Cardiac Ablation

[thinkerbell]

A few months ago, I came on and asked if anyone had had a colon resection and got several good, positive replies. It definitely helped to ease my mind. So, at the beginning of December, my husband had his colon resection for diverticulitis and did really well. Went back to the doctor for his check up a couple of weeks after on a Friday and he was very happy with how he was doing. By Sunday, he was having a lot of discomfort in his chest. By Wednesday, December 22nd, he was in so much pain that he finally let me take him to the hospital. After a CT scan, they found a large blood clot in his liver. Crazy! Dr. said it was very rare to get one in your liver and very rare to get one from this surgery so they did all kinds of blood tests to check to see if he had a genetic predisposition to getting blood clots. Went to vascular surgeon, who is watching his blood clot, and all of those tests are clear. Still don’t know why it happened. He is on blood thinner and will have another CT in April to make sure it is dissipating. He has never had one before this and has had a couple of surgeries. Anyway, while in the hospital for a week for his blood clot/blood thinner stuff, a nurse noticed him having PVC’s in his heart…basically misfiring. So…he had an echocardiogram done and wore a heart monitor for a month to check that out. Echo showed weakened heart ejection fractions. Heart monitor showed lots of PVC’s. They put him on metoprolol at the hospital (for him, this drug was of the devil) for the time being because it is supposed to be a great drug for PVC’s and weak heart. Saw cardiologist and she said to continue the devil drug even though he couldn’t sleep, was always extremely tired, had brain fog, moody, etc. He was miserable. Yesterday, we went to see his electrophysiologist. He told us that he thinks the weakness in heart is coming from the PVC’s and he can either do a cardiac ablation or put him on a different medication. He made it sound like the procedure wasn’t a huge deal and it will totally solve his heart problem so we decided to go that route. It is scheduled for the end of this month. He also took him off of the devil drug, thank the good Lord!! I really missed my husband and was so afraid that this drug was his life forever. In the mean time, he is also having a nuclear stress test done to rule out anything else.
So, has anyone had a cardiac ablation and how did it go? How did you feel afterwards? How long were you out of work? Any complications? Dr said it is done all of the time on people on blood thinners so he doesn’t have to go off of it to have it done. That was also a relief. Please share.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

He made it sound like the procedure wasn’t a huge deal and it will totally solve his heart problem

It sounds like you have more research to do. How low was his ejection fraction? People with heart failure feel tired and fatigued. Metoprolol helps HF because it slows down the heart rate so the chambers can better fill with blood so what the heart puts out (EF) can maybe improve. It’s too bad he felt the drug was making him feel bad. He didn’t want to try another drug? (There are others.) It is hard to say about ablation because it’s hard to know from your post what the problem is. Did he have an actual arrhythmia? Or just PVCs? Personally I would go for a second opinion with a different cardiologist - a medical cardiologist, at a very good and reputable heart center, before undergoing ablation.

 

[RogueX]

It's definitely helpful to have knowledge of what procedures are being done, etc. I can only speak from a coworker who had it done, he said it wasn't that big of a deal, wouldn't take too long, etc. He seemed rather calm about it.

 

[thinkerbell]

It sounds like you have more research to do. How low was his ejection fraction? People with heart failure feel tired and fatigued. Metoprolol helps HF because it slows down the heart rate so the chambers can better fill with blood so what the heart puts out (EF) can maybe improve. It’s too bad he felt the drug was making him feel bad. He didn’t want to try another drug? (There are others.) It is hard to say about ablation because it’s hard to know from your post what the problem is. Did he have an actual arrhythmia? Or just PVCs? Personally I would go for a second opinion with a different cardiologist - a medical cardiologist, at a very good and reputable heart center, before undergoing ablation.

