Catheter Ablation

[xanthous]

I had an ablation in September.  It didn't seem to "take."  I've had several SVT episodes since.  I switched health insurances, have a new cardiologist that hooked me up to a heart monitor for 30 days and put me on medication that caused me to have fainting spells.  During that time, I didn't have an SVT episode.  He doesn't think I have any issues because he didn't see anything on my monitoring.  I continue to have problems, so my primary care is getting me a different cardiologist.  Is it common for people to have another ablations?  This all started from a bad reaction to a pharmaceutical I took.  Thanks!

[JohnWright]

Stop running completely as the constant jarring will upset the delicate balance between your opening and closing valves and electrical currents along your electrical pathways. Start riding a stationary or 2-wheels bike or start swimming to get your exercise.

Swimming is the best because your horizontal position means your heart does not have to work as hard to pump the blood back from your legs and the cool water means your maximum, and aerobic, target zones are 17 beats lower than with dry-land exercising.

Don't have another ablation surgery until you start exercising first. I was given Beta Blocker drugs to lower my heart-rate to 55 but swam instead for 4 months to lower my heart-rate to 55.

[tom_h]

You know, don't be afraid to look outside of your area.  The Cleveland Clinic has many "graduates" from this forum who came from all over the US. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out.

[xanthous]

Thanks so much for the response.  I don't know which type of SVT I had, I guess I should.  This cardiologist is quite a guy, which is why I'm getting another one.  I have them quite a lot-2-3 times per month.  I can get out of them myself, but I get extremely dizzy, I at times lose consciousness and can't go up stairs.  That's tough, especially since I went from running 15-20 miles a week to not even going up a flight of stairs.  I started running again and now I'm back to I was before the surgery.  This is why I'm pressing to get a second opinion because it seems like I never had the surgery at all!  Thanks for your help.  I hope if I do get another surgery it will actually fix this issue.  Take care.

[tom_h]

From my experience here, it is uncommon to have subsequent ablations following your initial one assuming it was for SVT.  But in the 3+ years that I've been associated with the forum, there have been a few.  It's possible that your electrophysiologist left a piece of conductive tissue remaining which continues to support conduction.  Perhaps the burn wasn't deep enough, or it could have quite possibly healed over and conduction has begun again.  Do you remember what type of SVT you had?  AVNRT? AVRT?

I think it's ridiculous for him to assume that because he couldn't "see" anything on your recorder that you don't have a problem.  But it does raise a question as to how frequent must events be to consider the procedure?  I've seen people pass through here that had one event, and the ER physician recommended the procedure.  By contrast, mine were 3 to 5 times per month and I had them nearly all of my life before I had it done.  There are other factors to consider as well.  How old are you? Can you convert it on your own, or do you need medical assistance?  I could be convert mine, so I avoided the ER.  I can't imagine going to the ER 3 to 5 time per month to have it converted!  Hope you can get it resolved.