My experience my Ablation of Atrial Fibritation

are you on any medication after your ablation?can you do EVERYTHING you used to do before AF

Thank you for the posts.

I had my cardiac ablation last June 29th 2013 in University of Miami Hospital. I am feeling OK. I am working, I work in an office, seated in front of a computer, I was authorized to start working in 5 days. Since the ablation I have only had 3 short tachycardias (less than 110 bpm, less than 1 minute) and I have felt two or three skipped beats. I haven't exercised, I hope to have some soft swimming in the pool in the next days. The Doctor kept me on Xarelto, Metroprolol (50mg) and Apocard (50mg) till next appointment.

I just picked up on this thread and having had an ablation around 6 months ago the symptoms seem to have returned, always seems to be when tired or stressed, I'm interested to hear from anyone who has had two ablations as it looks like that's what May have to happen to me.

Look forward to hearing

I had the catherter ablation August 2012 at Cleveland Clinic. There was no blood or pain. I woke only for a short time when the ablation electronics were engaged in the the procedure. The experience was fautless.

I experienced some pulse racing for the first year. My cardiologist asked me to wear a monitor for 30 days of which I did. (medium inconvenience)The results were very positive. (no a fib). I'm a no longer concerned about a recurrence as I feel great.

I do suggest if you have A-fib, take a look at this procedure and avoid the meds. I tried the meds prior and they did not stop my having a moderate stroke March 2011.

This is for those who are scared to death of going through heart ablation. I am one of those success stories. The fear gripping you now before your procedure is enourmous because you know surgeons will be going into your heart WHILE YOU ARE TOTALLY AWAKE!! Take a breath- it is OK, I promise! There are two parts of this procedure that are very frightening and uncomfortable...the unknown (that's #1!) and the groin hardware (not all that terrible). I was wheeled into a huge surgery theater that reminded me of Frankenstein's laboratory except more modern. My IV's had been inserted (that probably hurt the most!) and I was absolutely hyper-ventilating out of fear as I was wheeled in. The surgery staff was AWESOME! They comforted me- the surgeon actually put his hand on my stomach (I couldn't see him because as as soon as I entered the operating room, I just shut my eyes and would not open them until the procedure was completed) and told me to breathe normally, take big breathes. Then came the sedation (highly recommended). My ablation involved both sides of the groin (venal), three catheters on the right side, two on the left. They do apply a topical anesthetic, but it is a very WEIRD feeling! They literally "screw" this hardware into your groin veins, but it doesn't hurt- it's the pressure. Once the groin hardware is in place it's smooth sailing. Once the team is into your internal circulatory system, you feel nothing! Literally! They were able to induce my tachycardia immediately so they were able to find the "evil" cells on my heart and neutralize them. What can normally take up to six hours on the surgery table took me only an hour and a half! I checked into hospital at 6:30 a.m., was in the operating room by 8:00 a.m., and I was out of the hospital by 3:00 that afternoon. My quality of life has improved dramatically!! Don't be afraid- it's not that bad...getting my tattoos was worse! God Bless.

Hi guys, I have had ablation in london barts hospital. I am very young to have af but i sadly did have it! It had messed my life from the first day i felt it and im talking about 4 years ago. I was told it would go away and it was normal some young people to have it even though i was rushed to resuss in hospital with very fast af after a night out drinking. The following day i was told to go home after it converted to sinus and from there on my life was hell! I was scared to do anything because it would come back and so it did a year later. After second time they said ablation as i was only 25 years of age didnt want to risk my heart any longer. I was crapping my pants but i felt like a cabbage anyways because what ever i did it was always doing weird beats and it triggered af. So no matter what i was going to get this ablation done! I went in very cold lab at the basement 6 am in the morning before the ablation i had a scanner thing put down my throat to check if there is any clots in my heart so they dont dislodge it. This was due to the fact i had tia before because of af so no risks was taken. They gave me a medicine called midazolam that causes amnesia so what ever i was seeing i was forgetting so in a way its like being knocked out and i likes it. My op took 6 hours as the first catheter was small for my heart and was not doing much so i needed a bigger one. All in all guys if your going to have ablation go for it mine worked its been a year af free and i have tried everything i was sure that would trigger af on the spot. But the down side is i keep having ectpopic beats when i speak or when it gets late in the day. But thats sometimes and it outweighs af all day long!! I am going to see the cardiologist about the ectopic beats but people what i want you to learn out of this is thats its fine and these guys know exactly what they are doing and looking for and they do this as a job everyday so dont worry about it at all because i did before it and it all turned out good .

Hi i had an SVT from about 25 years ago. My grandma had the same and paased away at the age of 71 but because the tachicardia. Mine usually is over 200 bpm. It was frequent. However when I get over 30 years it was like once a year. The last 5 SVT where stopped at the hospital after few hours sometimes 8hours. This is why i decided to go for an ablation. So i did it in NYC Mount sinai hospital. I was lucky i was in a good hands. They were expert. So today is the 6th day after the ablation. I had fw chest pain and also my heart went to 90 Bpm. I felt tired. I still have pain on my groin And can only walk slowly. I still have a bruise groing and a little bit swelling on my right upper leg. But i was able to walk and do many things. No hard stuff. No workout yet. Ahh yea forget the last week when i took a small cup of coffee i got some palpitation like if i was anxious and stressed. I stopped the caffeine for now.

Let me know what happen to you guys 6 months later.??

Has anyone had an ablation with virtually no symptoms except weakness which is not even confirmed when it happens it has to do with afib? Dr. says to do ablation so heart does not get weaker in time..heart attack concerns...afib showing up on monitoring but not really in day to day functioning.

 

Hi, I have had PAF for about 5 years. For a year and a half I did not have any problems but recently I have been having them quite regularly. People have talked about Ablation and my cardiologist reckons it is not very reliable as you have to come back to do another if the first one does not work. I am 57 years old and I work as a geologist. And my PAF is so annoying that stops me on my tracks so I would like to try ablation to get my life back as it were.

hi. i had my ablation yesterday. my first episode was february. hope it stays away. good luck to u too.

Hi

not necessarily a reply to this comment more general feedback of the procedure and after effects.

Been suffering with AF since 2010, had a cryoablation(the freeze) in 2013 and just had the RF (the burn) a couple of days ago. Both ops done at St Georges in Tooting. The cryo was under a local anaesthetic and was a little uncomfortable but not much, the burn was under a general so I knew nothing about it. Both times the care was fantastic and I pay tribute to the skill and dedication of the medical teams.

I see a lot of comments from other saying really nervous, or frightened,worried etc.etc about the op - there is really nothing to worry about. I was realeased after 1 night in hospital, yes you have a few pin pricks and bruises but nothing major, even the stitch in the groin doesn't cause any problems. I am now sat back in my office working on Friday after having the op on Wednesday morning. I would say the bigger affect is the GA rather than the procedure. I have been up and down stairs, walking around pretty much as normal. There is a little discomfort in the chest are but really is minimal, obviously I wont be going the gym for probably a week.All in all a very straight forward and painless process so take heart and get it sorted far better than all those other drugs to try and control it.

Hope if helps ease some of the anixety about it

Chris