Thanks for your information. To answer some of your questions…
His EF was 45% so not super low. He was feeling no symptoms. They just found it in the hospital. His doctor said that below 40% is where you start to feel winded and tired. We feel very confident with his doctors because we are definitely in a reputable cardiology group in a very reputable medical facility. He has seen both a cardiologist and an electrophysiologist. Both get very high ratings. His electrophysiologist said if he has the ablation it should take care of the PVC’s which should take care of the heart ejection fraction so that he will not be on a medication.
From what the doctor said and from reading about it, PVC’s (premature beats) are a type of arrhythmia. He said that the PVC’s are happening so close to the previous heartbeat that it isn’t actually pumping blood.
The doctor did give him the option of trying a different drug but once he said that if he didn’t want to take the drugs he could go the ablation route, that is what we decided to do. I have no doubt that for others metoprolol is great and that is why his cardiologist wanted him to stay on it. If he had, his quality of life would be greatly diminished because of the side effects. I really wanted it to work as well, especially before we knew about the ablation.
Just wondering about others experiences. And in light of pea-n-me’s post and information, did you still have to take meds and did it take care of the problem?

 

[Skippy918]

My friend had an ablation done for supra-ventricular tachycardia a few years back. For her situation, it worked and she hasn’t had another episode. Before her surgery, we were at dance class when she had an episode and we ended up calling 911. It was scary. The paramedics were able to stabilize her and bring her to the hospital.

 

[bennifer]

I had one of the first cardiac ablations done in Pgh 30 years ago for an arrythmia. It was 98% successful! It took me about a week before I was able to go back to "normal" and I haven't been on meds since. Side story - I met the son of the dr who performed my ablation a few days ago. He's one of my dad's heart failure doctors! I told him about his dad, and he left to go tell him! Same hospital, too. It's a small world.

My FIL just had an ablation for afib and the teenaged son of a friend also recently had one for an arrythmia. Both took a few days before they could resume activities and both are medication free at this time!

 

[mmbrad02]

I can't comment on an ablation as we haven't gone that route yet, but....My husband also has PVC's - they are kind of scary in the moment, he can definitely feel them and often ends up in the ER out of concern. He is 41, and this started in his mid to late 30's. He was put on metoprolol originally (with heart monitors and testing and so forth) and while he didn't have the side effects you mentioned, it didn't control them well enough so his local Cardiologist referred him to an Electrophysiologist who put him on Flecainine. His doctors really wanted to try to control his with meds rather than go straight to an ablation. The Flecainine has worked really well (about 2 years) until about 2 weeks ago, when he had another episode with it. Cardiologist did another heart monitor (DH hates those and his skin reacts horribly) which showed nothing abnormal. He sees the Electrophysiologist in April. I look for DH to eventually end up with an ablation as well, but time will tell for us.

 

[Dznypal]

My husband had the ablation done in nov. for about 10 years every so many times his heart would go into rapid heartbeat. I would take him to ER they would give him adension and he’d be fine for a few years then he got Covid and the episodes were coming more frequently so his dr suggested the ablation which was great for him. Still his dr is terrific. She explains everything so you always understands what she’s talking about. Everything went super smooth and he feels great. Also there was very little downtime. Best of luck to you both. Sounds like your in good hands like we were

 

[JimMIA]

I had ablations for A-Fib in May 2021, and I've been fine since. But my problem was different from your DH's PVC issue.

A-Fib involves episodes of erratic contractions of the upper chambers of the heart -- in my case, the left atria where blood returns to the heart from the lungs after oxygenation. A-Fib can cause blood not moving down into the ventricles for pumping out of the heart, pooling in the atria, and forming clots.

PVC's are Premature Ventricular Contractions, which is where the lower part of the heart contracts before it is supposed to, also preventing the normal flow of blood within the heart.

I was put on metoprolol and eliquis (2x daily) following the ablations, and have had no issues with either medication.

I have two friends who have had arrhythmia problems -- one with A-fib and the other PVC's. The one with A-fib has controlled it with medication and hasn't needed ablations.

The one with PVC's (who is a cardiologist) simply stopped drinking Cuban coffee, and he's been fine since, LOL. I suspect Tony's withdrawal from Cafe Cubano was probably rougher than my recovery from ablations!

