ablation for flutter and pac's?

[rlevin47]

Met with an electrophysiologist and discussed ablation for the flutter, He indicated the ablation will not help with the premature atrail contractions. Can ablation for flutter help the pac issue?

[rummagerat]

i am 67 yrs old and have had pac for 35 years.  sometime very scary, feels like a fish out of wather type "flop".  alway told not to worry, not serious. wore a holter monitor a month ago to see if that was all that was going on and it showed true, had a lot of them in a 24 hr period.  I take Atenonol and it helps, but the best advise i got from my family doctor was to take Magnesium 400Mg 2x a day.  i can really tell the difference!  i don't get SOB or afternoon fatigue, light headed etc.  He told me about ablation when i went back to him, but said if the Magnesium was making a marked improvement to just wait about seeing th heart doctor for the discussion of ablation, but if i need it, i am not afraid since i have read all your comments..try to avoid stress, caffeine and sugars. thanks,Betty

[rlevin47]

Hi again,

Saw the other EP on Tues. He said the same thing as the other EP, that the abaltion would help or cure my aterial flutter. There is a 90%+ success rate for flutter and much lower for PAC's.

As far as lifestyle changes go there is not much more I can do. I am not overweight. I eat very well and excercise a lot. So much for good living. Only kidding if you guys and ladies have these issues try to change.

I have been AF free for a few weeks now. Will see what the rest of the summer brings. I am living in the mountains of Colorado for the summer so I will wait to have the ablation done in the fall in Florida if I stay flutter free. I shall see.

Good luck to everyone. Stay in touch.

Robert

[tc1414]

most of the time, i don't feel the extra beats. but, every once in a while, i'll get one that makes me stop to catch my breath and rest for a second. i can't remember the number, but i know i have them often, as i did a 48 hour holter monitor that came back with many of them. i guess the important thing to remember is that, even though they make us "jump", they're benign in nature and don't pose any serious risk.
the EP was very adamant in saying that this would not change my quality of life at all, unless i let it. so i'm starting the workout and better eating regime now, and hopefully it won't be a problem at all in the future.
are you noticing any improvements in the last month? best of luck to you!

[jpcox]

Your post made me feel better. Some days I have constant pacs, on those days they make me feel awful. How about you? For they last month I have made lifestyle changes, eating right, more active. So basically we have to learn to live with these things. How many pac's do you have in one day? What kind of symptoms do you have?

Jennifer

[tc1414]

well, saw the EP yesterday. he was pretty straight-forward in that i didn't need an ablation for PAC's/extra beats. i asked if it would cure them, and he said that i would probably grow to not feel them, but that everyone has them, and there are two types of people in the world....those that feel them, and those that don't.
like i said, he advised me that i didn't need the procedure at this point. he told me to stay on bystolic for the time-being, and start making some lifestyle changes (diet, lose some weight, become more active, stress techniques, etc). he was very encouraging in that he thought these things would be effective in getting rid of my arryhtmia issues, and would make me much better off in the long-run. i appreciated the visit...he was very straight-forward and didn't sugar-coat anything. made it pretty clear that an ablation was a last-resort type of deal, and i didn't need it unless A-fib was so persistent that it was impeding my life (which it's not right now at all).
hope that helps some!

[rlevin47]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Going to see another electrophysiologist on Tuesday. I will more question and let you all know.

[Momto3]

I've had two successful ablations for PVCs, but not for PACs.  Not sure if that makes a difference.  One was for RVOT and one was for LVOT.  

Great question!  

Hey tc1414, please let us know what you find out.  Good luck at your appointment!

[Donnaheaps]

My husband had ablation for flutter in New Zealand it got rid of the flutter but he still gets PVC's. Not sure that you can have ablation for PVC's
Donna

[tc1414]

sorry, i don't have an answer for that....but i hope it can, because i'm seeing an ep next week about a possible ablation for atril fib and pac's....i'd hate to go through that and still have issues....if no one reponds on here very soon, i'll be sure to ask my EP about it at my appt next friday.