My experience my Ablation of Atrial Fibritation

ablation. drs never discuss lifestyle or thoughts. not nice. cant eat leafy greens on warfarin? how be healthy prior to ablation? doesnt make sens. dont trust drs. they too often injure. hospitals too.

Hi, My name is simon and I'm a 39 year old male. I have decided to write this blog as like a lot of you, I was concerned about the procedure and could not find the relevant first hand infomation on the Internet. 

I have been suffering with AF for as long as I can remember. I used to have occasional bouts of what I'd describe as a fast heart beat that would come on after sudden exercise or bursts of energy. I used to be able to control this by simply placing my head between my legs until it passed. This  was until approximately 10 years ago when I had one of these episode's which lasted 45 hrs. As a result of this I was admitted to A&E was was subsequently diagnosed with AF. 

Over the next 10 years I had been taking daily medication  ( beata blockers ) which seemed to control the fast rhythm but I had now become aware that my heart was beating out of sync. This was on and off at first before becoming a regular problem. As a result of this I'd become increasingly tired to the point of not being able to function on a day to day basis.

I finaly decided to see my doctor and I was referred to a cardiology team at my local hospital.

A few ECG's and tests later, I was offered the chance of an operation called a cardiac ablation. It was explained to me that I'd be given a general anaesthetic and during the 4hr op, I have the valves into my heart frozen  to create scar tissue that would block the off set electrical rhythm, returning my heart beat to normal.

This would be done by inserting a cathater into my groin and pushed up to my heart via my femoral artery.

I was assured that although this was a serious operation, there was only a small risk of any complications.

The day of my operation soon arrived and I made my way to Hammersmith Hospital, London. 

I arrived at 8 am and was taken straight to my bed where I'd get ready for my procedure. By 9am I'd been spoken to by the cardiology team, signed my life away and was sitting in the operating theatre. 

The anithatist   gave me a dose of his best and I awoke 4 hrs later.

The op had been a success and I was told I'd need to lie still for 6 or so hours which wasn't an issue as I was still doped up from all the meds so the time flew by. I had two small gauze pads, one on each of my legs by the groin. There was a small amount of blood but very little pain or discomfort. I was now in the hands of the nurses who were fantastic. These ladies could not do enough for me. The only problem I seemed to have was an increadable  thirst which I was told was normal due to the tube that had been placed down my throat during the procedure .

Later in the evening I was told I'd need to try to walk or the DR'S would not let me go home the next day. This was all the incentive I needed and I was soon shuffling across the ward.

The Dr's came to see me the next morning to give me an echo and once I was given the all clear I was discharged. 

Once at home I spent the next two days in bed and I noticed my leg had started to bruise. This got quite nasty to the point of it covering the top of my right leg. I'd also started to get a sharp pain in my chest when I'd lie down or take a deep breath. This also caused me to cough quite a bit which would also hurt my chest. Day 3 at home was the biggest shock. I woke up in the morning and went to the toilet. It was a this point I noticed that my penis had gone  black and blue and I don't mind admitting this scared the life out of me. Due to the coughing, pains and bruising I decided to phone the hospital for a bit of set my mind at rest advice. The cardiologist told me all the symptoms I was showing were all normal, the pain in the chest coming from the liquid that was surrounding my heart while it repaired it's self, the bruising was to be expected as I'd been yanked about so much and the cough was another response to the heart procedure. I was informed this would all pass in time.

It's now 10 days since my op and I've started to to walk however stairs are still a struggle. I've had no issues with my heart ( touch wood ) but my groin is still sore.

You've had a rough go!  Thank you for sharing your story.  How's the recovery been since you last wrote?  I'm a 40yr old male in good health.  I've had heart palpatations/skipped beats/ectopic beats for 20 years.  They would only come a few times per year so I never thought much of them.  In November of 2014 I went into full on Afib for 2hrs and had to get cardio averted.  At that point I was in daily afib mixed with other strange beats and tried Flecanaide in varying doses for a month which caused vertigo like effects and switched to Rythmol which works better, but still have some afib episodes a few times a week.  Matropolol was added to slow my heart rate.  I finally opted for the ablation as this was rediculous for a 40 year old in good health to be in 3 different meds daily and STILL having afib symptoms.  The ablation went similiar to yours.  Hurt a bit when they pulled the 3 sheaths out.  There was also a lot of blood in my urine for 3-4 days after the procedure due to trauma in the urethra during catheter insertion.  I'm not sure how gentle they are once you're knocked out?  Anyway, got home and felt good overall, minor chest pain and elevated resting heart rate of 90-100. I felt this was rather high to be at this rate all day everyday, but doc said this is "normal" for post ablation.  I had read that an elevated pulse rate is normal, but once you're approaching 100 it seems a bit high.  I'm now on day 5 and woke up in Afib.  Took a Rythmol and it went away in 15min.   Average heart rate is 110.  Do you or anyone else reading this have any experience with a rate this high for extended periods of time?  I asked the doc if I should take a beta blocker and he said no.  It seems most Dr's don't worry much regardless of symptoms until they become severe.  I would prefer to be proactive and not wait for something to get out of hand.  I'm under a bit of paranoia/stress as well after the ablation with these symptoms.  Hard to know what normal really is?  Thanks for your help

Your experience is very common. I'm writing this from the hospital, I had my second OP Ablation done yesterday.

The first was back in September to fix AF, my doctor told me I'm advance that most probably I will need a second one as well.

After my first Ablation I experinced most of what you describe. Climbing two steps of stairs will have me feel like after a marathon. Same thing with the broozing. I felt lots of back pain due to long time (5hours) in the OR without moving under complete sleep.

For those of you that fear pain, no worries, you will be completely out and will wake up after all is done. The week after is uncorfortable and you might feel some chest pain, rapid heart but and even Afib or flutter but this is common.

I was put on Flacanaide, Xarelto and Metropolol. The last made me feel a bit dizzy and a few month later I started having strong episodes of almost blacking out, like you are about to faint. They put a heart monitor for two days followed by a 30 day event monitor. They managed to see that I started to have A Flutter something that maybe was there for long time but could not be detected due to the Afib or was caused after the Afib (a bit confusing I know). They noticed that my black out episodes where caused when my heart was Pausing to get back to normal sinus. Due to the fact I'm only 38 (male) I didn't pass out but for an older person he would most definitely pass out.

They stopped my Metropolol and these episode never came back again.

Today I'm a day after my second ablation to fix the flutter and retouch what was done back in September. According to my doctor it went well. This time I feel great, no shortness of breath when I walk, bearelly any bruises but my heart is raising at 120-140! I don't feel it but they decided to keep me for an extra night and gave me Cardizem IV dripping to slow it down. As I'm writing this im down to 80-100.

I hope this time is the last one.

If you suffer Afib or SVT I would recommend this option, the risk is minor and the technology improved much in the past 5 years. Growing older with AF has many side effects, one of them is Dimencia!

Now I need to wait 3 month to know if it was successful, promis to update it.

Hi

I'm due to have ablation for af next Thursday. Here in New Zealand it is not performed under general anaesthetic but only with a local in the groin area. I am not looking forward to lying awake for 2-6 hours while they do their job

Hi Guest, I had cyro ablation on Monday 24th July 2017 and I feel like I have no energy, my breathing hasn't improved and I generally feel unwell.

?I thought my breathing would improve imediately. Can you tell me how you felt after your op and how long was it before you began to feel better