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Going into afib or flutter in the first few weeks following an ablation is very common and can almost be considered expected. That's because the burns have been made but they haven't turned into scar tissue yet, and that's what makes them effective. This is why many EPs routinely place ablation patients on an antiarrhythmic during the blanking period. So experiencing afib, flutter,by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You're completely confusing what I've said and comparing your short-term personal experiences measured in months to thousands of people's experiences measured in years. All I've tried to say is that if you've had a successful ablation, the areas ablated will never again produce AF. It's that simple. I don't know why you feel compelled to paint a darker pictuby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d So why does people need multiple ablations, if for example, a top tier ER goes back in and the PVI held—the wires were cut. If the wires were cut and the PVI held during mapping, how does one’s AF return because the LAA, CS, etc, suddenly start firing? The PVI would be the wall. How did the signals penetrate the barrier? If not, there will be endless touch ups. You had 6. Many heby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
As I said, everyone's experiences can vary. My point was simply that the majority of ablation patients feel perfectly fine within a day or two. Some mild symptoms such as a dull ache in the chest, sore throat, and tender insertion sites are common, but they tend to vanish quickly and most people wouldn't consider them something that requires them to stay out of work or avoid exercise. Aby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteFibrillator I am 3.5 yrs post my 4th ablation and 1st Natale successful ablation. Last Christmas I decided to be "normal" and decided to try some alcohol here and there. Probably a few drinks a week every week for a month. One night I deicided to hit it a bit harder and no doubt I went into "something" for about 15 to 20 seconds. Could not catch it on Kardia as I wasby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
There's no hard and fast rule on that. If you ask, Natale might have a specific time period in mind or he may just say go ahead and quit and see what happens. That's the only way to know for sure that you don't need it anymore.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteNotLyingAboutMyAfib Interesting idea. A successful ablation would be robust enough to allow a person to drink caffeine, eat chocolate, alcohol, etc - do all of the 'triggers' suspected, yet most people that have an ablation still walk the tightrope to some degree. Yes, it's an interesting idea because it's exactly the whole idea of ablation. An ablation is like cuttby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d Anyone else who had an ablation recovered so quickly or longer-what is your story? (Poll to determine if being knocked out 2 months is the norm for some). I don't know how many answers your "poll" will get, and experiences vary, but I've heard from/spoken with dozens and dozens of people who've had ablations and the vast majority feel perfectly fine a dayby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
There isn't much in the way of blood work you need to do. An electrolyte panel will tell you where you stand with serum levels of potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium, and Natale will almost certainly have one done before your procedure. You don't need to ask for more tests and doing things like an Exe test is an interesting experiment but not relevant to dealing with your afib onceby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Regarding the Watchman and anticoagulants, one needs to keep in mind that the LAA isn't the only source of emboli that can causes strokes, and your CHADS-Vasc score still matters. What a Watchman does is completely eliminate the LAA as a source of emboli, which means it eliminates 90% of the risk of strokes due to afib. That means it reduces your stroke risk to the same level as someone whoby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteNotLyingAboutMyAfib Why can't the watchman be placed in the 2nd procedure while the LAA is done? It can, and I understand that Natale does combination ablation/Watchman procedures, but I'm not sure what his criteria are. At least in the past he and other EPs generally preferred to wait a year to make sure the ablation was successful before doing the Watchman, but that thinking seby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barring major complications, returning to normal strength from an ablation should be measured in days, a week or two at most. Do I understand correctly that you were only on the amiodarone for a couple of weeks back in May? Are you taking anything else?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteKleinkp Not anti vaccine but golly, last time I had high fever, body aches etc I went into 72 hour afibb episode. That spurred me into getting the ablation. You don't seem to have accepted the fact that you had a successful ablation and your heart is no longer capable of sustaining afib.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebstevens I’m on Eliquis 2.5 and life is good. Glad to hear things went so well for you. No aspirin or clopidogrel?