 

[EricLaurie]

I had a cardiac ablation about 7 years ago for SVT. I was awake during the surgery and talking with the dr as he experimented with finding just the right spot to do the ablation. Surgery was in the morning and I was home that afternoon.

i took the next day off of work but was completely fine. Totally normal almost immediately and no further issues. SVT is a different issue than you husband has, but I hope he has a similar experience with the ablation. It was very easy and 100% effective- I wish I had done it sooner.

 

[Mango7100]

My husband has congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and has had 2 myectomies at Mayo as well as a defibrillator/pacemaker implant. He is in his early 40s and his cardiologist classifies him as “complex to manage”. He was still having atrial fib problems even while on anti-arrhythmic meds and the pacemaker—he could feel the arrhythmia and had a few episodes of dizziness/almost fainting. He had the cardiac ablation done in 2020 and his arrhythmia issues are about 90 % resolved. He still is on anti—arrhythmic meds but he feels much better after having the procedure. It was a day procedure and he had it on a Thursday and went to work on Monday.

 

[thinkerbell]

Thank you all! Your stories are definitely helpful. I am so glad that there is something like this to help him and others and that it seems to go so smoothl. I had no idea it was even a thing much less that it has been done for so long.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I had ablation 8 years ago for a-flutter, a version of afib. I had 4 episodes of flutter back over 2012-2014. I had two cardioversions over those two years and the other 2 times it corrected itself in the ER. My cardiologist thought it best to do an ablation. I picked the director of the electrophysiology department at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago. So, in March of 2014, went for the ablation. If I recall, it was about a 2 hour procedure, in the morning. Stayed there for observation until later afternoon then went home. Doctor said I would never have flutter again, but possible could have afib in the future some day. Cardiologist has had me on coumadin since the ablation, just in case

I have been fine for 8 years. Some weeks ago, I started to get a few episodes of afib. The doctor said I should come in, check it out. I was not in afib on the visit. But, a few days after the visit, about 2 weeks ago, afib again. Have been in afib now for about 12 or so days. I will be going back to Northwestern next Wednesday for a cardioversion. And probably an ablation in the coming weeks or so.

I will make a recommendation for anybody that has irregular heart rhythms. A few years after my ablation, I read about the original KardiaMobile from AliveCor. It is an unbelievably simple and accurate irregular heartbeat analysis device. I bought it, used it for several months. When I went for my annual visit to the electrophysiologist at Northwestern, I brought it with me to ask his opinion. He said it was great, very accurate, very helpful. He said he was involved in the development of it from the medical aspects. It is FDA approved. The original does a single lead. When the second model came out a few years later, one that does a 6 lead, I bought that. And last week, they released the newest device, a credit card sized (height, width and thickness) that can go in a wallet, just like a credit card. Mine arrived a few days ago. I was amazed.

The doctors like them because I can do an ecg anywhere and send them a pdf of the line graph, same as if I was in their office. They have said that either the single or 6 lead is sufficient for them to see what is going on.

I have no ownership or investment in the company. It is just amazing what modern medical technology can do.

Does anybody here use any of the Kardia's?

KardiaCare subscription is NOT required, though a one year subscription to it comes with the new credit card sized one.

Product lineup

 

[thinkerbell]

I had ablation 8 years ago for a-flutter, a version of afib. I had 4 episodes of flutter back over 2012-2014. I had two cardioversions over those two years and the other 2 times it corrected itself in the ER. My cardiologist thought it best to do an ablation. I picked the director of the electrophysiology department at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago. So, in March of 2014, went for the ablation. If I recall, it was about a 2 hour procedure, in the morning. Stayed there for observation until later afternoon then went home. Doctor said I would never have flutter again, but possible could have afib in the future some day. Cardiologist has had me on coumadin since the ablation, just in case

I have been fine for 8 years. Some weeks ago, I started to get a few episodes of afib. The doctor said I should come in, check it out. I was not in afib on the visit. But, a few days after the visit, about 2 weeks ago, afib again. Have been in afib now for about 12 or so days. I will be going back to Northwestern next Wednesday for a cardioversion. And probably an ablation in the coming weeks or so.

