NEW! SVT AND ABLATION

Hi Everyone,

 

Im new here, Im 28 and have suffered from SVT since i was about 4, but was diagnosed about 2 years ago.  My SVT goes upto 320bpm.  I currently take flecainide which does control the attacks, but i have gained 4 stone in weight in almost a year since I have been taking Flecainide.  Its such a nusience as i have a young child to care for, so i have decided to go for the ablation!!!!

 

I am going for my ablation on the 16th November and am so scared.  All I think about is "What if i die" etc....

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has SVT or have had an Ablation.  I would like to know if it hurts when they burn the heart etc...

 

Please feel free to leave a reply or email me.

 

Take Care everyone

 

Hi Queen 1978 Dave Z here.  I just read your post regarding SVT and catherter for ablation.  A little history in 1997 i was taken from work with SVT to the ER where i received a shot which resulted in a normal sinus rhythym.  My 2nd SVT was in January of 2000.  Ambulance trip to ER and another shot which resulted in normal sinus rhythym.  Then i had a 3rd SVT in august 2001, which was of a short duration and then reverted back to normal. My 4th SVT was in April of 02 it also reverted back to normal on its own.  Thruout those years the doctors kept changing my heart medicines betta blockers, which slow down your heart rate, which i did not like the sluggish feeling I got from the meds.  So as catherter ablations came on scene I desperately wanted to get off the heart drugs.  Therefore in July of 2003 I had a atrioventricular catherter of the right AV Node.  MY ablation results were excellent, I am now off all heart medication and since the ablation 3yrs ago I have had no SVT's what so ever.I no longer have the nagging thought of oh when am i going to have another SVT.  The procedure itself is done under general anesthisia and you will not feel anything.  The doctor will thread the catheter up to your heart from entering your femoral artery in your left groin and it is a very small incision.  Then the doctor will proceed to test your hearts rhythym channels or pathways to find out where it is at that the rhythym is firing off.  After mapping your heart he will then ablate or burn the offending area.  This you will not feel at all.  You may have some slight chest pain for a few days afterwards which will heal and not cause further pain.  In my particular case I did not have any chest soreness after my proceedure.  After the procedure they will apply pressure at the entrance site in your groin.  Sometimes there is brusing, or a possibility of infection in that area.  However I also had no problem with that.  As i said above since having the ablation i have had no problems and no further SVT'S.  In my opinion I think it may be a very good procedure for you to have.  The success rate for this procedure is 96%.  The other 4  percent sometimes have to have the procedure repeated.  There is also a slight chance of slowing down the rhythym to much then requires a pacemaker, dont let that scare you.  I was fortunate to be in the 96 percentil of the success rate.  However knowing all of the possibilite having it done was one of the best medical procedure I have ever had.  Gook luck to you and God speed.

Dear Queen1978,

I had a catheter ablation of my AV node in January 2005.

at the same time....they put in a dual chamber lead pacemaker.

I was awake for the hole thing....they did give me a relaxant.

Dave Z explained the procedure pretty well.  I had to have mine done Because of intense bouts of Atrial fibrillation with Some SVT. 

Dave Z is so Right about the beta blockers....landed me in bed i was so fatigued.  So I told them never again...no beta blockers!!

I take Diltiazem for rate control along with my pacemaker.

and Altace for my blood pressure

..despite having the procedure done... i am not A-Fib free.

But, I don't regret at all having the Ablation, it has improved alot. 

I was expected to lay flat for 4-6 hours....with a weight on my groin on the artery where they put in the angio catheter.

if they keep you awake...you must lie very very still.

If you are on diuretics...you might want a foley catheter in your bladder...cause it's hard to hold for 6 hours....lols...

and I personally couldnt lay flat while on a bed pan

Good luck....

funnel

 

Hi Queen!

 

I had my SVT ablation done yesterday.  I too felt like I should say all my goodbyes in case I didn't make it.  It's a scary thing when they're messing with your heart. 

 

My experience was a piece of cake.  After being taken into the lab, I was given sedation which made me a little sleepy.  Then once the doctor got in there, he apparently was able to produce via a mechanism the way my heart feels when I have a tachycardia experience.  He asked me if that was what it felt like, and I said yes.  The next thing I knew, they increased the sedation and I slept through the whole thing.  It took 2 hours.  I was ablated 9 times.  They only had to go in on the right groin through the vein, although I was prepped to go on the left side through the artery should it have been necessary. 

