AV node ablation

[flmerca]

I had a pacemaker implanted 8 weeks ago; I was pleased on how I felt after the procedure.  I was climbing 3 flights every day after walking from the parking lot to the building. Last week I underwent an av node ablation as the final procedure to correct my arrhythmia. Since, I started to retain fluids and, consequently, my physical activities diminished considerably. Went to the doctor for the fatigue and breathless issues and I was put on Lasix 40mg/day.
Are these (fatigue, breathless, fluid retention) symptoms normal after the ablation?

[ksig]

Hi, flmerca
I had an AV node ablation (AVJ) on March 5 because I had AFib.  I had a pacer implanted two years ago.  I felt fabulous after the procedure.  It was short and the recovery time was about 4 hours.  When I was ready to leave the hospital, I was allowed to walk out on my own. I stopped all meds at this point.  I had 69 events in 22 days after the AVJ.  I had my pacer interrogated again on April 15 and had no significant events to report. I am able to go to the gym, walk,  etc with little difficulty.  I am feeling so much better that I wish I would have had this procedure a year ago.

I would suggest you talk to your cardiologist.  You need to have some fun back in your life.

ksig

[Jerry_NJ]

We need to wait for more expert input, but in my simple understanding if you had the AV node (fully) ablated you are under full-time pacemaker control.  This I think would limit your physical load capabilities.  You didn't say what exactly was done to the AV node...that is there may be other AV node ablation procedures than what I assumed in my first statement.

There are many pacemaker patients on the Community, perhaps one or more will respond.