heart rate

[michelle806]

~I have had an ablation 2 weeks ago and have had a little discomfort in my chest. but I have been woken most mornings always around 3 and 5am with my heart racing sometimes it is for just a few mintues and on a few it has been 30mins. I tend to always find that i am woken when I have been laing on my right side,
I have marfan syndrome and had mitrail and aorta valve replacement, my trucuspid valve doesn't realy work and this is why doctors  think  i have deveoped  the fast heart rhythms. i alrady had a cardioversion but that didnt work, so that's why I had an ablation. I take warfarin and i now take 75mg antenolol. Im fine throughout the day it is just that early morning spell. I have raise my head end of the bed so that i'm not completly flat too.

[cindy707]

What you are going thru two weeks after an ablation is the norm.  Been there done that as many members of the community have.  Just to set the record straight for you...unless they burned during the ablation which most docs do not do anymore there will be no scarring whatsoever.  Most docs use cryo or freezing or RF waves to do the ablations with.  It actually takes up to six months for all episodes to fully subside however docs know within the first 90 days if it is a fail or not.  Within weeks of the ablation it is not uncommon to have mirrored episodes of the same incidence that you had prior to the ablation.  You have to bear in mind that the doc have to prod, penetrate, poke and re route the electrical pathway to basically re train your heart to send of the electrical patterns in the way they were meant to be before the procedure.  Kind of like training a doc to sit.  Repetition is basically the bottom line until your heart learns not to go back to the bad pattern but to move into the new pattern.  You will notice as time goes on that the incidents will become less and less until the day comes that you no longer have the episodes and it will surprise you that you no longer feel your heart.  However if the episodes seem to be increasing and getting progressive you need to make a call back to the EP doc so that they can get a look at you.  It is far too soon to be without incidents at 8 weeks...they come randomly and my doc put me on antenolol to get me thru the rough spots until i healed completely and it worked for the most part.  I know how you feel tho..we all got nervous worrying about it being a fail and trust me its wayyyy too soon to know at this stage of the game...patience is a virtue in this situation....you'll get super short runs of it....or that funny feeling like its going to start up and doesn't ...its just your heart re learning to pump the right way now....good luck

[Angel_001]

When you lay on your right side your venous return back to the heart can be compromised in cardiovascular patients.  They tell pregnant mothers to lay on their left side to increase venous return, therefore increasing blood demand to the baby.  Thr better the venous return, the better the cardiac output of the heart.  
It usually takes 3 months for the scars from the ablation to set in/heal.  Up to then you can be in and out of AF.
Typically you'll see sleep apnea patients with AF.  Likewise, in Marfans syndrome the muscles at the capillary level are oxygen starved. Whenever tissue is oxygen starved the heart tries to work harder to deliver oxygen rich blood to meet the demand.  When that demand is not met cynosis sets in and etopic foci (af) manifest.  
If you've had multipul valves repaired/replaced...are you on a blood thinner..coumadin???  If so, and you are refractory to antiarrythmics - a pacemaker implant may be an option to releave your AF symptoms.  However your atria will always fib.  But atleast your ventricles will have regularity.
Best of luck on your path!  I hope your ablations yeild a good result!
Cheers

[Jerry_NJ]

I don't have any specific experience to share, but it sounds like you've had some serious heart surgeries, and as the ablation is only 2 week old, I'd guess that is a long way from being healed

I assume you have discussed with your doctor/surgeon... I hope so.