Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
Hi guys,
I can't believe its already 50 days since I had my ablation.
In those 7 weeks I had a few bumps here and there but I'm glad to report that things are better...or should I say "settling down".
I know every ones post-ablation experience differs but still I would like to share mine as I think it is important to let people know how I felt and what was or still is my healing process. So if they feel like I do....they wont panic.
First I would like to talk about that little piece of paper they gave me when I left the hospital. I had 3 days off from work....the paper basically stated in a few lines that I would be fine in 3 days and that I should avoid lifting heavy objects for ten days and after that I was expected to be back to normal.
Well...here 's how it was for me. Yes, I felt good following the procedure (just a cough every time I took a deep breath for the first few weeks). No pains, only PACs and PVCs here and there, so of course I followed the directive and took it easy for 2 weeks. Then after those 2 weeks, I went back on the treadmill put it at 3.5 mph and did a 40 min jog followed by a 20 min quick march. Nothing to report during the workout except that it felt good and I wanted to jog faster but I said to my self better start easy.
The next day I found that I had more PVCs and PACs but no afib and I did roughly the same workout but added a bit of light weight after the jogging. WOW!!!! that same night....palpitation galore for most of the night. They reseeded in the next few days so I decided to give it another break. 2 weeks later I tried again with a different approach. This time I only walked at 3.2 mph for 20 min, then relax for 40 min and repeat the same thing for 2 more times. That would equal to 60 min fast walk per day. Same thing again after 2 days, I started having palps again for days after that. So I stopped exercise for the past 3 weeks and the PACs and PVCs have almost gone away.(Now I'm scared to start sport again lol)
When I saw that, I started to google for people's experience post ablation. I saw a few good ones on utube and saw people who had ablation and sport was out of it for at least 3 months (they said they could not tolerate it but never said the symptoms) and some other that went back to it weeks after their ablation. Some other people who looks normal said it took them 6 months to get back to normal (again they didn't say their symptoms).
So, in the mean time I went to see my Cardio to tell him all that, he told me that post-ablation experiences may vary from people to people. He told me I will always have PACs and PVCs but the ablation seems to be successful since I feel much better. I partially disagree since exercise seems NOW to be an onset of this. I think or hope that time will heal my heart and I will not have that many ectopic beats...I hope. Still it is VERY manageable as it is.
Anyway, I have a holter monitor scheduled for this Friday and I will see my EP on the 13 of May. I will keep you guys posted.
My next post (unless I have drastic changes before then) will be in 50 days entitled "100 Days Post Ablation"
Oups!!! One last thing I want to point. I want it to be clear that in the last 5 years I had only 5 episodes of afib lasting less than 5 hours each. They all happened at night and within a 4 weeks period last summer (Jul to Aug). That comes the a yearly afib burden of less than .01%. My afib always started at night about 2 to 3 hours after falling a sleep. I would have many PACs that would eventually onset my afib if I stayed in the sleeping position (regardless of which side). Once I have started to lay in a 45 degree angle during those bad nights instead of staying in the sleeping position, the PACs receded drastically and went away after a few hours and since Aug 2015. I have had no afib whatsoever. So I base the success of the ablation not based on afib but based on the fact that 80% of my PACs have gone away since the ablation.
Take care.
Scooby
I can't believe its already 50 days since I had my ablation.
In those 7 weeks I had a few bumps here and there but I'm glad to report that things are better...or should I say "settling down".
I know every ones post-ablation experience differs but still I would like to share mine as I think it is important to let people know how I felt and what was or still is my healing process. So if they feel like I do....they wont panic.
First I would like to talk about that little piece of paper they gave me when I left the hospital. I had 3 days off from work....the paper basically stated in a few lines that I would be fine in 3 days and that I should avoid lifting heavy objects for ten days and after that I was expected to be back to normal.
Well...here 's how it was for me. Yes, I felt good following the procedure (just a cough every time I took a deep breath for the first few weeks). No pains, only PACs and PVCs here and there, so of course I followed the directive and took it easy for 2 weeks. Then after those 2 weeks, I went back on the treadmill put it at 3.5 mph and did a 40 min jog followed by a 20 min quick march. Nothing to report during the workout except that it felt good and I wanted to jog faster but I said to my self better start easy.
The next day I found that I had more PVCs and PACs but no afib and I did roughly the same workout but added a bit of light weight after the jogging. WOW!!!! that same night....palpitation galore for most of the night. They reseeded in the next few days so I decided to give it another break. 2 weeks later I tried again with a different approach. This time I only walked at 3.2 mph for 20 min, then relax for 40 min and repeat the same thing for 2 more times. That would equal to 60 min fast walk per day. Same thing again after 2 days, I started having palps again for days after that. So I stopped exercise for the past 3 weeks and the PACs and PVCs have almost gone away.(Now I'm scared to start sport again lol)
When I saw that, I started to google for people's experience post ablation. I saw a few good ones on utube and saw people who had ablation and sport was out of it for at least 3 months (they said they could not tolerate it but never said the symptoms) and some other that went back to it weeks after their ablation. Some other people who looks normal said it took them 6 months to get back to normal (again they didn't say their symptoms).
So, in the mean time I went to see my Cardio to tell him all that, he told me that post-ablation experiences may vary from people to people. He told me I will always have PACs and PVCs but the ablation seems to be successful since I feel much better. I partially disagree since exercise seems NOW to be an onset of this. I think or hope that time will heal my heart and I will not have that many ectopic beats...I hope. Still it is VERY manageable as it is.
Anyway, I have a holter monitor scheduled for this Friday and I will see my EP on the 13 of May. I will keep you guys posted.
My next post (unless I have drastic changes before then) will be in 50 days entitled "100 Days Post Ablation"
Oups!!! One last thing I want to point. I want it to be clear that in the last 5 years I had only 5 episodes of afib lasting less than 5 hours each. They all happened at night and within a 4 weeks period last summer (Jul to Aug). That comes the a yearly afib burden of less than .01%. My afib always started at night about 2 to 3 hours after falling a sleep. I would have many PACs that would eventually onset my afib if I stayed in the sleeping position (regardless of which side). Once I have started to lay in a 45 degree angle during those bad nights instead of staying in the sleeping position, the PACs receded drastically and went away after a few hours and since Aug 2015. I have had no afib whatsoever. So I base the success of the ablation not based on afib but based on the fact that 80% of my PACs have gone away since the ablation.
Take care.
Scooby
Thanks Scooby.
Todd
Now,--or at least for the months following this procedure, my heart will go into tachycardia--mild, but strange--but not afib!--when I hit the elliptical at the gym. I never had anything like this before my ablation. In short. the ablation changed the behavior of my heart in this regard. exercise was never an immediate trigger for me--although intense cardio workouts may have triggered my episodes at night--before my ablation. Now, anything more than mild exercise seems to trigger 'events' either immediately or within about 12 hours.
On the upside, I'm afib free and even mostly pac and pvc free post ablation.
On the downside, I've had to reduce my aerobic activities quite a bit if I want to avoid tachycardia.
However, I'm tip toeing back into more aerobic intensive activities now. I have no idea what the future holds.