PROBLEMS AFTER CARDIAC ABLATION - Part 1 of 2

My husband is 28 years old and when we first found out he had afib he was 23. they went in and gave him ablation after that the doctore seemed to ignore all signs that it didnt work. We kept taking him to the er and they finally said we need you to see a new doc. so we changed doctores and with in 3 weeks he was scheduled for his second ablation. I was told after the surgery that he may have to have another one. Well he felt better for about 2 months and he started to have the same things happen over and over again i would get into it with the doctores office because all the nurses seemed to feel that they wer doctores and that my husband was crazy so i then requested to talk to the doc. Over and over the doctore said this is mpr,al we dont see anythig . i sayed well you cant tell me that there isnt anything wrong when my husband is feeling this way. then he started to have trouble breathing they told him he may have asmthma sure enough nope that wasnt it . One day the doc desided he was gonna go threw my husbands file and he saw something not normal from years prior. I then was upset because why in the heck did they just find this. so they sent him to get a catscane. WE just got the phone call that i am not sure what to think . my husband is of coarse acting like a meany because he scarred but anyways we found out that he has a collapsed artiary. i dont even know what to think. Has anyone else had this problem my husband wont talk to me and he has shut me out. I have 2 babies 1 and 2 and i just dont k ow what to think. Any help in easing the pain any thing anyone?

azcoyote said...
since I had an ablation on June 10th of this year, I too am having a rocky recovery and want you to know that in the large majority of cases (above 90th percentile) patients do recover arrhythmia-free or at least are relieved of the arrhythmias that they had...at least that's what the medical literature wants us to believe. 
I guess my message is: BE PATIENT! This is a challenging and relatively new area of medicine. With patience, you should ultimately get relief from your arrhythmias. It's better to have the doc go gingerly the first time and go back a second time. If they get too aggressive and overheat the tissue, you can wind up with bad side effects. One thing I want to share with the whole forum is that when indicated, your EP guy can use cold ablation which kills the troublesome cells by freezing. In some areas, like the pulmonary veins, this is thought to reduce the chances of contractures and narrowing of the pulmonary vein's lumen (opening). Freezing is thought to preserve the stroma of the vascular and cardiac tissue (the support structure) which is supposed to reduce the scarring effect. The repair cells can use this as a scaffolding so the tissues retain their strength. The atrial wall is pretty darn thin, so lots of heat in one place can result in complications...that's why EPs are trained to go gingerly, even if it means a second procedure.

Remember, it takes about three months for complete healing in most cases. Primary healing occurs in the first month, and by the third month, the tissues re-heal...they break down a little and "remodel" which can play havoc and even result in an unexpected arrhythmia until complete healing has occurred. That's why I would not recommend having a second or third ablation right away after the first. Give the heart's endothelium (internal lining cells) a chance to re-grow and re-coat the inside of the heart and blood vessels and allow the heart to "declare itself". If after the healing is complete, you have breakthrough arrhythmia, then a re-ablation makes sense. This is what I have heard and read in the literature. But try not to let it get you down...there IS light at the other end of the tunnel.

I found also in my case that taking ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) really reduced the inflammation and that I had fewer immediate post-ablation arrhythmias when I stayed on it around the clock. 

 

azcoyote:  Thanks so much for your detailed explanation of the healing process.  I had a 4 1/2 hour ablation a on August 31.  I was doing really well until last night when I experienced irregular rhythms most of the night.  It is much different than before my ablation, though.  Prior to the procedure, my heart rate would go up to 130-150 during the a-fib.  Last night, it was LOW....in the 50's, 40's and one reading was low enough that my monitor couldn't register it!  That scared me as I was not expecting LOW heart rates at all. 

My doctor told me to expect some a-fib during the 3 months it takes to heal.  But he offered no details of what that might be like.  So, my question is ... has anyone else experienced what I had happen last night?  I'm wondering if it was connected to the fact that I had two glasses of wine a couple of nights ago and then drank quite a lot of strong iced tea yesterday.  I'm holding off caffine and alcohol now and today the rhythm is pretty much back to normal....but still in the low 50's for a heart rate.

I also noticed you successfully took NSAIDs which I would like to do.  But...the cardiologist has me on Prodaxa which cannot be used with NSAIDs.  Were you taking anything as an anticoagulant?

Mother of SVT said...
My daughter had her first ablation procedure and is now having a very hard time sleeping. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any remedies?

Hi, I too had my first ablation for my SVT on August 19th. I had an extremely hard time weening myself off of the beta blocker Bystolic 5mg. I stopped taking it completely last week, and I believe I've developed some sort of depression brought on by the drug. I have been unexpectedly crying ever since I stopped taking it, and had severe mood alterations. I don't know if its a side effect of weening off the drug but I am also having a very difficult time sleeping most nights. My heart skips beats and I have pvcs all night long that keep me awake. Although i don't go into tachycardia, it is definitely more than enough to keep me up all night. I asked my doctor about it whenever it first started happening when I lowered the dosage on my beta blocker, and he said not to worry that it was a sign my heart was healing, however that was nearly a month ago and the pounding has yet to cease. All I can do is sleep on the recliner now, it does seem to help if i'm sleeping in more of an upright position.

Hi
I'm a new member. I have had paroxysmal AF for about 5/6 years. I asked about ablation 2/3 years ago but my consultant was reluctant to put me forward for it until this year. Although I'm in the UK and therefore on the NHS, I didn't have to wait too long. I paid in the first place to see the consultant who did the ablation but he then put me on his NHS list. I had to start taking warfari and he told me that I would go on the full list when I had got to a steady INR of 2.5 and had maintained it at that for 4 weeks. That took about 10 weeks, then I had the procedure about 4 weeks after that - on October 31st this year (2011).

The procedure was done when I was awake and took about 2 hours - it was not as bad as I expected. I had to stay in hospital overnight and went home the next lunchtime. They told me I would probably have AF episodes for up to 2-3 months while the heart was healing. That's certainly true. Its 5 weeks since the ablation and I've been having AF every day for anything from 15 minutes to 7 hours, which is worse than it was before. I also get skipped and extra beats within sinus rhythm which I didn't have before. I'm hoping that it will all subside! I see the consultant again at the end of January, 3 months after the procedure.

I would really like to know if other people who have had ablation have continued to have AF for a while and then got better? If so how long did it last - when did it stop?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Dee46

Mbutlerfly

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  I think you were fortunate to have the SVT when you were at the hospita/clinic.  I am wondering if you have had a 2D Echo test and what your chemo drug is ?  Some chemotherapy drugs can damage the heart.  Just a thought.

Pacemakers designed to interrupt or override the tachycardia may be an alternative to ablation or chronic medications for PSVT.  PSVT is generally not life-threatening unless other cardiac disorders are present. Younger, otherwise healthy individuals who are asymptomatic are usually managed without hospitalization. There is a wide variation in outcome for individuals with PSVT, but most have an excellent outcome, including those who undergo catheter ablation therapy.

Let us know how you are doing.

 

I went into that after having a heart valve opp a few weeks ago
they put somthing im the iv
scarry

Hi,
I am a 60 year old grandmother that has been dealing with SVT since I was 38 years old, I have had 2 ablations done neither worked. My brother-in-law told me (after his second ablation) that his doctor told him to get on certian vitamins and minerals and it would help his heart. I started noticing every time I went in for an attack that something in my blood test was low, like magnesium, potassium, or sodium. So I went on line to check on how much of each I needed, per day and what to eat or drink to get what I needed. Now after my last ablation I had in Sept 2010, I have had 1 attack of svt. I make sure I take 500 mg of magnesium orotate,100 mg of co enzyme q-10, 5,000 ius vit d3, 1,000 mg vit c and 1,280 mgs of omega 3 per day. I also eat bananas 1 or 2 per day, 1 ensure( for muscle) it has 960mg of potassium. Through out the day I drink milk, powerade zero, and water. Eat a salade or something more that has potassuim. As far as the meds I take diltiazem.After my last ablation I was taking 480 mg diltiazem. After 6 months (I was on my new regime with eating healthier and vitamins) they cut my dose to 240 mg. Then on my 1 year check up they cut my dose to 120mg. Now I had to go to the mayo clinic due to my heart rhythms going up and down caused by low sodium and losing my electrolytes. This was due to being on too strong of medication. So now I am on 80mg the last week and a half. And after my tests today I am going 60 mgs I am hoping to be off bata blockers soon. Taking care of yourself has to come first. Also I am startng to walk on my tradmill and doing older peoples yoga. Meditation every 3 days or so. Hoprfully I can help some of you.

tommymit85

Welcome to HealingWell.  I am not sure what this "popping" is but I am wondering if you have called you cardiologist to report this issue.  People with heart problems generally have anxiety as well so try not to overthink what is going on.

Learning to control your anxiety will serve you well.  One way is to practice breathing exercises.

Three-Part Breath

Find a place where it's quiet.

Sit in a straight back chair with both feet on the floor or lie on the floor with a straight spine.

Begin inhaling by expanding the abdomen (let it inflate like a balloon), then move the breath into your rib cage and, finally, all the way into your upper chest.

Exhale by reversing this action; begin at your collarbones and exhale down through your rib cage and into your abdomen. Contract your abdominal muscles as you finish exhaling.

You might find it helpful to lightly place your right hand on your abdomen and your left hand on your rib cage to help direct the breath on its journey.

Begin by practicing for one minute and then gradually lengthen the practice to five minutes.

This technique helps to eliminate shallow chest breathing and encourages full exhalation and inhalation.

There's no need to push yourself or judge yourself for being anxious. The idea is simply to be quiet for a short time and notice your breath.

 

 

 

Hi. This thread is old, but if anyone stumbles upon this and is looking for answers/opinions about ablations I'd like to offer my two cents in hopes of reaching someone.

I was born with SVT and started taking medication for it when I was only 1 year old. I had an ablation done back in 2003. Everything was seemingly fine at first, and to most doctors seemingly fine now. But it's not and I'm not in the least.

The complications with the procedure should be taken extremely seriously. After the catheter is removed there is no true way to tell how your heart is healing.

As it turns out a blood clot had formed, and there was lymphatic damage near the incision near the groin area. It's been almost 10 years now, and I'M JUST FIGURING OUT NOW WHAT WENT WRONG. It fixed my heart problem. Well, it fixed what seemed to be a heart problem at the time, but blood clots are magnets for bacteria to hide and multiply. Over the years the infection has been silent, but getting progressively more apparent. The underlying infection gave way to an overabundance of Candida in my system. With the infection still present and unnoticed by doctors (because they were only checking the speed of my heart) my immune system was at an all-time low. Fast forward many years later, the Candida has wrecked havoc on my poor body. The damage to the lymphs blocked further healing by blocking drainage and the removal of toxic buildup from my system. This has led to multiple autoimmune disorders not to mention complete detriment my psychological/emotional well-being.

Anyone thinking about getting this procedure done, I BEG YOU to PLEASE look into allergies/any other underlying cause that might be the cause for an arithmia. As it turns out I am allergic to many things (as was my father when he was a child) my arithymia started back up again when I was near/ate certain things I was allergic to. SVT is real, and my extra electrical cord and pain, and hospitals I went to for all of those years was a terrible experience that I wouldn't want anyone else to live through. HOWEVER if you are tested and can't find any other reason/trigger for your palpitations get the ablation, but MONITOR THE HEALING VERY CLOSELY. I was so young, and wasn't really helped out very much. I hope someone else will have a different experience. I was told when I was having it done that they weren't sure how this treatment would react in your body after 10+ years because the first patients treated hadn't grown enough yet.