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I think one and done's do exist and are actually the majority of all ablations (about 70% overall). But people who get them don't come to forums like this. They go home, get on with their life, and never show up here. The fact is forums like this are heavily weighted by people who've had problematic outcomes. If I were recruiting for a clinical trial for any disease or condition, pby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteHBK Thanks Carey! Yes, it’s a normal sinus rhythm. It’s almost always about 165 bpm without fail. ... If it would be an easy ablation and I could knock out this last nagging problem, I’d be all for it. Yeah, almost certainly flutter. Not uncommon following an AF ablation (also Maze procedures). Flutter ablations can be super simple and quick if the source is the right atrium, or a bby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d Carey- you mentioned 3) meds to slow it down, No, I didn't. Flecainide is a rhythm control drug, not rate control. Beta blockers and diltiazem are the rate control drugs, so I mentioned two. QuoteIs my case out of the ordinary but if one gets regular 70s hr and then high hr flutter which quickly resolved and converts back to the baseline slower 70-80s hr—isn’t there a risby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
What wolfpack said. And tell your doc there's this thing called the internet now. It has stuff like this: https://www.mdcalc.com/corrected-qt-interval-qtc. A Kardia tells you all you need to know to fill in those boxes.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
No. Vaccines don't cause afib, and if you've had a successful ablation then nothing causes afib. Don't be foolish and get yourself killed over irrational fear of a non-lethal disease you don't have.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I understand how the tests can be false negatives, but the positive bacterial pneumonia finding isn't a false negative. Without question you had bacterial pneumonia. Was it on top of Covid? Maybe, but your rapid recovery doesn't fit Covid. But like I said, you'll never know.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Is it a regular rhythm? If so, it's probably atrial flutter (AFL). Always hitting the same rate every time, and that rate being in the neighborhood of 150, has flutter written all over it. There are four things you can do about AFL: 1) ablation, 2) meds to control it, 3) meds to slow it down, 4) nothing. AFL ablations are much simpler than AF ablations, and if you're lucky the fby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Nope, metoprolol is as effective on day 1 as it is on day 999. So that's good news, right? I would probably credit the CPAP machine.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's not really useful to try and distinguish between Covid and various flavors of pneumonia based on signs and symptoms because they share most of them in common. Negative Covid test and positive bacterial pneumonia says it was pneumonia. Sure, the bacterial pneumonia could have been secondary to Covid, but Covid that has reached the stages of a 70% SpO2 and ground glass x-rays doesn'tby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
From what you've said, that clinical diagnosis of Covid was wrong. The real diagnosis was bacterial pneumonia, which would have pretty much all the same signs and symptoms as Covid. Bacterial pneumonia is serious stuff and when accompanied by O2 sats in the 70s it's life-threatening serious stuff. I think you underestimate how sick you were and the effects it was having on you.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
To my knowledge there's no difference in complication rates between men and women. Can't imagine why there would be. And these days, complications are extraordinarily rare with an experienced operator. If you look up complication rates you'll probably find a study that had some alarming numbers, but that study was done when the Watchman was a brand new device and EPs had zero eby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteNotLyingAboutMyAfib Do you recall the aspirin dose you took? 81 mg. That's pretty much all you'll ever see for antiplatelet use, except in Europe where "baby aspirin" is 100 mg. Speaking of Europe, on a trip to Italy a few years ago I learned not to ask for "baby aspirin." When I asked, the nice Italian lady's eyes got big and she had a look of horrorby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Low dose or "baby" aspirin. Once you get above 100 mg the antiplatelet activity of aspirin doesn't increase, so there's no point in taking more. Generally, the only reason to ever take more than low-dose aspirin is if you're looking for pain relief.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm not sure what you're asking. Combination anticoagulant/antiplatelet therapy isn't uncommon. It's usually reserved for people with high clotting risks but it's definitely done. Are you asking how to do it yourself? The easy answer is just continue taking your anticoagulant and add a daily low-dose aspirin, but you definitely increase your bleed risk by doing that, so Iby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebstevens Thanks for the good information. It is reassuring to hear from others who have had the same. How long did you take off from work? How long after getting the Watchman did you remain on Eliquis or blood thinner? Do the Watchmans come in different sizes and is it more difficult to put one in a woman than a man? Is the complication rate different? Betty I only needed to be off worby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteJackie it's best to choose one without any K1 if you are on a prescription anticoagulant. If that anticoagulant isn't warfarin, why would it matter? Vitamin K simply isn't involved in the pathway the DOACs act on.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM