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.
I wanted to ask the above question and share a few random observations. I'm just past a month post ablation. I've been very fortunate to have just a few minor issues--no afib--and these seem to be receding.
I jumped the gun and at the end of my first week I went for an easy walk that involved a little hill; afterwards my heart rate went higher than usual (90's) and stayed there for a while. This phenomenon continued for the first two weeks but seems to have subsided.
I've also had some pvc's (hope I have that acronym right) accompany the higher rate, but again these have subsided. Now, I'm more likely to have them when I climb into bed.
Anyway, I was initially determined to get back onto the stairmaster and into the pool quickly. I've since done a 180 in my thinking. Now, I plan to slowly tip toe back into aerobic activity. This partly has to do with someone from a backpacking forum that I frequent who had an ablation six months ago. He emailed me and we exchanged experiences. He is even more active than me, and younger. He thinks that he went back to bike riding especially too soon. (for him, an easy ride would be a hard ride for me at any time). He gets pvc's and a higher sustained heart rate post exercise that lasts a while. Needless to say, this causes the anxiety that we're all familiar with.
Primarily, it's to avoid this anxiety that I've decided to hold off on aerobic activity for a while. but also, it may just make sense for basic health reasons.
My online nurse told me 'no swimming until the bruises in my legs from the ablation go away'. I think that this may be a rule of thumb: bruises in the legs=bruises in the heart? I still have a very minimal bruise on one thight.
So I'm curious if others have experience with the timing for returning to aerobic activity.. I recognize that everyone is different and there is no one answer.
Finally, I've found that not resorting to my heart rate devices all the time has helped ease my post ablation anxiety, which is another reason to hold off on the stairmaster: I use a hrm on these machines. I get a little anxious quite easily when I over-monitor, and it just builds. Then anxiety raises my heart rate, and we're off to the horrible races.
I hope that this isn't too rambling.
--Jeff
I jumped the gun and at the end of my first week I went for an easy walk that involved a little hill; afterwards my heart rate went higher than usual (90's) and stayed there for a while. This phenomenon continued for the first two weeks but seems to have subsided.
I've also had some pvc's (hope I have that acronym right) accompany the higher rate, but again these have subsided. Now, I'm more likely to have them when I climb into bed.
Anyway, I was initially determined to get back onto the stairmaster and into the pool quickly. I've since done a 180 in my thinking. Now, I plan to slowly tip toe back into aerobic activity. This partly has to do with someone from a backpacking forum that I frequent who had an ablation six months ago. He emailed me and we exchanged experiences. He is even more active than me, and younger. He thinks that he went back to bike riding especially too soon. (for him, an easy ride would be a hard ride for me at any time). He gets pvc's and a higher sustained heart rate post exercise that lasts a while. Needless to say, this causes the anxiety that we're all familiar with.
Primarily, it's to avoid this anxiety that I've decided to hold off on aerobic activity for a while. but also, it may just make sense for basic health reasons.
My online nurse told me 'no swimming until the bruises in my legs from the ablation go away'. I think that this may be a rule of thumb: bruises in the legs=bruises in the heart? I still have a very minimal bruise on one thight.
So I'm curious if others have experience with the timing for returning to aerobic activity.. I recognize that everyone is different and there is no one answer.
Finally, I've found that not resorting to my heart rate devices all the time has helped ease my post ablation anxiety, which is another reason to hold off on the stairmaster: I use a hrm on these machines. I get a little anxious quite easily when I over-monitor, and it just builds. Then anxiety raises my heart rate, and we're off to the horrible races.
I hope that this isn't too rambling.
--Jeff
If it were me, I'd get in the pool, but I'd avoid doing 30 minutes of laps. Unfortunately, I think my ablation failed. I had no afib for a month after the surgery then BAM - afib city all day every day since (somewhat controlled on flecainide now). So I'm just waiting for my 3 months to be up so I can schedule another ablation.
I had my ablation on February 4. About 3 weeks after the surgery, my rate had come back down to a more normal (for me) level. Now (when I'm not in afib) I do aerobic exercise as much as my body says it's able to handle and I don't worry about over-stressing my heart.
I'm sure I'm still healing, and it's probably too early to call my ablation a failure, but at 6 weeks post-ablation I feel good enough to do pretty much any activity I did before. Hope this helps.
I have posted my experience with the afib several times before, but I think it bears repeating here...my pre afib/ablation resting HR was 58. Post ablation it shot to 70 plus, and into the 90s upon any mild exertion. So I was afraid to do any aerobic exercise. The resting rate got higher and higher...to 85. This may have been up to 6 months post ablation (memory issue here)...I finally called my EP nurse and she said "Get back on the treadmill, dummy!" My HR would go to 135 with a minute or two on the elliptical, but within a week of exercise it began to come back down. So while you do not want to overdo it right after the ablation, you don't want to wait 6 months to start either! And as you said, I was married to my HR monitor...still use it 2 years post ablation, so it is a hard habit to kick!
So build back up slowly, but do the aerobic exercise. It strengthens the heart and will lead to a lower resting rate rather quickly. My resting rate never did go back to the 50s, but low 60s isn't too bad. I still have the extraneous beats 2 years out, but the big difference is that that first year I freaked out each time I had them, and now I just take deep breaths until they pass.
Best of luck to you, stay calm, and have faith that your ablation worked! NSR FOREVER!
Bill
I went to the gym today and did a mild weight lifting regimen, which doesn't raise my heart rate much. I've just come back from the sauna, which does raise my rate a bit. So far so good. I'm 'active' at work in that I'm often on my feet and moving around; plus I walk about 6 blocks a day.
I went into the ablation pretty fit--I've been doing aerobic stuff 5 or 6 days a week for years. So I have some leeway to be lazy. Bill, I'm intrigued by the reminder that exercise will eventually lower my resting heart rate. True.
I'll see how I feel in a week; some of this may be psychological. But Duder's advice to look at three months before going hiking in the Sierra for example may be spot on. I guess that I'm still not quite "hearing" or accepting that the three month blanking period is a healing period. I'll take that seriously now.
Bill is right, my experience is mirroring his. Thanks for that reassurance.
The doctors and nurses can't predict every eventuality, so we're left to figure this stuff out for ourselves.
Ive had 2 ablations and both failed :-( . I would do a third if I thought it might work but my EP said it wouldnt and I believe him. But dont let what happened to me get you down because my a-fib seems to be different than most: I had radiation treatment long ago and now my heart is scarred and more scarring didnt help one bit.
I used to monitor and record every a-fib event; I found it fascinating with no anxiety involved. It got boring after a while so I dont do it very often any more. Once I captured a nice fast flutter for my EP (he kept that print out!). The only thing I do now is record when the a-fib starts, how long it lasts and when NSR starts and how long it lasts so I can see what % of a-fib I have (this March I have been in a-fib 30% so far)
Carpe diem,
across the pond (atp)
petey
I cannot lie though. I do believe that too much cardio contributed to my afib and I wonder if I should maybe take it easy. It is just such a relief to be able to do these things without going into afib.
Best,
James
Yes, I began to read all of the benefits of strength training and the particularly the benefits of the heart. I also likely over trained the heart over the years. My frame began to become thin, skinny fat and I believe maybe the same happened to a portion of the heart muscle. I am confident there was a correlation. I don't think I recovered any faster than anyone else with today's technology. Part of the recover is the "shock" factor. I think because I had a experienced a huge "shock" when I had a stent placed in my LAD, the ablation was a piece of cake. Hope you are well. PB
Yes, they found a tiny, tiny abnormality on my stress test. They would not perform a cardioversion until they understood what it was. a very small yet 90% dense blockage was found in the LAD from the cardio cath process. Thats why I say afib may have very well saved my life. Since I received my stent, I seems as I meet people everyday that have them. My neighbor, people working within my organization and the list goes on. Scary but much better than the alternative. lol. Have a nice day. PB