I am awaiting appointment for an EPS and possible ablation for SVT. Am currently taking Verapamil. Not sure whether to have this procedure.

[LaurenNat1]

I am worried by risks.

[mallet-head]

High Orchid, I too am "listed " for an ablation sometime in March 2014. I have AF, but don't suffer a lot of the symptoms most have who post on this forum mention, but it is a question of "quality of life " decision I think, especially for me. I tire very easily and get somewhat short of breath even with mild exercise. I am on warfarin and have to have weekly blood tests for INR, which limits what you can do and where you can go to a fair extent, I would like to have a more active life than I am currently capable of living, and the recommendation of my EP consultant was for the catheter ablation, using high energy radio frequency ablation. He has quoted a 70-80% chance of success, and if not,a second ablation should "fix it".

I would think the EPS consultant will explain all of the options open to you for your particular circumstances, and the degree of risk vs the likely success rate for those options.

If you go to the link below, it takes you to the website of the heart specialist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, where you will find lots of information to de-mystify the ablation process.

heartrhythmspecialist.co.uk...

Hope this helps your decision process.

kind regards, Mallet-head

[LaurenNat1 in reply to mallet-head]

Thanks Mallet-head, I will try that link. My problem only affects me now and again and I do not have a problem with exercise. Good luck with your procedure in March.

[allwobbly in reply to mallet-head]

Thanks for the specialist web site which I have found most informative. I have been asked to join a research project where various treatments are a possibility and can now ask a few hopefully intelligent questions the next time I see my specialist.

thanks

Allwobbly

[Rose1704]

Hi, I have had 2 ablations this year for SVT and RVOT. The procedure itself was quite unpleasant but in the long term well worth it. For me the medication made me feel very tired & not bring on medication was not an option. I had my 2nd ablation in August & have been symptom free and off medication since. I guess tho when deciding whether to go for an ablation or not depends on how you feel whilst on medication and how your symptoms affect you on a day to day basis. Hope this helps

[LaurenNat1]

Thanks for your comments Rose 1704.

[PBailey]

Hello Orchid1

I suffered from SVT since childhood. About 15 years ago I had RF ablation and the SVT has not recurred since. I'm now 66.

The procedure was simple and painless, lasting about an hour. Only a local anaesthetic was used so the risks were slight.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

[cat3]

I was due to have ablation eight years ago but chose to see a different cardiologist who asked whether I'd tried medication for the severe svt I'd suffered for many years.

I'd had beta blockers and various tranquilisers but he just smiled and wrote a prescription for Flecainide. I was sceptical but this marvellous drug took immediate effect and I have been free from attacks since. My life could've been very different if this medication had been available 50 years ago.

No more nights of pressurising my head & other weird procedures to shock my heart back into rhythm, or calling the paramedics for the 'magic' injection when too exhausted to keep trying.

Hope this is of some interest, Orchid. Regards, Cat.

[LaurenNat1 in reply to cat3]

Thanks Cat. I will discuss this with my GP.

[Massie-mae in reply to cat3]

Hi Cat3. Your situation sounds so similar to mine. I was diagnosed with SVT in my early 30s but had the symptoms since my teens. I visited my GP many times but ECG was always normal as I wasn't having an episode at that time. I had an ablation which stopped the sustained rapid heart rate of 240bpm but it wasn't entirely successful as I still have strange sensations which my cardiologist has said could mean that some of the ablated pathway has either repaired itself or was missed. I have also discovered that I have another pathway (avnrt) which has only shown itself since the ablation. This has put me off any further intervention. I take beta blockers which do control it most of the time but the side effects, tiredness and weight gain are affecting my life plus the anxiety I experience every time I sense any disturbance in my heart rhythm. Can you please tell me about Flecanide? Have you had any side effects from taking it? And how does it compare to the beta blockers? Thanks Massie-Mae

[MrsP-C]

Hi Orchid, I hope you're feeling ok today? I understand your dilemma completely. I have struggled with SVT since my ablation in May 2008. It has taken me until now before I could get an episode actually monitored to spur on my consultant! I have been referred to the Rapid Access Clinic in Royal Brompton Hospital, Chelsea/Fulham. This seems to be a wonderful new initiative for the NHS which I really do wish was around earlier! I know that you can be referred directly from your GP and that you are seen at the clinic within 2 weeks (now that really is rapid access!). The clinic is held in the evening on a Wednesday (my first appointment is tomorrow) where you have all the tests there and then (echo, bloods, ecg, etc) and you then get the results and diagnosis by the consultant whilst you're still there! I am extremely encouraged by this new system where, I believe, I will get the best possible advice and care and all on the NHS! They have a dedicated nurse consultant team who are there to answer all the many questions you have but that our own consultant cardiologists seem to think beneath them to answer for us. I have been made to feel inadequate many a time by mine! Sometimes I think that being listened to and having our questions answered (however simple they might be to "a professional") is all we really need and feeling that someone is on your side makes all the difference. I can only tell you my experience - I take very high doses of Flecinide, I had a cardiac ablation (without any sedative or pain relief - not through choice I hasten to add), it was painful and upsetting. It didn't work and I will never have another one. However, if you wish to see the best at work explaining exactly what happens now (makes my ablation look like it was done in a cow shed!) then here's a link for you:- aljazeera.com/programmes/th....

Good luck in whatever you decide is the best thing for you.