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No, it's not required pre-ablation. A TEE is a pretty simple procedure with no discomfort whatsoever when done under general anesthesia, which is common practice in the US. They start an IV, knock you out with propofol, and you wake up 20 minutes later. That's it. Done. However, some places don't use anesthesia and just have you gargle a liquid that numbers the throat. This is an uby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteElizabeth Why do all of these docs do Ablations when they can't fix the problem, surely if Natalie can do it why isn't there doctors studying his methods so whatever they are doing wrong can be changed. That's a very good question. Natale does tons of training and a huge number of EPs have learned to use his methods, but he can't train all of them. Plus there are egos oby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Do NOT stop the Eliquis until you've consulted with the EP who did your ablation. Your EP should be able to provide the GI doc with a heparin bridging protocol to get you through the procedure safely.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteFibrillator Rate control drugs barely put a dent in my standard 150 BPM afb routine. That sounds like flutter. 150 is a really common flutter rate and flutter is often resistant to rate control drugs. Flutter and afib often go hand in hand. Mine did. The afib would trigger the flutter and vice versa.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
The TEE they did following my Watchman procedure found evidence of a PFO. I had several TEEs prior to that, none of which detected a PFO, so it seems likely to me that the trans-septal puncture for the Watchman was responsible. It is an unusually large catheter, after all. Will it heal? I think probably so and I'll find out in August when they do another TEE. If trans-septal puncture is respby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I experienced my first migraine aura in 2015 a few days after an ablation. No headache, just the visual aura. Never having heard of it at the time, it scared me a bit but I asked Dr. Google and found the answer pretty quickly complete with an artist's rendition of what it looks like, which matched it perfectly. It resolved within about 20 minutes so I let it go. It never happened again untilby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I think it's probably mainly due to there being different estimates by various sources. Hard to estimate this stuff because afib isn't a reportable diagnosis. You walk into see your doc, he does an ECG, diagnoses you with afib, hands you a couple of prescriptions and out the door you go. Nobody at the CDC hears about it, and Medicare only knows about it if you're over 65, so thereby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteMadeline So if I put myself on the cancellation list and they give me a date and it’s too quick, am I further back in the queue for my original to be scheduled date.? No, being on the cancellation list just means they'll offer you a date that opens up. You won't be penalized if it doesn't work for you. They'll just give it to someone else.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Rocktritch's experience jives with others I know of who have recently scheduled appointments with him. If your circumstances are appropriate, you may be able to do a consult and ablation in a single trip.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yeah, there are other causes. Just saying BBB is the most common.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
A QRS wider than 0.12 seconds is considered abnormal. It can be caused by several things but bundle branch block is the most common.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
By the way, one thing I forgot to mention is that you have to take Xarelto with food. Not taking it with a meal significantly reduces its effectiveness.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Does midazolam sound right? If that's what it was, pretty unlikely it would have effects the next day because it has a very short half-life (3 hours). But according to drugs.com, it can be prolonged in cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, obesity, renal failure, and the elderly. They don't say what they mean by prolonged but if any of those things apply to you it's possible.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteBrian_og Naive q here. Went wouldn't they use a clot buster drug to get rid if this? No. The drug you're thinking of is called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and it's used only in the first three hours after a stroke. It comes with a big risk of causing bleeding in the brain, it's only administered IV, and it's ridiculously expensive. It would be far too riskyby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebkimura From the American College of Cardiology “When starting a patient on flecainide, it is prudent to do a treadmill stress test after the patient is fully loaded.” I suspect this is why they want me to return for a stress test after week 2 and ramping up to 100mg. (I think it’s to check the QRS duration) I may be mistaken on the echo but they definitely mentioned a stress test.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Then that clot will go somewhere. It could be your brain, your liver, or your big toe. No way to predict. In general, it wouldn't be good, but the odds of it breaking free are low. So just be religious about the drugs and you'll probably come out of this just fine. :-)by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
In the last 10 years I can only recall hearing from one person who was started in the hospital, and they had a bunch of other issues complicating things. It's just not often done anymore. The instructions to begin it under observation were written by the FDA years and years ago when flecainide was a new drug. With more experience, they've learned that it's just not necessary for moby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Xarelto doesn't dissolve clots. None of the anticoagulants dissolve clots. What it does is prevent the clot from enlarging or new ones forming. Your body will then dissolve the clot on its own. Clots tend to form on any artificial substance that's exposed to blood flow, especially metal. That's because platelets tend to stick to foreign objects, which is why you're given aby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebkimura I spoke with his office today and they informed me that performs around 8 ablations per week. They said that people come from all over the country to see him. I scheduled an appointment for early July to discuss the possibility of an ablation. Good choice. That's what you want to see when choosing an EP for an ablation. Lots of procedures under his/her belt and a wide reputatiby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebkimura Sorry I had missed that. Do you have any personal experience with him or just heard good things via word of moth? Thanks. Just what I know of him through word of mouth, his reputation, etc.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebkimura Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I’m currently trying to setup a consult with a Dr. Moussa Mansour at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Has anyone heard of him? Thumbs up/down? Thanks. Look up at my previous reply to you. That's exactly who I recommended. Definitely thumbs up.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I also think flying to Austin is worth the trouble, but if you're not willing to do that I'd head down to Mass General and see this guy.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
If you have an ECG machine say your recording is perfectly normal, give yourself a gold star because nobody else sees that. I have never seen a "normal" report despite having a whole lot of normal ECGs. That's actually a pretty normal ECG. The only concern is the 1st degree AV block and that's why your doc asked you about symptoms. Since you have none, he appropriately wroby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesafib I see no reason to dismiss the study, and I praise the efforts of the researchers to start to quantify triggers for afib. I don't outright dismiss the study; I simply don't trust the data to be accurate. That's for two reasons. The first is because it was a poll conducted online and anonymously, and anonymous online polls are notoriously inaccurate. I would mistrust alby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotePompon A TEE is really no fun. A TEE is a piece of cake if they use propofol. I would never agree to a conscious TEE. In any case, Madeline is on an anticoagulant so a TEE wouldn't be needed.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Just keep taking the sotalol on your normal schedule. It's a beta blocker and it will control your rate. Sotalol is often started without a hospital stay. I've been started on it several times without a hospital stay. You've been taking it without problem for some time so just don't worry about that. Like wolfpack said, the afib won't harm you even if it continues forby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You're asking the wrong group. About 75% of paroxysmal patients who seek ablations and about 50% of persistent patients who seek ablations have only one ablation and it's successful. They don't come here for that very reason. They got their afib treated, it's gone, and they move on with their lives instead of signing up on afib support forums. You really can't judge anby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteMadeline With the ablation coming up hopefully in August, does it matter that much if I decrease? Don't they ask you to stop the meds right before the ablation anyway? It doesn't matter to the ablation at all. You'll be told to stop the sotalol several days prior to the ablation, probably three or four. Glad cutting the dosage down worked for you, and I think you'reby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes. My EP has always been a firm believer that hypertension is a major contributor to afib and wants all his patients under 130/80. I had what was known at the time as pre-hypertension with readings often in the 140-150 range. He put me on BP meds and I quickly noticed a reduction in the episodes I experienced. With what I know now about atrial stretch and afib, I'm also a firm believer thaby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM