post-ablation questions

[LynnSB]

I had an EP study and ablation for what turned out to be an AV reentrant tachycardia ( 210 BPM) that was easy to get to, according to the EP doc. I'm happy to say the whole procedure was painless and went off without a hitch although I'm still a bit tired.Is that normal? I guess I thought I'd be immediately "cured" of all arrhythmia but I'm having some palpitations.. not many and none of the rapid flutters I used to feel. I have -- maybe 5 to 10 times a day -- feelings of hard heartbeats ( sometimes 3 to 5 together), a skipped beat here and there, a couple of thumps, especially when I sit down or lie down.EP doc said that i might always have a few palps, to try and ignore them. and he said i might have a "transient" increase for a while in palps. questions.
1. do you agree this is normal? is there hope these palps will get better? are they anything to be concerned about?
2.my ep doc said the tachycardia could come back but it's only 1 chance in "many hundreds". Any comment on my chances of being really"cured"?
3. I thought an EP study was DEFINITIVE for whether you have life threatening arrhythmias but i recently read that an EP study doesnt't always elicit arrhythmias.. can you please tell me something REASSURING.i've been through all this and I'd like to know, bottom line, what an EP study DOES reveal so I can STOP WORRYING.By the way , I went to a very well known medical center that does many, many of these procedures. and i went to a highly experienced EP doc. I want to believe i can relax about my heart rhythm now but I've been scared for so long it is HARD!Thank yo

[LynnSB]

Thanks so much. That's so encouraging...

[LynnSB]

I see you've answered questions behind and ahead of this one, so hope springs eternal you'll get to mine. thanks!

I was just eating dinner, relaxed.. whammo.. a hard beat.. ignored it.. same thing happened again within a minute. and then again.

I'm just looking for a little reassurance here... also , if it is true that you can expect palps to be act up after an ablation, what's the mechanism? is there irritation to the heart from the procedure? thanks again.

[Kimma]

i had an ablation almost a year ago.  Right after the procedure i only had a few skipped beats every once and awhile but over the last few monthes it  has gotten pretty bad to where i get them about 100 times a day sometimes and some days i get only a few.  i moved and no doctor takes my insurance where i live now so im tryin to get that figured out so i can maybe start taking some meds. a part of me regrets the ablation because i only had tachy episodes once a month and now i live with the skipped and hard beats everyday.

[LynnSB]

The good news is that the runs of very, very fast beats I was having are gone -- that must have been the atrial tachycardia ( 210 BPM).... when I was wearing the event monitor and sending in my recordings, I could hear my heart rhythm as recorded beating regularly and then, like you turned on a switch, it would go in seemingly triple time for many beats. Then, as if a switch were turned off, suddenly be back at 72 bpm or so.

I hope and pray I'm just having plain old PVCs and PACs which I ALSO had a lot of on the event monitors.. and that maybe they will decrease over time..

[LynnSB]

Are you saying you didn't have PVCs and PACs UNTIL the ablation?

[jobob52 ford]

Hi, I've had three ablations, two in Oregon( one at Or.Health and Sciences University)without modification and on 9-12-03 had the procedure done at the Cleveland Clinc with a successful out come. Yippy! I am SOooo glad!
I would go into A FIB or Atrial Tach, usually the Tach, pulse would jump to 250-260 range, meds were Flecainide 150mg2X, and atenolol 37.5mg1X daily.
I haven't taken meds since 9-6-03 And haven't had any symptoms other than ocassional(3-5 per day) PACs or flutters, not sure, don't care. The main thing is, no tach and no meds!
Have wondered if some of what Hanstar said isn't valid. Could it be that whatever these flutters are are what triggered the tach symptoms? My wife also has flutters or skipped beats, I've heard them, when she's had too much cafine or chocolate so I think they must be relativly common, but as was mentioned, we're tuned into the 'feel' of the 'trigger'. What is new to me is the sensation of a pounding heart due to stress,ie.public speaking. I used to negotiate for Unions and heart would stay smooth as silk when emotions ramped up, I don't think that would happen now. I think this is normal too. Good luck. Enjoy & Keep the Faith.