 

Next thing I knew, I was back in the room for another 4 hours to lie down and keep my leg still.  I slept through that, slept through the ride home, and went to sleep as soon as I got home until this morning. 

 

I feel fine, my heart feels fine.  I only still feel a little groggy and my incision site in my groin is sore to touch, but is fine.  I had mine done at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, NC and I had excellent care. 

 

Don't worry.  If you hear one horror story, there are billions that are more like mine!  Relax and good luck!

Just wanted to say thankyou to everyone who has replied.

I am also wondering about the sedative they give you, how does it make you feel?  Are you still aware what is going on too?

Queen X

Hi again, Ive just been reading through the site and people seem to be having different types of ablations, my specialist said that they will only go through the groin in one leg. Never mentioned a thing about the neck .

Im having a radiofrequency ablation, but after reading some things on here, am getting a bit wary of having it done now.  I feel like cancelling it.  It seems most people are having to have this done more than once

I'm glad to hear all the good news on ablation. I had one 8 yrs ago or rather an attempted one. Mine did not go well mainly due to the location of the main arrythmia problem (right in the middle of the Bundle of hiss). They did not have a pacemaker ready and almost knocked out my AV and SA node. I work codes and know that's exactly what they would have done on me until they got the pacemaker. My cardiologist keeps asking me to try again since so much has changed in the technology (mapping,etc), but I'm a huge coward. I also have severe spasms of the small arteries of the heart (rare). With all the good news from ya'll, I just might one day be brave enough to try again! Keep giving me the good news!

I asked my EP's nurse a few days ago and she said that they can't put you completely out, but that chances are I'll sleep the whole time and not remember a thing. She said I'll fall asleep, but that if they need to talk to me, they'll be able to wake me up and I'll be responsive. However, they put some sort of amnesia drug in the IV too so that you don't remember any of it when you wake up in the recovery room. She said some people remember waking up and seeing the monitors for a minute and going back to sleep, but that's it. The drugs just make you not care apparently.

I'm having mine done Dec. 1st, so I'll be sure and report back after that.

OMG

 

That was the worst ever experience of my whole life. 

Before you read this i suggest you first think to yourself this is probably a one off, and doesnt happen to everyone.... i dont think.

I had my ablation on the 16th and i am still recovering.  This is going to be a very long post as i wanted to know the ins and outs of the procedure and i couldnt find anyone who told me them, so im going to tell u step by step about my procedure.

I was walked down to the theatre where i was told to lay on this freezing cold table thing.  Then they put 4 freezing cold pads on my body and the usual sticky pads so they can monitor your heart rate.  They pulled a big screen at one side of me and right above me i had a big machine that moved up and down my body quite often during the procedure, and very close to my chest.  Then they started to give me the local anasthetic in my groin, this took about 15 mins i think it felt like he was nippping my vein and pulling it through my skin it was very painful for me.  Then he started on my other groin

I was very upset at this time so they decided to give me morpheine, they didnt give me the other drug they said because i was allergic to eggs  . So the nurse started to flush this morpheine through my body and i felt pain in my chest and neck so the surgeon told her to stop the flushing.  So during my procedure i had no sedative what so ever.  It was awful as i couldnt see anyone apart from the nurse stood miles away from me, because of the radiography thing above me.  All i could hear was about 8 people saying they couldnt understand how easy they could set my tachycardia off.  They were setting off my tachycardia then stopping it continuously i felt like a guinea pig.  It was start the AV node again, start this again.  I was so scared as i had no-one telling me what was going on.

After about 2 hours i shouted STOP and they came round to me and asked what was wrong, i told them i had had enough and i wanted them to stop this procedure right away.  The surgeon said he just wanted to try one more thing as he couldnt ablate me anyway

He wanted to start my arythmia and give me that drug (dont know its name) that makes u feel like u r dying, to see if it slowed down my heart rate.  I knew exactly what he meant and i refused.

So they took out the wires and WHOOPEE just my luck   I had my tachycardia start on its own    So they asked me if i wanted then to insert the wires again to stop it, i agreed so they inserted the wires but they said they couldnt stop it and they needed to give me that awful drug.  I yet again disagreed to it but they gave me it anyway   what a awful feeling that was.  It didnt stop my tachycardia so they gave me a stronger dose. 

