Atrial Fib Suddenly 3 Years After Ablation????

[cindy707]

Help!!!  I seriously think i am just scaring myself but am looking for a little reassurance.  I had an ablation done 3 years ago for A Fib. w. virtually no problems after and suddenly  4 nites ago i woke up out of a dead sleep in the middle of the nite in A Fib again! I know i'd had a very stressful month and was sort of burning the candle on both ends and when i got to the e.r. they did a chemical conversion on me which took care of the problem.,  My question is ....now i'm totally scared and feel like i am just waiting for this to happen to me again at any minute...is it possible that this is just a random thing or are the odds are that something is wrong and the ablasion suddenly reversed itself?  I am on anten. .25 one time a day and missed two doses of it could that have done it? I have an appt. the with cardiac surgeon in two weeks .......should i be scared ??????????

[TatiSD]

Happening, not appending. Thanks.

[TatiSD]

Hi, I keep having flutters and can't go to sleep. Every time I recline or lie on my right side I get arrhythmia. How long was your husband's flutter last that you described as appending last night?

[Lanna477]

Gary, my husband had 2 ablations for a fib, the last one was done 2.5 yrs ago and he had no symptoms-none until 2 weeks ago...he started having a flutter at night, had to take him to the emergency this morning to chemically cardioversions him. Question: is a flutter typical this much later after the ablation? He was considered cured...is a flutter caused by something that was not "taken care" of during the last ablation? How easy are they to ablate? How many ablations can one have in a lifetime? I am just confused, upset we thought this was all behind us...thank you for all your suppor info in advance.

[cindy707]

Hey Gary thanks so much for the post.  Went to the heart doc yesterday and he basically said what you did and said that there was nothing to worry about but....it was interesting he gave me a pack of pills to keep on me in case i go into A Fib again that i'm to keep w. me...its some sort of new drug i think that now we don't have to rush to the e.r. when it happens it converts us at home and is pretty simple and he said 90% of the time its successful...its called Multaq and i guess works w/in an hour and does the same thing that they'll do at the e.r. to stop the a fib.  I got alot of info from him tho he said that the majority of the time people get a fib after the ablation is from us over tiring ourselves added w. too much caffeine and stress added to it so that was pretty interesting to find out ... he also gave me a prescription for xanax to take when i go into a fib to "take the edge off" and calm myself down so i don't make it worse and think i'm dying so he said he gave me all of the weapons to protect myself and as the other posts said atrial fib has a mind of its own and i may never have another attack, may have one in 10 years, who knows but he said i am not at risk for a heart attack/stroke as long as i take an aspirin everyday and convert myself if it visits again.  I am a new member on this site and its reassuring to know that there are so many others that go thru the same thing because theres so much useful and true info from everyone....thanks everybody again!!!!

[Gary3201]

Hi Cindy try to relax it is not uncommon after having an ablation for afib for it to rear its ugly head again. Its more likely that it will be AFlutter and not full blown AFIB. You can treat that with medications or it can be treated with another ablation. Believe me I just had my third ablation on Monday the first one treated the AFIB and the following 2 dealt with the upcroping of AFlutter.

gary

[cindy707]

Thanks so much to you both...i at least feel a little better after reading your posts....i have an appt. this afternoon at 2:30 w. a cardiologist..Bob that is my questions exactly, why did he keep me on the Beta Blocker...no probs since i restarted them and back on a normal schedule.....and Jerry i do take an aspirin every day sort of scary thinking theres a new error path 'cause i'd prefer not to have another ablation done because the doc had to stop mine a little early because of some sort of risk factor.....he did say he thought it got all of the mis-firings but who knows and isn't that the truth A Fib has a mind all of its own....that was the first time tho that it happened in my sleep waking me up and the cardio conversion is a lot easier when they do it thru your I.V. than thru an aed.  Thanks fellas and hopefully this appt. this afternoon will go well...........Cindy

[BobRBob]

You didn't say why you have remained on the Atenolol since your ablation. Why would you need to remain on a beta blocker if your afib was gone? In any case, given what you've told us, I suspect this episode could have been the result of missing 2 doses of your medication.

[Jerry_NJ]

I you are not on an anticoagulant I think taking an aspirin a day would be a good safeguard against clot formation, one of the risks that come with AFib.  Of course, if you can't take aspirin then don't.  Some people have stomach problems from aspirin, I don't.  

I think AFib has a "mind" of its own, and the onset of AFib may have nothing to do with your past ablation, it is just a new error path.  

As you know, the two main concerns about AFib are clot formation and high HR.  If you have those under control the AFib episodes are not life threatening.