heart cathjerer ablation

[JeanDee]

i just had a catherer ablation done on my heart on april the 3 i came home the next day did fine for two days then i had a sort of rapid heartbeat and was out of sinus rythum for a while about 3 hours. Does that mean that my ablation was not successful? i have heard others say it takes at least three months to know for surre i still take medication for this also can anyone relate to my experience this procedure wasnt easy especially on the back and chest but will be well worth it if it contrls heart rate.    

[EmpressofQ]

Hi, I had an ablation done a little over a year ago.  My heart was going 215bpm for over 45min at a time.  Third time was the charm.  Even though they had an ablation set for the next week, they decided to go ahead and do it early.  Mine was a success immediately.  They went in through neck and groin.  Afterwards, I was still a little afraid it might happen again.  I have MVP and it starts the same way this did, but MVP quits after a few minutes and the other wouldn't.  So my Dr. did another holter monitor and other tests and he said all looked great.  He said I had a classic (by the book) problem.  Now I don't worry as much but I think I will always be nervous when one starts. I know that when it first started the medics where saying I was throwing P's whatever that is.  I had trouble with low back pain and leg and neck pain where they went in.  I have DDD in whole back and 2 surgeries on it so I know how bad it hurts your back to lay down for so long after procedure.  I hope you tell your Doc if you think it is still occurring.  He should be able to tell pretty quick.  Good Luck!

[ireneo]

You're right that it does take time for the heart to settle down after the ablation. After all they're burning little spots in the heart and they need time to heal. I've had 3 ablations so I understand about the back ache - laying flat for so long between the ablation and recovery time is tough on the back muscles.

Can you explain what you mean by being out of sinus rhythm for 3 hours? If you were having occasional PVC's or PAC's for 3 hours, that's one thing. If you were constantly tachy for 3 hours, do call your cardiologist and mention it to them. Blips, skips and mini bursts of tachy are not unusual after an ablation but 3 hours of constant arrhythmia needs to be addressed. By the way, you should be feeling pretty much back to normal now physically. Do take care with lifting heavy items though. You have a few days left to take it easy.

[sueinns]

My heart would start racing on occasion after my ablation.  However, it was nothing like I had experienced before the procedure.  I was told to expect this.  Did you have an ablation for SVT?  The type of arrhythmia and where it is located can determine how successful the procedure will be.  SVT had a high success rate whereas PVC's, especially if in more than one spot, or atrial fibrillation not so much.

Since my ablation I am about 70% better.  No longer have symptoms of SVT but I am still troubled by PVC's with some days being better than others.  Despite that, I have no regrets and am very happy to finally be SVT free since my procedure 3 months ago.

[Sweetwaterguy]

  I was told to expect my heart to have rhythm problems during the healing process.  Even though I had amiodarone--a very powerful and effective drug to keep my heart in rhythm--I had a few short blips.   It will be six weeks to three months of healing before things will settle in.
  Also, it is not uncommon to have a second or third ablation.  My doctor told me about 30% may need a second procedure.  

[SillyHeart]

Normally doctors say you should give your heart several months to heal before judging whether the ablation was successful or not.  The procedure can irritate the heart.

Contact your electrophysiologist and let them know what happened, but try not to be too discouraged yet.  

[srm6598]

I am going to leave your question to the experts that have had this done already....they are so informative. Like you, I have read from the others it takes a bit for the ol' ticker to settle in.  

I am wondering about your comment "my experience this procedure wasn't easy especially on the back and chest"?  I will find out about my procedure tomorrow and am very curious about any information available.

I hope you are feeling better very soon