After they had finished playing with me       I was took back to my bed. I was shivering so much, they let me go home later on.

Since after having this procedure I have felt so ill.  Ive had a temperature, i have been getting violent headaches and i can hardly move my neck.  I dont feel myself at all. Maybe its a reaction to some of the drugs i have no idea.  My headaches go for about 30 mins and then its back with avengence.  I am still feeling ill and this headache is coming again so my mum is taking me to the doctors.

Apparantly after they have studied what they did to me, they believe now that they have found the problem and it is in the centre of the heart, which he says is more riskier but i can have it ablated in 2 months time   I dont know about that, i dont think i can go through all this again. 

I hope i havent put people off this procedure, this is my personal experience and we are all different. I have to go now before my head explodes take care everyone xxx

....Hi legilgyblnd

Thanks for your post.  I too, was sorry to hear about Queens experience.   Also, I TOO would want to be put "out"!    I'm HOPING i can read some GOOD experience & succesful experiences w this procedure.    The research i've done shows it coming out VERY well (96% success rate)----Please--i HOPE there are some good, succesful stories out there.       Blessings--Robert

Hi Queen,

I was really shocked to hear what a terrible time you had with your ablation, and now you've got an infection too! How did they manage that? I'm sorry for your troubles. You describe very vividly that horrible feeling of being treated like a lump of meat and being powerless. The first time I was sent an appointment for an ablation (I'm waiting for my 4th) a leaflet was enclosed. It described the procedure as being slightly uncomfortable and said I'd be back to normal in 24 hours. Actually the procedure and nursing care were horrible and I had complications with my leg, so no, I wasn't back at work the next day. My point is that I do think the medical people should be honest with us and not give these unrealistic blanket reassurances. I know that most people have no trouble at all with ablations, but that doesn't make our experiences less valid.

Regarding anaesthesia, I had some morphine last time (which made me throw up) but other than that just the local anaesthetic as I can't cope with being half awake, half not. I have asked for a general for my next ablation but the anaesthetists at my hospital don't do electrophysiological work, so that is under negotiaton.

I don't blame you for sounding angry, Queen. I hope the infection clears up soon and that you don't have to go back in.

Dear Robert, I'm afraid none of this is very encouraging for you and I'm sorry for that. You are right though -the success rate is very high. I wonder if we read on here about so many unsuccessful attempts because the forum is often used by people who haven't found things straightforward. Regards, Juliette

Queen, it definitely sounds like they made some mistakes with you. Most of the things I've read say that you have to lie flat for 7-8 hours before they start moving you around. And I've never been in a hospital where you didn't have a buzzer for the nurse. Maybe things are just different in Great Brittain (that's where you are, right?)...

I too wonder about why some people are ablated more than once. According to my research, the procedure is 95-98% successful for what I have (AVNRT). The 2-5% it's not successful for apparently have to have it done again. The people I've read about that have to have it done a second time seem to be those who had more than one spot that needed to be ablated or those whose tachycardia they can't get started during the procedure.

I just received an email from someone who had the procedure done at the same place I'm going later this week and it sounded like a pretty easy experience. I'll ask her if I can post it here so the rest of you can see a better experience.

Queen, is your infection better? What about the leaking? Hope you haven't had to be admitted again!

well hi my name is Aaron i have had svt attacks over the last 2 years on and off which last no more than 5-10 minutes at a time it always worried me and asked my gp and he said it was nothing to worry about so i would just let them pass and think nothing of it ruling it out as some sort of sudden adrenalin rush.
Last night i was taken to hospital with a major svt with a 230bpm heart rate which lasted just over an hour till the doctors carried out some vagal techniques to bring it back to normal.
You guys would know how scared i was not knowing what was going on or weather my heart was just going to stop and cause my partner is away i was alone so now that i know what is wrong with me and that there are other people who have the same problems as me gives me relief i will be seeing my gp in a couple of days to find out what I need to do. but i see some of you have had problems for years so is this what i am to expect for many years to come?????.and how long will i have to put up with this????
thank you for taking the time to read this but it is nice i can talk to other people with the same condition.

cheers
Aaron

ps: posted in another thread but this thread is more recent so thought id post here.