It's interesting, isn't it, how topics seem to circle around and come back again to haunt us once more? And it's also interesting how much we humans tend to put our total confidence and trust in folks who have parts of the alphabet listed after their last names. I'm speaking of doctors and ablations. I started a thread on this forum in January 2021 about the subject and MANY folks were kind enough to chip in and share their personal experiences, along with a word of encouragement. I appreciate that - TRULY. Thank you.

After that first ablation I "scraped along" for a month or two, feeling sore on the inside (difficult to describe) while thinking and hoping that the procedure had been well done. All the while my heart "doctors" ((I put that in quotes because the truth is that I rarely if ever saw a Doctor. I was always & forever it seems being routed to assistants)).. were continually adjusting my meds, trying to fine tune that buffet. after almost a year someone decided that I needed to wear a "ZIO" monitor for about a week. I went thru the trials of trying to get that thing to stick. I went thru 2 before an overworked nurse in ER made the statement that she would put it on and guarantee that it wouldn't come off. I took her up on her statement and was very pleased to find that she knew EXACTLY what she was talking about. (Would you believe that the instructions with the ZIO unit actually caution the wearer not to sweat?!!). Well, bless her heart, she got it to stay on for 9 days - and I had to peel it off at the end.

The unit was mailed off for evaluation and I was later told that it said I had been in AFIB all the while. But what's so strange is that neither of my 2 "Omron" BP cuffs showed that I was out. So the Dr scheduled another ablation. But when I went to see the Dr for a checkup before the ablation I was told that my heart was NOT out of rhythm. Seems I have an intermittent problem. And, as the Dr says - and I agree with him - trying to do an ablation on a problem that comes & goes is a risky, even dangerous proposition. So here we are - between a rock and a hard place. Don't know what to do. Don't know whether to wind my watch or defecate. But about a week ago he had his nurse call and tell me that he wants to go ahead with the procedure anyway.

Well, I'm not griping... no matter how much it sounds like I am. I intend to play the cards that have been dealt me - to the best of my ability. And after all -> I AM 73, and that's no spring chicken. But if I could have one wish granted it would be that I might be allowed to feel really good in my last years. I know that many of you have spoken well of what the procedure did for you; and I'm truly happy for you. But it has not been good for me. My days generally consist of feeling like warmed over dog poop - morning to night.

Here's hoping - and praying - for better days. I REALLY want to be able to enjoy raising the 4 little girls we adopted some six years ago. Wish me luck. And "Thanks" in advance for your replies.

FredT

What symptoms were you having during those nine days? I am talking about how you felt. I assume you are taking Xarelto or the like to reduce stroke risk.

i'm on eliquis, twice/day for afib.

I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth asking again:

Any chance you may have sleep apnea? I was getting hit on and off with Afib for several years including one episode that I ended up going to the ER for as it just wouldn’t stop and I was starting to get scared.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in December 2020 and began using a CPAP in February of 2021 and after several months I realized my Afib episodes had stopped cold.

All I can think of is that my apnea was stressing my heart so much, the Afib was a reaction to that.

All gone now.

Time for a second opinion. Do not know where you are located. Hopefully, Dr. Goodheart will be along soon to offer his opinion.

I am 4 months after my ablation. They gave me meds that made me feel worse afterwards. I stopped taking everything except Eliquius and a heart rate regulator. I feel better with those and my asthma medication only. See the doctor in a week and see what he says. Good luck on your procedure. Hopefully the 2nd time is a charm.

I second the suggestion for a second opinion.

In 2016 at age 61 I went in for my annual physical and complained about being tired and had given up running as it was no fun and made me feel sick half the time. The doctor scheduled a stress test and it came back inclusive as well as a second echo stress test. I went in for a heart cath and assumed worse case they may find a blockage and insert a stent. It didn't work out that way. The next day I had bypass surgery and they performed a total of 8 bypasses. Even though I ate a good diet and exercised regularly, and never had high cholesterol, according to my doctor I had inherited "sticky" cholesterol. It ran in my father's family although it skipped him and he lived to be 90. My heart was so sluggish and clogged up it even confused the stress tests.

Fast forward to October 2021 and my annual cardio checkup revealed AFIB. They put me on Eliquis because of the potential for blood clots and stroke, not to control the AFIB. I wore the ZIO monitor and it came back 43% of the time I was in AFIB. The doctor explained to me there were limited medicines to try and control it because of my previous surgery and suggested an ablation. In January I had the version where they freeze tissue causing the bad signals. My doctor said that was preferable to the burn version because it was intermittent not constant. He only mentioned the boilerplate lawyer speak with any heart surgery. Afterwards I had no discomfort in my heart. In March I wore the ZIO monitor again for two weeks and it registered no AFIB.

The surgery and ablation procedure was done in Louisville, Ky by the Baptist Health group.

I think it would be worth your while to talk to another doctor.

Sorry for the long post, just thought it may be useful to others to learn from my experience.

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
Here's hoping - and praying - for better days. I REALLY want to be able to enjoy raising the 4 little girls we adopted some six years ago. Wish me luck. And "Thanks" in advance for your replies.

FredT

Best of luck and I hope you get the results you want. If it makes you feel any better, my 87 year old mother has had 'four' ablation procedures. Talking with a cardiologist I know (i.e. not her doctor) he was unaware of anyone having had that many ablation procedures, especially considering her age. She just loves her doc and there's no convincing her to go to another doc.