If the ablations aren't working for you I strongly suggest looking deeply into what is triggering the episodes. Is it caffeine? Chocolate? Wheat? Mine used to be chocolate. As it turns out I have a caffeine allergy (as well as others). I'll still get palpitations if I eat certain things.

Frequencies are powerful, powerful things. These procedures are taken far too lightly. Be careful. Treat your heart and your body well.

Peace and lots of healing love to each and every one of your beats,
Juliet

ShannonL

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  Everytime I come to this forum I learn something new  which is a good thing.  I love to learn from others.

First of all for members that do not know,  AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) or atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia is a type of supraventricular tachycardia and one of the most common ones. This means it is a type of fast heart rhythm originating from above the ventricles. This is felt as a series of fast, regular, palpitations which start and stops abruptly. Women experience this arrythmia more often than men. Though it can occur in childhood people in their twenties or thirties are more frequently seen with this form of tachycardia.

 

In people with AVNRT, instead of having one AV node, they have two pathways: a fast one and a slow one. Thereby the electrical impulses traveling from atria to ventricles get confused or more correctly they move in circles.  The heart beat rises fro 120 to 250 per minute. The beats are not erratic even though tachycardia is seen. But the heart's pumping gets affected. In most patients with AVNRT an underlying heart disease is not seen.

Shannon, you mentioned you have had this condition for 15 years but you did not post what medications or treatments you had in the past before your ER visit that turn into a cardiac ablation procedure ? I know you are currently on a betablocker.

I am sorry to read you are having symptoms and may I kindly suggest you seek out a new cardiologist for further testing.  Some blood tests you may want to ask for would include TFT(Thyroid Function Test) and electrolytes.

Wish I had better advice for you but please do keep on advocating for yourself. 

Again a warm welcome to HealingWell.

Kindly,

Kitt 

Shannon,

Hugs to you and I understand your concerns knowing that you Grandfather died of a sudden cardiac event. Try not to get stuck in the "what if?" thinking.  We cannot tell the future and we cannot live in the past so stay in the moment and take life one day at a time.

Blessings,

Kitt

Hi all and particularly ShannonL (I think we have a lot in common!)

I had catheter ablation in January 2012 in the UK for AVNRT after suffering with episodes of SVT since the age of 11 (I'm now 26 and otherwise fit and healthy). After my SVT becoming more frequent which was usually down to exercise or bending down too quickly (I have always avoided caffeine and alcohol anyway) I finally decided to be brave and have the ablation. The procedure went well and my heart rate and blood pressure etc recovered very quickly in the immediate hours after ablation. However, as soon as the drugs wore off I could feel awful burning tight chest pains, just like I had in the catch lab when they were burning me. Here I am 6 weeks later still with these awful chest pains. They are now lighter when sitting or laying down but as soon as I do anything they are extreme and I have to sit back down. I literally can't do anything. I've been back to hospital twice where they were more concerned that I may have a punctured lung or a clot, having ruled these out they have put the pain down to inflammation despite telling me that I shouldn't have inflammation after ablation for AVNRT. I've been told to rest and take ibuprofen which hasn't helped at all. I'm desperate to get back to work, my usual Zumba and circuit training classes and having a social life again! No one seems to be able to help or have any answers for me and sending me away to rest isn't helping. I am also getting lots of mini palpitations and funny beats which apparently can occur for as long as 8weeks after until scars have formed so not worried about that yet. The cardiologist had suggested possible anxiety or indegestion which angered me no end! After having palpitations for most of my lifetime I am very used to it and know its not life threatening. I can deal with heart problems as I'm so used to it! And as for indegestion?! Funny how it started straight after the procedure and I've had it consistently the 6weeks after!

I really need some help and advice - has anyone had any resolution to chest pains after ablation? How can I get rid of them? How are you feeling now Shannon? Please don't put up with these chest pains - after reading up on the Internet plenty of people around the world seem to have this experience yet the cardiologists seem dumbfounded to hear about this and make me feel as though I'm making this up! Any advise welcome, I am desperate to get my life back! Thanks!