Yes an Ablation can be helpful with problematic arrhythmias but is not something to take lightly. Often more than one Ablation must be performed before they are successful, and some never are. You should read up and fully understand what it is and the risks associated before taking that option to resolve benign rhythms. I had an Ablation when my ICD was implanted and it was unsuccessful, I have friends who had it done and were very happy with the results, so ... Do your homework and decide for yourself.

I'm right there with you as my med doesn't help much. I take Flecainide. I have dr apt in March to discuss the ablation but I don't know much about it either. My primary dr thinks it would be the best for me, but I'm concerned that something will go wrong & I will be worse off. I also am not that confident with our small town hosp but too complicated for me to go to the city.

I have passed out a couple of times & have no energy to exercise. I have other complicated health problems & age is also a factor. I would also be interested in hearing other success stories.

From what I understand PVCs can be a bit difficult to ablate but my EP said that it can be an option as well if down the road the skips become too much. I am very aware of mine as well. I feel every single one and they can bring on major anxiety when they really act up. Very uncomfortable and scary.

Thats always an option though and I will def keep it open should I decide to go that way

make sure, what other option, do you have. i have had 2 cardioversions for flutter + 2heart ablacin for flutter 1 for and 1 more ablacin for auricular fibrillation and still under medications.
The AFIB ablation was done a month ago, and that is why still medicated for other two months, to find out if it did work this time.

I have AVNRT (AV nodal reentrant tachy) and was medicated for a few years before I had my first ablation. The first one didn't help at all, in fact I felt that it made it worse (but i'm sure that was just in my head). After another year of meds I had a 2nd one done, still no change. I then began yet another kind of medication (amiodarone). Finally I agreed to one more abalation but decided that if it didn't work I wasn't going to do it again. Thankful it's been a month and I've been symptom free and just had a check up with my cardiologist and my rythm is looking good.
So the moral of that story is that it definitely can work but be prepared for it not to. Good luck!

I had ablation for SVT in 2009 and I was good for a year. I'm more uncomfortable with my symptoms than taking a chance to be healed.

i have had 2 ablations, mine did not last.gaby61@aol.com

I had an ablation in 2010 for afib and pvcs up until last week I had very few pvcs and no afib. The procedure was scarry I was heavily medicated!! I am playing the waiting game if my afib occurs again I will have it done

I had a FIRM Ablation done in June and have been A-Fib free since. Still in NSR. I have an appointment on September 14th to see if it worked.
I did not hestiate to have it done. My EP told me that my heart would only get weaker and he might not be able to do later. It is painless and the recovery was easy. I think a FIRM Ablation takes a litte longer. Mine was for 7 hours. If I have to do it again, I would. This is new technology and only a few hospitals offer the Topera Mapping System. It is suppose to have a better success rate, but they are still doing studies on that. I was very lucky that my team of doctors offered this procedure in my area.

My problem is that I do not feel anything, so I have no clue that something is happening. I have Complex Persistent A-Fib and never feel a beat. I just got AliveCor so I can take my own EKG's and email them to my Cardiologist. It tells you if you are in NSR or in A-Fib. It works on any Smartphone.

Thanks for this thread. I was just diagnosed with PSVT yesterday. Already been on a beta blocker for years, now they're adding Cardizem on top of that, and referring me on for probable ablation. He said that it's most likely curable with this procedure. That got my attention, because I'm already taking a boatload of meds for other health conditions...if I can get rid of two Rxs, that's a plus. I can't get in to have a consult w/the electrophysiologist for a month...so I'l try the new meds and see how I feel (both physically and about the procedure) when I see him.

My husband had the procedure last year. After the surgery, his blood oxygen started to drop. They were going to send him home with oxygen. But just as we were ready to go, and I mean the nurse was coming with the wheelchair, my husband started to have pain. Then he started to say he couldn't breathe. Within a minute, he was coughing out water and blood. He had a flash pulmonary edema. They intubated him. His heart stopped. He spent the next 7 weeks in ICU. This is a rare side effect of an ablation. They should have taken an x-ray and they would have seen the build up of fluid in his lungs. In the past year, he has been hospitalized 5 times for edemas and had to be intubated twice. It is supposed to be a simple procedure and less than 1% have this complication. I would just tell you to be very aware of your oxygen levels after the surgery. If it starts to fall, DEMAND a chest x-ray to see if there is fluid build up. Our lives have been forever changed, negatively, because they didn't take a chest x-ray