![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
I'm sorry this happened to you. It is rare but it can happen with any of the anticoagulants. Do you know if any of your ablations resulted in your left atrial appendage (LAA) being isolated? If so, that can make you particularly vulnerable to clot formation in the LAA, which is where >90% of all atrial clots form. You might want to investigate an LAA occlusion procedure. That's a proby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa Yeah they put me on Diltiazem at the ER... part of me would like to quit taking it to see if it really makes a difference. ERs put every afib patient who walks in the door on diltiazem. It's a rate limiting drug, not an antiarrhythmic. It does not prevent afib. If I were you and wanted to try stopping it, I just would. If negative consequences ensue, resume taking it. Youby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa How do you decide who is great ablation PE and who isn't. It's the same as choosing a surgeon -- volume. You want the EP who's done thousands of ablations, not hundreds. The first thing you do is simply ask them. Any EP should have a pretty good estimate of how many he does every year and for how many years. One way to get a good estimate is this site. Althougby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I seriously doubt that NOACs are the cause of a rise in strokes given that they've been repeatedly shown to be comparable or superior to warfarin in preventing strokes and superior to it in not causing bleeds. As for lawsuits, those are a dime a dozen for every new drug on the market. They mean nothing whatsoever. Also, your choice of quotes was rather selective. You might want to considby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotewolfpack It’s possible that the 4 PVIs weren’t transmural That right there is the most likely explanation. It explains a huge percentage of failed ablations, including three of mine.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteKen The other missing element is time. If an ablation last one, five, ten, twenty years, which is considered successful? Mine has lasted 11.5 years, but if I have to go back for a "touch up", was mine a success? Yes, it was a success (>1 year afib free). Your ablation hasn't failed; your afib has progressed. Most likely, a new source of ectopy has developed outside of tby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteBillyjeans I also asked him what he did with my ablations. He said standard PVI and and any strays that showed up when I was put in afib. He says that he doesnt think my afib is coming from my pulminaries. He basically said I'ld have to live with it except to try a cardioversion to stay in NSR longer and prolong permanent afib. You need a new EP. He's out of his league.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotejpeters Unlikely that warfarin will fall out of favor. It already has. Warfarin prescriptions in the US have declined 43% since 2010, with all of that decline being replaced by NOACs. I'm not saying it will go away completely -- it won't -- but it's rapidly falling out of favor. It may be cheap, but the testing requirements, length of time required to stabilize, and variabilby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotewolfpack Well known for an internet soapbox moreso than actual outcomes. Exactly.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sorry it's been a rough patch for you, Sam. Hopefully things will improve promptly.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotedartisskis I have to ask another question. What is used right now as AC before and after the procedure? Is it still Warfarin or is it going to be Eliquis ir similar drug?? Most likely Eliquis or one of the other NOACs. Warfarin has largely fallen out of favor except for certain patients who have other issues that require warfarin.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
My assessment: He has impressive academic credentials. He's probably a fine clinical EP. He has minimal ablation experience. I would not let him do an ablation on me.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa But even knowing that I really don't do anything "more wrong" than most, and that I probably make more healthy choices than most... I'm still feeling overcome with self guilt. One of my big pet peeves is EPs and other alleged experts who like to write articles blaming people for their afib. (A specific, well-known EP comes to mind but I'll forego mentioninby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa Do I need to be cautious about heart rate? You won't know until you try. Just start easy and see how it goes.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I flat don't believe a 97% success rate if he takes all comers, it's afib ablations, and "success" is defined honestly.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotewolfpack With me it's actually quite weird. What will happen is about 2 miles into a run, they'll start. Then after 10 minutes or so they'll vanish completely. I can only figure it has something to do with the fluid shifts that happen as one begins to sweat and then sweats profusely. Probably potassium leaving the cells but then later being overwhelmed by sodium outflux in theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotetobherd Thanks so much for that link, Carey. I'm not sure how to save it...can I? Do you know how to create and use bookmarks in your web browser? Better to just create a bookmark ("favorite"). Then you can send that link to anyone and they'll see the original without you having to email copies around.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Looks like a good series if you want to learn the basics of ECG interpretation. QuoteJoe The most difficult part is making the required diet/life-style changes to get relief or possibly some degree of healing - as long as the cause isn't genetic? The cause is probably genetic for all of us. Consider this: The vast majority of the population has all the same lifestyle issues we do and yby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotetobherd Yes...it's hard to convince someone that going to see Dr. Natale in Texas (she's in Mass now but living in NY), when her Cardiologist is saying they can take care of it there and her husband is very close minded and thinks I'm being an alarmist or exaggerating..... Why would they tell her 8 years? I've never heard of anyone being told how long their ablation sby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotetobherd Carey - I didn't see a link or anything to read, when you said to have her read this....? Oops, sorry. http://www.afibbers.org/forum/read.php?9,158643,158983#msg-158983by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I think she misunderstood them. There is no way for anyone to predict how long an ablation will last, or even to predict with such certainty that it won't last forever. You might want to have her read this .by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You should have investigated this the very first time you saw blood. It is never normal to have blood in the stool. Since you say it's bright red that means it's quite likely hemorrhoids, but by all means get that colonoscopy scheduled ASAP.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Please don't flush drugs. You're sending them to the nearest body of water. Put them in the trash instead. I've had multiple ablations. I was put on antiarrhythmic drugs for a limited period of time after each of them, and the reasoning is sound. Ablation lesions don't stop afib until they fully scar over and become permanent. That takes a couple of months to occur, so theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa Heck, part of me wonders if the stupid BP med I've been taking set this off. I kinda want to quit that, quit the calcium channel blocker, see what my body does by itself. Everyone does this at first -- they search for a cause. It's rare that anybody finds a cause, and when they do it's usually sleep apnea, hyperthyroidism, or a major bodily insult such as surgery orby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebolimasa I know the my peak rate during my 48 hour monitor (180- yikes) was when I was hiking up a steep trail, so I don't know how they really assess the relationship between heart rate and activity (though I did have at least one high rate while I was probably sleeping,so there you go, it must be somewhat of a problem) Sorry, but my bet would be welcome to afib. There might be someby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoterocketritch Did Dr Natale send you home on antirhythmic drugs? He sends most patients home on an AAD. I was sent home with a 2-month prescription for Multaq but I know others who've been sent home on Tikosyn. His reasoning is to keep the heart in normal rhythm until the ablation lines develop fully.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I did a 50-mile bike ride about a week after my ablation last August. Did a bunch more since then. Still in NSR. Taking it easy for a week or two following an ablation is common sense, but the notion that you have to severely restrict physical activity for 90 days is definitely old advice no longer applicable, if it ever was.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotehwkmn05 debate here. I can believe the ER offering to heart attack patients, but does a standing dose really provide any appreciable benefit for afib or stroke risk? No, it doesn't. It has its uses, but stroke prevention in afib isn't one of them. I don't think anyone said otherwise. It simply became the example of the drugs vs. supplements debate above.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Agree with George. The most important question you should ask is how many ablations do you perform per year, and for how many years? What you want to hear is at least hundreds per year and for 10 years or more. A total in the thousands is what you're looking for. Pass on anyone who can't meet those standards.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sorry, but one guy's quote and one study vs. 2000+ years of real world experience and a couple hundred years of scientific investigation doesn't do much for me. Aspirin was known to the ancient Egyptians, Hippocrates wrote about it, it's been known and used for thousands of years, but somehow now it's an evil drug? There are few drugs that mankind knows more about than aspiriby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM