Murray If you get randomised into the rate control group you would still be in AF, if I have understood this correctly. Nothing feels as good as nsr. I wouldn't want to take part because there would be a 50% chance that I would continue to have AF. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray I will be interested to read the PDF file but a question occurs to me - if you end up in the rate control group would that mean that you might still have AF? I wouldn't settle for anything less than nsr. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Tom When I had my ablation in Bordeaux in 2003 Professor Haissaaguerre inserted the catheters himself, and then did the whole ablation. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Angela I don't know of any EPs in Leeds but I would urge you to read as much as possible on this board before you have your ablation. The most important factor in a successful procedure is the skill and experience of the person whose hands are on the catheter. It is a very difficult procedure to learn, and I would guess that there are a lot of EPs in England who are still novices butby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
I went for my annual checkup today and as i was leaving I asked the EP about FIRM ablations. He said that there have been many false dawns, eg a Russian EP who claimed huge success by ablating ganglia. When asked how he found them, he said that he just knew where they were! Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
No, Murray, you're not the only one, it bothers me too. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Alexandra I am in the UK too. I went to Bordeaux in September 2002 for a consultation with Professor Haissaguerre and he started me on Flecanaide without any hospitalisation. It didn't help, but I had been in continuous AF for over a year. I had an ablation and touch-up there 4 months later and have been in nsr ever since. I think Hans's idea about taking it in the ER is a goodby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Denver Good to hear that you are doing so well. Life can indeed be good in your 70s. I had my ablation in Bordeaux over 9 years ago after 18 months of continuous Afib. At 74, I and my 71 year old husband work out 3 times a week, he in the gym, me in the pool, and we do 3 scuba diving trips a year to far flung places. I think it's a great idea to report success now and then to offerby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Peggy Interesting. Not everyone gets the side effects of course, but maybe it wasn't the Tramadol after all - I usually take no medications, but when I had the knee operation I had a general anaesthetic, morphine, Tramaodol, Pradaxa and who knows what else. Something in that cocktail gave me long runs of huge numbers of ectopics. I wanted it recorded on my GP's records that it waby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Betsey What painkillers were you given after the surgery? I have been in sinus rhythm since ablation 9 years ago, but last year, after a knee replacement, I had a very strange heartbeat and went to A&E. The docs in A&E are not cardiologists or EPs and they weren't able to say for sure what was shown on the ECGs. They were going to give me bisoprolol 5mg but it didn't arrivby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Wil It is so good to have you back! Please, do stay around. Gillby Gill - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Wil Good to see you back here. I have missed your posts which kept us all focused on facts, logic, reason and evidence. Gillby Gill - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
EB When I had my ablation in Bordeaux they routinely did a flutter ablation in the right atrium 'on the way out', so Tom might well be having left side work as well. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray Weren't you due to have a check up in June to see if your left atrium had shrunk? Did it happen? Following your progress with interest. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Peggy I stopped taking the Tramadol after two days, as soon as I realised that it made me nauseous and gave me palpitations. I then took Zyflamend and paracetamol instead. I had a knee replacement which is working fine so don't take any medication at all now. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lisa I think it is because I am not on any blood thinners, so have a 48 hour window before I could get a clot. If I am travelling in some remote part of the world, as I often do, he told me to start injecting heparin after 24 hours if I couldn't get to the ER - then I could have an immediate cardioversion. It has never happened yet, but after more than 9 years of nsr since my ablationby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ronny Forgot to mention two things:- 1 My EP in London has given me instructions that if I ever get a recurrence of AF I should start taking Bisoprolol 5mg immediately and get myself to the hospital. 2 A year ago, after knee surgery, I had a reaction to a pain killer called Tramadol, whose listed side effects include palpitations. I was extremely worried because my heart beat was straby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ronny After my ablation in Bordeaux in Jan 2003 Prof. Haissaguerre put me on bisoprolol 5mg for three months. Several months after I stopped taking it, when I contacted him because I was getting a lot of ectopics, he said I could take it again if I wished, and if it made me more comfortable. He said (exact words) "It is like a shield for the heart". I didn't in fact startby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray I used to get regular flare-ups of arthritis in one of the joints in my hand, so bad that I couldn't grip anything. Three years ago I started to take Honegar - a mixture of 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% unpasteurised honey, 3 tablespoons a day. Since then I haven't had a single flare-up and my hand works perfectly. There's lots of information if you google it, inclby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Chuck When I had my ablation in Bordeaux in 2003 my EP in London did a proper referral at my request (though it was against his advice) and sent them copies of my medical records. After the ablation I returned to him and the department has continued my aftercare ever since. I had a checkup every three months, then every six months. I now see an EP once a year. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Paul My only information on ablations in UK is from postings on this board. When I first saw Prof. Haissaguerre in 2002 he told me that there were two EPs in UK who had started doing ablations but I preferred to go with the team who had invented the procedure and done thousands of them. I do not regret that decision. It cost me £8,000 but gave me my life back. Over the years I have seenby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
>>My doctor has advised me that once a patient is in permanent Afib, she is not a good candidate for ablation. True?<< Not true for the very best EPs but true for the rest. Hans's surveys will give you more information on success rates and who the best EPs are. I had persistent AF for 18 months but still had a successful ablation in Bordeaux in 2003. Three days after tby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lynda I had ablation, followed by touch-up three days later, in Bordeaux in Jaunuary 2003. Ten days later I had a 2-hour bout of AF which terminated by itself. Since then I have had over 9 years of normal sinus rhythm. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barry And best of all they aren't in it for the money! Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barry 12 months earlier I would not have taken the gamble. I first saw Prof. Haissaguerre in September 2002 because I wanted to check out the information I had been given in London, and eliminate ablation as a possible solution to my AF problem. I told him that my London EP had said that the success rate for persistent Afibbers was 28%. 'It WAS', he exclaimed, 'but in May weby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Researcher (and others) If you click on the symbol next to my name in the green strip on one of my postings it brings up a page where you can send me a private mail. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
McHale Barry G posted that Dr Hocini told him that she cringes when she thinks of what they were doing in Bordeaux 5 years ago. My ablation there was 9½ years ago so was definitely a cringe ablation! However, if I had waited and stayed in persistent AF I would have lost 9½ wonderful years of living life to the full, travelling the world and scuba diving. I am happy with the decision I maby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Video of Melanie Truehills interviewing Dr Narayan: If what he has found is replicated elsewhere this could be a major step forward. Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have been reading research papers on AF ablation for the last 10 years, and this is the first time I have come across the name of Dr Josephson. I thought Professor Haissaguerre in Bordeaux, whose landmark study in 1998 is quoted in many texts, was the 'father'! Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks Jackie - some fascinating stuff in there. Eg People often ask here on the board what are the causes of AF.... From a session on the genetics of AF Dr John reports "Parental history doubles AF risk. Any first degree relative With AF increases risk by 40%". Gillby Gill - AFIBBERS FORUM