One month Post-op ablation for WPW & SVT

[GC1209]

Hi all, first time ever posting on a website, but I just want peace of mind that I am not the only person feeling weird after one month & 2 weeks post op. Let me begin with the beginning, I am a 27 year old female, weighing 145 lbs and was diagnosed with WPW & SVT on August of 2016. I was then referred to an electrophysiologist in my area and he recommended ablation. Thee ultrasound he said my heart structure is absolute normal. I thankfully have no other health issues. The ablation happened on Dec. 13th of 2016. I went under general anesthesia and my surgery lasted about 4.5 hours. The doctor burned two pathways which I believe one or both were on the left side, therefore he had to puncture a hole to get to the left side. I then ended staying overnight due to bleeding from the right groin. 6 days postop and bammm I have a recurrence all over again. HB was at 150 and I felt like passing out from literally doing nothing it triggered on its own. Electrophysiologist then explained it was normal as my heart is swollen and it takes about 90 days for the scarring and swelling to completely heal. I also only took baby aspirin for 30 days and then i stopped, drs orders. So my question is why do I feel shortness of breath at times from sitting or resting, usually occurs late afternoon and not daily. Just today, I also experienced like burning sensation and sharp pains on my left side of the chest. I also, still feel like off balance at times but I am assuming is the anesthesia side effects. I guess I just want to know if it's normal to feel this way after one month of the surgery. I am also trying to get into light exercise but I am afraid it willooks damage the recovery even though my doctor states the surgery was successful. Thanks for listening and I hope to get some positive responds.

[Sharryn45]

Well done for having the ablation n been a success....im a year in march from having the same....i still get breathless and pain so dont worry..stay well away from excrcise till at least 6months...everyones different...i work out now but still cant reach my limits as i used go before my svt attacks....life wil never be normal again tbh after an ablation as people tell u it is....just remember u have been through the hardest part of ur life and now its time to slow down n listen to ur body xxx things will improve DONT push urself xxx

[JonathanPittsCrick in reply to Sharryn45]

I think you have both been unfortunate in having symptoms after your SVT ablations – it's quite unusual. The chest pains suggest that the pericardium, the lining around your heart, has got a bit inflamed: possibly caused by a slight bleed from the left atrium. At this stage it has probably settled down but I you can still get pains due to adhesions (where the lining sticks to the heart). Probably the pain is caused when the adhesions "let go" as you move around, so they should get less and less.

The "off balance" is not likely to be an after-effect of the anaesthetic, more likely the ablation has upset some nerves connected to the heart that help to control your blood pressure, so it may be dropping too low – this should settle after a few months.

You definitely should look forward to getting back to feeling completely normal. If any symptoms are not settling you should check with your EP or arrhythmia nurse.

[GC1209 in reply to JonathanPittsCrick]

Thanks for your reply. I will definitely take it day by day and hope that eventually I start to feel like my normal self.

[GC1209 in reply to Sharryn45]

Thanks for your reply.

[Sammyjillian]

Hi! I'm sorry you are still feeling unwell. I had an ablation done on December 6th, 2016 for SVT. I'm a 24 year old female. I am still experiencing pretty intense palpitations everyonce in a while however my heart is not racing like it used to. Just seems to get stuck out of rhythm and makes me out of breath and feel dizzy. U have also had constant heart burn since my ablation which I didn't have before. I think I have narrowed mine down to days where my sodium intake is too high and cutting that out has helped me a lot. However my diet is hardly exciting. Just a suggestion to see if you can link the feeling to something.

[bolton2008]

It sounds normal I ve had two ablation s anxiety and cardiac neurosis were big problems for me I'm still getting paranoid about it but less and less as I ve returned to sports and army ten months after my second ablation lots of weird sensations and frets good luck

[bolton2008]

It's normal