Have you had a pace and ablate?

[zara1977]

Please help me. I have been booked in for a pace and ablate. I've had so many cardio versions I forget the number and three ablations, for one of which I hold the dubious honour of having the most burning. I take nobolovol, digoxin and a large doze of vilazem to hold heart rate down which hovers round the 100 - 140 mark despite this. Fit bit says resting heart rate around 90. I feel that I don't want this procedure, I hate everything about it. I am not in the least bit scared of having it but I am terrified it won't improve me and I will just have had my remaining heart impulses more or less removed and be reliant on a machine. I have two full time jobs and I keep ponies and I am breathless yes but I also have a tendancy to asthma and a steroid inhaler seems to have worked. I am so worried that I don't really need this procedure, and to be fair, the hospital have not really convinced me that I need it, they've not really tried, saying it is my choice and I feel like I am just going along with it. So my question is has anyone had this and can you tell me if it improved your life and how you felt about it? I really do need to know.

[Mickey16]

Hi zara1977 - I have a pacemaker but not had a pace and ablate but hope my experience may be of assistance. I think most of us have worries when faced with making decisions on having a pacemaker and your situation of facing the decision of ablate as well is a double whammy. All I can say is I had to think it through as to how would my heart manage without a pacemaker long term and coupled with the fact that I knew my heart was struggling and slowing down, I knew it was the right decision for me for the chance of a better quality of life. I cannot say it was an easy decision and it was not a quick fix. I have had mine for nearly three years and my pacemaker has been "tweaked" at the pacemaker clinic over that time. But my experience has been that I have progressively got better each time. Before the pacemaker I was at the state that I could not walk across my front room without having to lie down. I can now walk six miles happily with no problem.

Whatever you decide, it has to be right for you.

Every good wish.

Mickey16

[dmac4646]

There was a post about this recently which was very positive indeed I think that a contributor was a top Cardio in the UK.

[Hidden in reply to dmac4646]

I believe it could be Jonathanpittscrick who wrote a response recently.C