I have no advice to offer, only my prayers and heartfelt sympathies. I know how you feel. It’s exhausting, even when you’re not doing anything. I’m sorry that one didn’t take. They told me I’d be lucky if I got fixed on the first run, or especially lucky if I got fixed forever. Sixteen months down line of it, I’m feeling pretty good, but I was suffering for a long time before that. That yours didn’t do it and they say they shouldn’t go back in to burn more… “sucks” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Get that second opinion and keep us in the loop, yeah?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220 Smudge,

My Doc found I was in AFIB a few years ago. He suggested the heart monitoring device "Kardia" which is basically a portable EKG? machine. Turn it on, put it on your knee, fingers on the pad and a minute later you have a reading. It stores the readings so you can show them to your Doc on visits. Since my cardio version no more AFIB but it shows my extra heartbeat which I have had since I was a kid. I highly recommend the Kardia device. Available thru the Kardia company or Amazon. Get the 6-lead one, a little over 100.00 dollars and worth it.

Kardia is great but it doesn't work with laptop, you need a smartphone or tablet. I have one but since I was highly symptomatic I always knew when I was in afib.

Here I come to save the day?
Remember, please:
1. I am a general cardiologist, not an electrophysiologist
2. I've been retired from full-time practice for over 7 years.
Having said that, I recently advised my brother-in-law as I am advising here:
The risk of atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is stroke, and the preventive treatment for that is anticoagulation. Newer anticoagulants e.g. Eliquis (apixaban) are at least as effective as old-fashioned warfarin, without the need for regular blood monitoring.
Ablation of atrial fibrillation involves making a scar, either through radio frequency ablation ("burning") or cryoablation ("freezing").
A systematic review in 2017 that popped up on my DDG search suggested they were equally effective.
Who needs ablation?
The current issue of UpToDate, the most popular professional online reference for physicians, states:

quote:

A major clinical goal of CA (cardiac ablation) is a reduction in AF-related symptoms . CA is superior to medical therapy at improving quality of life. Therefore, it is generally reserved for individuals with symptoms attributable to the arrhythmia, which most often include palpitations, shortness of breath, or generalized fatigue

quote:

We do not perform CA in:
Patients with no symptoms, a preserved ejection fraction, and adequate rate control.

(Emphasis mine.)

So that, briefly, is the argument against recurrent ablation in a patient without symptoms related to it (palpitations, shortness of breath, generalized fatigue).
jtedescucci has not really told us how he feels when in atrial fibrillation. Personally, I have a Kardia monitor and recommend it for people who want to find out how their symptoms correlate with their atrial fibrillation.

Just had my 3rd Ablasion a couple months ago and came out of it in worse shape.
The doc wants to go right back in.
Color me skeptical.

I will be exploring other options.

When I go into afib I am in rough shape, so that is not an option.

I will be seeing the doc real soon:-/

Bob

Good luck to everyone. I can’t imagine multiple ablations. One was plenty enough (for SVT); used to “beat” like 230 or something silly. One and done. Whew!


Best wishes for success and a speedy recovery.

My cardiologist discovered me in Afib during a stress test & ECG 10 years ago (I was 65). Since then I've been on Xarelto, had several cardioversions, and three ablations (by a great EP doc). (I've been trying to avoid the need for rhythm drugs.) Three weeks ago, just after I turned 75, I opted to have a Watchman device implanted. The idea here is to get off the Xarelto. I also have a 6-lead Kardia Mobile EKG device. It's been a great aid for me and my doc, since I can send him regular EKG's after a procedure or if I relapse.

I'm fortunate enough to live near a world class Afib center with great EP's and it's been more than two years since my last ablation.

I sure wish I knew how to recover a "reply" after I accidentally hit a key and lose everything. I had a FULL page ready for you Guys. I'll try again. Oh wait!! Maybe I can just post this & someone will tell me how.... Hoping, hoping, hoping.....

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
I sure wish I knew how to recover a "reply" after I accidentally hit a key and lose everything. I had a FULL page ready for you Guys. I'll try again. Oh wait!! Maybe I can just post this & someone will tell me how.... Hoping, hoping, hoping.....

I compose all my posts in a word processor. It catches all my spelling goofs, then I just copy paste it into the forum. If I accidentally delete it from the word processor, I just undo it, and my post is back.

I’ve been having heart palpitations for a year and a half. The cardiologist has scheduled me to wear a ZIO again to see if anything has changed since my pulse is down in the 40's sometimes when I take my PB pressure twice a day. I’ve never heard of ablations until this thread, so I Googled it. Scary. Hope the best for you.

Have you completely stopped your alcohol intake? Doctors wont come out and flat out and say it but Alcohol has a direct effect on heart rhythm and can trigger AFIB.

"wingspar" - good idea. I had thought of that but was just too lazy to go thru the gyrations. But I guess going thru the gyrations is a lot easier & quicker than trying to recall & re-type the whole thing, Huh? Lesson learned. In the future I will do that. THANKS...

I am 60. I had my first ablation for Afib in Jan 2022. It went well but afterward I had several incidents of rapid heartbeat, etc. The doc said it was common. After about 4-5 weeks I started to feel better but they had put me on Amioderone to try and settle my rhythm since I had PVCs. That stuff made me feel bad at times, kept me up at night, gave me a persistent cough, etc.

After 2 months the doc said I could stop taking it and recommended PVC ablation. Apparently I had PVCs every 3-4 beats. We did that yesterday and I feel much better today. No irregular rhythm and my pulse has slowed down a bit. It was higher after the first ablation, which is considered normal.

So, mine helped and I feel better. I hope you feel better soon!