I will make a recommendation for anybody that has irregular heart rhythms. A few years after my ablation, I read about the original KardiaMobile from AliveCor. It is an unbelievably simple and accurate irregular heartbeat analysis device. I bought it, used it for several months. When I went for my annual visit to the electrophysiologist at Northwestern, I brought it with me to ask his opinion. He said it was great, very accurate, very helpful. He said he was involved in the development of it from the medical aspects. It is FDA approved. The original does a single lead. When the second model came out a few years later, one that does a 6 lead, I bought that. And last week, they released the newest device, a credit card sized (height, width and thickness) that can go in a wallet, just like a credit card. Mine arrived a few days ago. I was amazed.

The doctors like them because I can do an ecg anywhere and send them a pdf of the line graph, same as if I was in their office. They have said that either the single or 6 lead is sufficient for them to see what is going on.

I have no ownership or investment in the company. It is just amazing what modern medical technology can do.

Does anybody here use any of the Kardia's?

KardiaCare subscription is NOT required, though a one year subscription to it comes with the new credit card sized one.

Product lineup

Thanks so much for that, Dan! That looks like an awesome product. I’m going to show that to my husband. You are always a wealth of knowledge.
I pray that everything goes well with your procedures.

 

[Moliphino]

My aunt had one very recently. I don't know many details, but it went well with no complications.

 

[Soarin4us]

My son had an ablation at age 15, for supra ventricular tachycardia. He was back to school in 24 hours, with a perfectly normal, healthy heart. He wasn’t permitted to climb stairs for 2 weeks, but was otherwise fine. He’s an athlete who resumed workouts after 2 weeks. More than 10 years later, he’s still perfect. The ablation results are absolutely miraculous.

 

[elgerber]

I can't comment on an ablation as we haven't gone that route yet, but....My husband also has PVC's - they are kind of scary in the moment, he can definitely feel them and often ends up in the ER out of concern. He is 41, and this started in his mid to late 30's. He was put on metoprolol originally (with heart monitors and testing and so forth) and while he didn't have the side effects you mentioned, it didn't control them well enough so his local Cardiologist referred him to an Electrophysiologist who put him on Flecainine. His doctors really wanted to try to control his with meds rather than go straight to an ablation. The Flecainine has worked really well (about 2 years) until about 2 weeks ago, when he had another episode with it. Cardiologist did another heart monitor (DH hates those and his skin reacts horribly) which showed nothing abnormal. He sees the Electrophysiologist in April. I look for DH to eventually end up with an ablation as well, but time will tell for us.

I have not had an ablation either, but I have had PVC's for 25 years, started in my mid twenties. Eons ago I was put on Atenolol, it did not work and it made me dizzy. So I went years with nothing. I have also had a couple episodes of insanely rapid heart beat, just laying down, with uncontrollable trembling (I forget what they called it). I had that twice in 3 days in January 2014. They did a one week holter monitor and a cardiac MRI. It didn't happen again (hasn't happened since) but they did see all my PVC's. I started taking Flecanaide also, and it helped a lot. I still get them, some days more than others, but nothing like before I took it. I had some weird things going on a few years ago, so I stopped the Flecanaide to see if it was a side effect. I lasted a couple of days before I couldn't take them anymore, and started taking them again. I suspect I may have to up my dose at some point, but it's been working well for me. My caridologists has never even mentioned ablation.

 

[Dan Murphy]

. I started taking Flecanaide also,

I was on flecainide also for about 5 years after my ablation. The cardiologist then took me off it as I was having no recurrences of anything. With my latest afib now, the electrophysiologist put me back on it again. Has not knocked me out of afib though.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It’s nice to see all these good stories. Nobody’s responded with the bad stories yet.

 

[FQLover]

What are the bad stories??