That is great news!

Congrats! Hopefully this one holds forever! Now THAT would be a nice Christmas present!

Bill

Great news! When do you get back to your old jogging routine?

petey

Great to hear. Glad you're doing well. I hope this does the trick and you're soon enjoy many years of NSR. Best wishes and Happy holidays.

Steve

Great, hopefully third time is a charm!

Good to hear, wishing you a quick recover and NSR

Thanks for all the support ... I have been fighting off some post op difficulties unrelated to NSR: 24-hour post ablation chills, sore throat, slight temp, swallowing difficulty, pain on deep breathing (called the Doc who said "just tough it out"). Then Day Three a cold which did give me some palps at night. My weight was up 8 or 9 pounds in ones at in the hospital ... but my weight is back down now so the Docs think it was simply water weight from the saline. But other than that one night, I've felt nothing but NSR.

Perry ... I get to drive tomorrow and can exercise Saturday. Will try elliptical first.

so yesterday being my seventh day after discharge, I was cleared to exercise. I started on the elliptical and I did a 14 resistance instead of my usual 16 or 17. I set the timer for 45 minutes. In the beginning my heart was 80 and I didn't think it was going up fast enough. It was probably because I was taking it so easy on myself .. Being scared. But by the time that I finished my 45 minutes said I was up to 92. And then the real test, would go down. It went down like a champ, right back to 80.

I guess my only question is, is 80 too high for 55 years old? and I'm still on sotalol but the doctor says he hopes that he can wean me off of it ... We'll see.

But that's the best "straight" exercise I've done a long time without wacky pulse readings.

ps Petey, sorry I misspelled your name above. There is no edit function!

There have been a few threads on Daily Strength about heart rates going up after ablation and that it is common... also that it will settle down after several months.

petey

Jogger,
My pulse was 58 before ablation...went up to 85 resting after, which freaked me out, but I was told that this was actually the sign of a successful ablation. With the higher resting rate, I was afraid to go back to exercise, and as a result, resting rate went up to 90. Was I freaked out! The Army docs, my cardiologist, and the EP nurse told me to get off my lazy arse and get back to working out. My HR would go to mid 130s IMMEDIATELY upon starting on the elliptical. It took a few weeks to start coming back down...still goes into the mid 120s, but the resting rate has come down to 75, and I have actually gone down to 59 on a really good day. Sounds like you were much smarter in getting back to working out as soon as you could. Good for you! If you can pound the elliptical for 45 minutes and your HR is only in the 90s, you are in AWESOME shape. I wouldn't worry at all about a resting HR of 80..it will come back down soon. Good luck, and Happy New Year!

Bill

Bill. Thanks for your most informative (and consoling) post. Great support group here.

Congrats on 3rd ablation. Hopefully that is all u need. I also commend u on working out so fast. Since I suffered from both afib and atach I was scared to work out until recently 5 months adter my 2nd ablation. Good luck with everything!

Jogger,
That is fantastic that your ablation was successful and you are already exercising, wow! Absolutely wonderful.

I just had my 1st ablation and I was told to take it very easy for the next 2 months. So, I am very confused now. Does the exercise or no-exercise after an ablation depend on the EP? Or the extend of the work done on the heart?

Also, like you, I had pain in the chest when I breath deep. My EP told me take some Ibuprofen. When I came home, I took the Ibu for two days and it killed the pain.

However, at the hospital, a cardiologist had to okay the Ibu for me since my EP left the town after my procedure. The cardiologist ordered an echo cardiogram and told me my heart function is reduced and since I have the pain in the heart, I probably have a blocked artery. He wanted to go in and look for the blocked artery. I refused. I told him I just had an ablation so the pain should be normal. He disagreed. He gave me the Ibu any way and within 10 minutes the pain got better.

So, I am thinking based on your post, the pain should be normal after an ablation and not necessarily it indicates a blockage. Of course, I am NOT sure about the reduced heart function after an ablation. I will discuss this with my EP next time I see him. Meanwhile, Anybody, any idea? Please let me know. I would appreciate it.

Enjoy your afib free exercise, that is great.

Scott

Scott: I have read chest pain is common. Read these:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/interactive/discussion/Post-Ablation-Chest-Pains-t63992-f17.html

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/113/13/e666.full

petey

petey,

Thanks for the articles, very useful, I had seen similar articles before my ablation. It appears that I have had text book symptoms (slight chest pain and flutter) for after ablation. So, I am thinking the hospital cardiologist was way off when he told me all my symptoms are indicating that I have a blockage. I told him I thought my symptoms are normal for 2 days after an ablation. He disagreed. Then, he said I might have a blood clot in my lungs since I have some chest pain. He wanted to order a CT scan of my lungs. I refused.

Thanks to the hospital internist who gave me the injectable ibuprofen (Tortal???), which killed the pain within 10 minutes. The internist also disagreed with the cardiologist diagnosis (blockage or blood clot). She said I had inflammation as a result of the ablation and not a blockage or blood clot. I love doctors who speak their mind and they do NOT go with the flow.

The internist ordered an ultrasound of the legs to make sure there is no clot. Of course, the ultrasound results were negative for blood clot in the legs.

Thanks again,
Scott