afib, but they seem puzzled my BP crashed like that as I've never had it like that before even with a HR of 195. Luckily Addenbrookes in Cambridge is a great hospital.
What a dreadful experience for you and so glad they solved it for you. I had Tachy/Brady PAF for years and know the sort of pain you can experience. After being advised to go for Pace and Ablate and after deliberating over it for a couple of years I took the plunge and haven't looked back since.
Glad all seems to be more stable now and also very pleased that the hospital were efficient in treating you and levelling everything out. Sounds like you had a great team there. Hope you are soon feeling much better. Take care xx
Thank you. Yes, sooooo glad I didn't go to my local hospital, instead chose the hour drive to Addenbrookes in Cambridge. They are a different league here plus my EP is at Papworth next door and they liaise properly. The local hospital used to get a bit precious if I ever asked them if they'd spoken to my EP as if I was offending them 🙄
It sounds to me as if there was an awful lot happening that wasn't able to be investigated and ascertained in the emergency circumstances, but which has, thankfully, corrected itself and is now on a recovery course.
I wonder if he will be able to know after the event, unless they took the right measurements. Maybe the ECGs will show what happened. It could be the valves temporarily lost competency owing to tachycardia and the EF plummeted as a result? Maybe there was brief pericarditis or effusion?
So much seems possible when I read of the complexity of this procedure and the thinness of the atrial wall, the nearness of the oesophagus and such like.
I was surprisingly chilled! Just resigned to what might happen. I did keep grabbing people's hands though and they had to pull away coz they were too important Crash Team stuff. 🤣🤣
Good heavens poor you. It all sounds very frightening - thank goodness you went to hospital and didn't try to sit it out. Did they say why you were in so much pain?Anyway I hope the Amiodarone gives some respite and then in a couple of months the heart may have healed enough to get you off it🤞
Thank you, Lily. I was surprisingly calm considering. I just wanted to hold my husband's hand. Obviously he wasn't there so at different times I grabbed the hand of the doctor and the anaesthetist instead - who then, of course,needed to extract themselves to do far more important things 🤣🤣🤣
I would have done the same ! 😅Anyway more seriously I hope you are now back in normal sinus rhythm and that it holds while you heal. My experience is very measly compared to yours but I had so many rhythm problems after my ablation - the worst being very fast tachycardia - that I thought (and so did 2 Cardiologists ) that the ablation had been a failure.
I think it is because from one day to the next I was taken off all medication whereas I think it is better to stay on some medication through the blanking period while the heart sorts itself out.
Anyway I wish you all the best and hope you can get home and hold your husband's hand soon 😊 x
Hello there. I hope you are feeling a bit better today. I to had an ablation but before the procedure I was asked to stop taking my Sotalol. I didn't last 3 days before I had to be admitted via A and E early Monday morning [heart rate 179]. I had my Ablation on the Tuesday and it was unsuccessful. I laid for the several afterwards as advised and as soon as I sat up off it went again. I then had loading dose of Amiodarone and spent 24 hours in CCU then spent a total of 10 days in hospital. Discharged still in Tachycardia then Cardioversion few months later which actually worked for several months. I don't know if there is scarring after the procedure but someone else might have more knowledge than me. AFib/Tachycardia became unstable in August. Waiting for another Holter Monitor as I had the most horrendous chest pain like yourself late Saturday evening. Take care of yourself when you get home, let your body rest and your heart will tell you if it's not happy or you are overdoing things.
Oh my goodness, I was holding my breath as I read your post. I hope you're stabilizing now and on your way to a full recovery. My best wishes go out to you.
Hi so sorry for your stressful experience. Lots of rest and something you can enjoy, maybe some fun movies. I've had similar experience, albeit not as protracted, so you do need total rest and peace now x.
Your story reminds me of when I crawled across a soccer field to get to my university clinic. In the clinic, I was still on the floor with 2-3 staff around me taking my stats and one of them looked at me and blurted out "You should be dead!!!" and then pulled herself back together and said my blood pressure was below shock level, whatever that meant. In any case, the reaction made a lasting impression. That was almost 5 decades ago, so there is lots of room for hope!
Sorry you experienced so much pain and I hope that does not repeat! Happy recovery!
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