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 everyone,
I had an ablation last November at the Cleveland Clinic. It's about 500 miles from home but wanted to go see "the best". It was a pretty good experience. After the ablation, I had a rough time during the healing process and had to get on Flecanide and metaprolol until the healing period was over.
Since then, it had been really smooth sailing. I had gone into a-fib like 4 times over a 20 year period but they were getting closer to each other and I had to be cardioverted twice, so that's when they decided to ablate.
Now, at about the 11 month mark, I'm all of a sudden having lots of PVCs, maybe PACs (not sure which) and I've felt a couple extended flutters for maybe 5 - 10 seconds long.
I wore a halter monitor for 24 hours ending Saturday, turned it in today and am awaiting results. It's a bit heart breaking and my spirit is a bit shattered right now. I am 46, have pretty much been in decent shape for a long time. I quit smoking in my early 30s, have worked out for decades and mostly have walked and done light weights for the past few years. I eat really good most of the time and sometimes go on benders (who doesn't right).
Anyway, I was just wondering how your symptoms slipped back for you? This is way different this time. I used to have some bad days with PVCs but this has been over a week of a hunred or more a day and worse if I am being active. It just sucks.
I had an ablation last November at the Cleveland Clinic. It's about 500 miles from home but wanted to go see "the best". It was a pretty good experience. After the ablation, I had a rough time during the healing process and had to get on Flecanide and metaprolol until the healing period was over.
Since then, it had been really smooth sailing. I had gone into a-fib like 4 times over a 20 year period but they were getting closer to each other and I had to be cardioverted twice, so that's when they decided to ablate.
Now, at about the 11 month mark, I'm all of a sudden having lots of PVCs, maybe PACs (not sure which) and I've felt a couple extended flutters for maybe 5 - 10 seconds long.
I wore a halter monitor for 24 hours ending Saturday, turned it in today and am awaiting results. It's a bit heart breaking and my spirit is a bit shattered right now. I am 46, have pretty much been in decent shape for a long time. I quit smoking in my early 30s, have worked out for decades and mostly have walked and done light weights for the past few years. I eat really good most of the time and sometimes go on benders (who doesn't right).
Anyway, I was just wondering how your symptoms slipped back for you? This is way different this time. I used to have some bad days with PVCs but this has been over a week of a hunred or more a day and worse if I am being active. It just sucks.
Keep us posted ~
Not sure what to tell you except that PVCs/PACs (especially only a few hundreds a day) should be nothing in comparison to afib and does not mean that one will trigger the other.
You may have a bout of PVCs right now that could be caused by a bunch of other reasons. In comparison I had a flutter ablation in may 2011 and it never bothered me again but I also had a dozen of heavy PVC/PAC bouts that lasted weeks even months at the time but never had any flutter episodes.
Now I have developed a few bouts of afib in the past 3 months but my cardio said that it is not related to my flutter. Also, keep in mind that often a second procedure is needed to get a few hot spots they missed the first time around.
Don't be discourage yet, wait and see.
Take care.
Scooby
I turned in my holter yesterday. I'll be interested in seeing what the doctor says about it all. I just hadn't had so much as a skipped beat in months once I got past the blanking period and this feels like a huge let down, not to mention, although I might have occasionally had a bad day of a few PVCs here and there pre-ablation, I've never experienced anything like this, going now on about 10 days. Fingers crossed and thank you so much. I'm really glad this forum is here.
In June of this year, I had a second ablation, this time with radiofrequency, which allowed my EP to pinpoint the spots where I had reconnects. After the second ablation, I stayed on flecainide and metoprolol. It's been a little over 3 months, I'm off all the meds now, and so far no afib. I'm cautiously optimistic.
Some people need more than just one ablation to get all the trouble spots. Some people need more than two. It sounds like you may have had some reconnects. You'll know more after you get the results from your monitor.
Ablation should be thought of as a treatment, not necessarily a cure (although it can be curative). Also, there are people from all walks of life on this board - some with uber-healthy habits, others with not-so-healthy habits - so I'm not convinced that lifestyle has as much to do with afib as many would have you believe.
I'm so sorry to hear of your problems; I can see why you would feel bad. I hope very much that things turn out better for you and all your heart problems just disappear - poof!
I am still waiting on my holter results. The nurse at my cardiologist's office is talking like it's no big deal and more than likely it's not, but I still really want to know, why is this happening. It is new. Something changed, and I want to get some sort of plan of action and reassurance hopefully.
I'll be sure to update everyone after I find anything out. :)
Tho Ive not had an ablation, I have experienced pvcs or pacs. One friend who had great success with one ablation is self medicating with marijauna daily. Not a fan myself of that drug, but according to him, it worked on his pvcs, so no worse than drugs I guess. Mine were controlled nicely with supplements and a neck adjustment. Finding the right mix and doctor is always a challenge of course. Obviously, a "charge" or signal is still being sent to your heart to advance a beat prematurely. Find the source of that charge and pvcs can be controlled.
The one thing I've learned about doctors is that you have to be your own advocate. Don't assume that someone else is looking out for you - you have to look out for yourself.
Keep us posted.
I agree that something has changed and it just hit me like someone threw a switch. I went from almost completely nonexistent palpatations to a couple hundred a day just like overnight and it has lasted for about 10 days now. Her comment was "Your problem is that you feel all of them. I have patients that have this many but never notice." That sounds really stupid to me to say that to a patient who just so happens to be symtomatic vs one that isn't.
The bottom line at this point is that I have a followup with the actual cardiologist in about 10 days and this cardiologist's office id forwarding my holter results to Cleveland where my EP works and did my ablation.
Meanwhile, I'm going to call my GP and see if I can get in to maybe look at some other angles. I know that just before this, I hadn't been feeling right for a while anyway. I had dealt with what I thought might have been gallbladder issues just a month or so before but they seemed to pass, and I also had just been feeling a little "off". Just sort of light-headed or dizzy when I would take walks and stuff. Never winded or anything, but just like my head was swimming. I was writing it off as allergies but I've also had a fair share of hot flashes and stuff too. It seems like there could be a hormonal component to all of this as well.
I will keep everyone posted. I swing from "Let's figure this out" to almost being in tears at times. It is SO frustrating, terrifiying, and deppressing at the same time. I know it's not the right thing, and I don't make a habit of it, but after the day yesterday of being all stressed and stuff about it, I knocked back my fear with 3 glasses of wine. Lol, not helping today.
According to every cardiologist and ep I've had for years on end, with extensive work-ups within the last 6 months, I'm healthy as can be with no restrictions. I sure wish I really felt that way.
I choose not to do the wine anymore....but, tonight, I am so exhausted after preparing my little home for new carpeting tomorrow. Dark chocolate made a lot of sense to me.
I'm glad you are pursuing this....and I hope it abates. I have gone through times when I have heavy paps for a week or so. Then all of a sudden it stops...same with Flutters. It causes me anxiety.
Thanks for the updates
Here is the weird part and there may or may not be any connection but I thought I should mention it in case anyone else might be helped.
When this recent batch of PVCs/PACs started a couple weeks ago, I had been having severe seasonal allergies, the kind that basically shut my life down for a day or two at a time. I was excited a few years ago when I discovered Allegra becasue it really seemed to do the trick with no side effects. I don't use the Allegra D, just the normal stuff. So as my allergies kicked in, I started on the Allegra and continued pretty steady on it for about 2 weeks. Even with the Allegra this year, I had to take Benadryl a couple times also, as well as Flonase, and just a couple times, I took a half dose of Sudafed.
It was at the end of 2 weeks of this that my PVCs kicked into high gear, from 0 to over a hundred a day. I started researching stuff and did indeed find that there are people who use Allegra and report increased PVCs. Then furthermore, I found that the active ingredient works as a potassium channel blocker. I also know that I read somewhere that it can take weeks for it to completely leave your system.
Fast forward to yesterday, basically two weeks after stopping the Allegra, my PVCs die down and my allergies comeback full-swing on the same day. I mean horrible runny, itchy, sneezy nose. I was completely miserable BUT, my PVCs are basically gone now. Is it weird or what?
I took Benadryl (I hate taking Benadryl) three times over the evening, like a half dose each time. Today I feel like a total zombie because I had broken sleep from 9:30 till 3:30 and that was about it, but still, I haven't had one single palpitation after being awake for almost 5 hours. Maybe someone else will be helped by this.