Posted 5/20/2014 6:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hey,
First-time poster here!
My name's Michael, live in Denmark and I'm 25 years old. Since I was 18 I've suffered from bouts of afib. While it was extremely rare at first, 3-4 a year and only happening at night, it slowly got worse up to a point where it started to annoy me. At around age 23 I got active treatment for it, multiple hospitalizations, anti-arrhythmic drugs ( Flecainide / Selo-zok ) which just made it worse.
Later I was put on Cordarone, which was very effective but also what I'd call a straight-up poison.
I got my first ablation which worked for a month, then my afib started again and gradually got worse to a point where I almost begged for a re-ablation.
Second ablation, they took me off Cordarone as a test and it was the worst time in my life. Due to a stressful job I had around 25+ bouts of afib lasting more than 24 hours in less than 2 months.
I was put back on Cordarone and on December 16th I got my third ablation. First time I was completely sedated and they use the cryoballoon technique. First time I was afib free when they were done, which was a good sign. Doctor said they "couldn't induce afib again" as I was lying on the table. They took me off Cordarone again.
A month went by. Woke up with afib, lasted 30 hours. Another month, woke up in the middle of the night with afib, lasted 30 odd hours, another month, another 30 hours. And now over the past few weeks as the Cordarone is leaving my body, it's getting progressively worse again, we're talking mere days now and I'm afraid it will just get worse.
I don't get any sleep, afib always starts at night, something with the vagal tone-something and I can't sleep with my bouts of afib as they make me feel extremely poor. My cardiologist is surprised how much I'm affected. I effectively can't function when I have afib. I'm depressed now, all the time. Nervous about going to sleep, massive sleep deprivation, suicidal thoughts and I just don't know what to do any more ...
Seeing my cardiologist in 2-3 weeks for the 6 month follow up and I'm just lost right now. Three ablations with zero success, a fourth would be rather pointless? They can't cardiovert me for some reason at all, most drugs highly ineffective as in they have the opposite effect, cordarone is the only thing working but already been on that for around 2 years with some bothersome side-effects.
Just ... Looking for input, similar situations, suggestions what to do next. I was planning on asking for the Cox Maze III operation as I'd go to the end of the world to get this out of my life but apparently that's not a big thing in Denmark.
Help ...