Peggy: You also walk up your stairs, and then relax in bed don't you? Or is that no longer part of the protocol?by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have heard stories over the years, where someone like you flies into town for the consultation, and then at the end of the consult, the EP will offer to make room in his schedule for an impromptu Ablation, like the next day, or even later on that afternoon. I don't think that Natale works that way, but is a possible contingency situation to think about. Do you take the offer?by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Do you know if you have issues sleeping on your side? My sleep Dr. was adamant about me using a CPAP machine, but figured out the I was doing just fine sleeping only on my sides. So I just sleep on my side.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
That sounds like a sensible plan for you, to just take the Xarelto, after an episode. That's if you are sure when your episodes start and stop. You might talk to your Dr. about exactly how long. Apaches Dr. wanted him on Xarelto for 30 days after. I had 2 Dr's, one of them mandated 21 days, the other was less worried about stroke risk, and agreed that 10 days was long enough. Manby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
TEE = Transesophageal Echocardiogram They stick this tube down your throat, and it looks at your heart, you have to be under, as it causes a gag reflex.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
I was wondering how you managed the timing of your 14 ECV's. That would make the whole process much easier and smoother. I will ask that question to my EP's when I see them. I had taken Xarelto for quite a few of my ECV's, but that was over 18 months ago.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Peggy: What is the "Ativan Conversion Method" is it posted anywhere?by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
PeggyM: This came up about a year ago, in a thread. It is probably longer than we would care to divulge in. As a newcomer, I was not really getting respect for knowing what was talking about. "The episode has to last about 5 hours for a clot to form". As I understand it, that's not an absolute statement I made. The Atria are stunned for a period of time (it varies)by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
It might effect an Anti-Arrythmic drug, the QRS segment can become to elongated in some scenarios.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would taper down the dosage when go to stop the drug over a week, withdrawal from Nsaid's can effect K+ levels in the Heartby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
That's sort of good and bad, we do the genius Brain work, and then are the uncompensated Ginuea Pigs, then some other Dr. takes our work/efforts and claims success.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Amyorca: If your sure your only getting that few of episodes, then taking the Xarelto is not warranted from an AFIB perspective. The episdoe has to last about 5 hours for a clot to form. Obviously the overall Cardiovascular situation should be taken into account. Apache: The Atrial Stunning is from the AFIB itself, not the ECV. It can take 21 days for full Atrial functioning to restorby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's been done in the Hospital by IV infusion, there was a small study like 15 years ago, where there was limited success. That study is referenced somewhere on this site. I have thought about doing an IV push in that scenario. In my case my Pain Dr. who was up on AFIB was willing to help me try it. I would have to dig up the Protocol I was thinking about. I would PM Shannon for a quicby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
My Dr who keeps up with the state of Ablationism, said that Doug Packer at Mayo was one of the top half-dozen Ablationist's nationwide.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Apache: You might be interested in talking or researching any work done by Dr. John Sirack, who does the 5-Box Total Thoracoscopic Maze Procedure. He was at OSU, but I think he moved to the Sentara Hospital in Norfolk VA. He also has a forum with limited following regarding his procedure. I'm not sure, but when I spoke with him, I think he was referring Cranial Lesions being a drawbackby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
I know there are many posters who have expressed gratitude and have given testimony that they have been helped by Ablation (Natale Ablation in particular). But how many have been AFIB free after 4+ years? THE STRATEGY as an AFIB management plan has been rightly criticized, as the so called success stories(i.e. CR 61 and "the list" posts) were primarily short term, some only 3 monthby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Are you talking about that Pediatric Specialist in the LA area?by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
So what does this mean? The Doctor saves money if he gets a patient to have a second Ablation with 12 months? The patient is no doubt totally unaware of this financial agreement and the savings would not be passed on the the patient. How much money are we talking about here? I guess Ablationist looks bad if the patient has some AFIB during the 1st year, but then he is rewarded if he can talkby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Apache: That's an excellent point about EP's getting Ablations. I imagine they do well with early detection and treatment. Shannon knows Natale, and some other high level EP, maybe he can ask. You could even broaden that question out to include all Cardiologists. How long is it after onset of AFIB, do you wait to get an ECV? I am surprised, your Doctors are not trying to steer yby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Now is the time comment on the sites format, as it will be upgraded shortly, and then we may be stuck with whatever changes are made.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
The Bigeminy isn't a static Arrythmia like AFIB. ECV will not stop it. I get those all the time, and Trigeminy, Quadrigeminy and so on. Sometimes it's every 7, or 8 beats. I may be in Bigeminy, and then as it improves it goes to every 3 beats, then every 4 or 5 and so on until it gets to about every 10th beat, after that it usually just smooths completely out. Beta-Blockers help wiby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Apache, you've had the 14 ecv's in the last 18 months, had you had more prior? Are you having trouble getting your Dr's to go along with all of them? Are they pressuring you into doing something else, like an Ablation?by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
She referred to her own diagnosis as "Panic Attacks", this is an important distinction, because probably a much larger group of people such as myself didn't have epilepsy, but still got the "panic attack" misdiagnosis Also, you are missing her relapse in 2008 Puzzling, why she says "My first AFIB" this post was from 2010, and refers to this episode 2 yeby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would do a google search for terms like "fibrosis post-ablation" or like "Atrial fibrillation remodeling" Medical articles have this sort of stuff in them. I think your too focused on Fibrosis. My understanding is that AF causes electrical remodeling among other things, that helps the AF progress for the worse. Not sure about the statement you made about "most pby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good response Rob. I wasn't trying to denigrate the whole Ablation process, just give information about this negative transient effect. We each have to find our own path to NSR. I don't want to get off topic, but I believe based on my own lengthy bout with Persistent AFIB there is something about the Mind-Interface to the condition of AFIB. Luckily I was pretty much Asymptomatby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Researcher: Is the UCSD EP Dr. Feld, or just an associate of his. My own local EP thought that Dr. Feld was a top level Ablationist being at the leading edge of the science, at least for the SW. Whoever the EP was that saw the 5 incoming "Butcheries" would know what to do. Whether or not they would actually stand up to the situation and take action is of course, another matter.by The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
Well obviously we can't get the word out, if we don't name the Dr. or Practice in question. Maybe this is a time for the Moderator to chime in about when it is appropriate to speak negatively about a certain Dr. Certainly if it is from our own personnel experiences or that of our children, then speaking out would be the moral and ethical thing to do. We've all known people fromby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's still accurate to call that a side effect of an Ablation. Mike E and other have been greatly bothered by this. Just because it's a common after effect does'nt mean we say it's not valid to refer to it that way. Another negative effect of an Ablation is this so called "Blanking Period". As if what happens in this 3 month period of time is inconsequential, anby The Anti-Fib - AFIBBERS FORUM