Had catheter ablation/questions

November 25, 2003

Hello,

(I tried to reply earlier and could not find it anywhere, so if this

comes up twice...sorry...I am a first time user of discussion groups)

Anyway, I am 36 and have had lone a-fib for about four years now. I

have been on a variety of medications. All of which seemed to work at

first and then my episodes return later. I am also very athletic. I

enjoy playing competitive soccer, which has become increasingly more

difficult because of the a-fib. Finally, my Dr. encouraged me to get

an ablation procedure done. It has been about a week and a half since

I had the procedure and I have not noticed any difference. My heart

rate is still fast and has become irregular again. The Dr. said that

I will experience this for about a month or so and things will then

decrease. Most of the internet sites that I looked at said that I

should not be having these problems afterwards. Does anybody have any

advice on this? I will be contacting the Dr. tomorrow, I am just

curious if there is someone out there who has gone through this. As

for the guy who is planning on this, let me know if you have any

questions, I would be more than happy to answer.

This has really changed my life, I hope the ablation will take care

of it!

Mark

November 26, 2003

Mark,

Post ablation recovery can take up to 90 days. The heart has to heal and

re-model itself. During that period, AF events can happen. In many cases a

second

PVAs is needed to touch up the " electric leaks " .

Rich O

November 26, 2003

Mark,

I am 39 years old, I'm in the Army, and prior to my first a-fib episode, I ran

5 miles a day. Since then ( Aug 9, 2003), my only cardiac exercise has been

walking, (with and without loads). I have been taking tikosyn for the past two

months. This med has decreased the frequency of my episodes from every 3 to 5

days to 15 to 20 days. But, the length of the episodes has increased from 20-24

hours to 30-35 hours. I went into a-fib at 0600 this morning, exaclty 20 days

since my last episode. So the next couple of days should be pretty miserable

for me because I am very symptomatic. So much for thanksgiving.

My ablation is scheduled for 10 December. I would be interested in any

information that you could give me on this subject.

My EP told me that I could expect quite a few a-fib episodes following the

procedure. This is due to the fact that scar tissue must form around the

ablated area.

Thanks in advance.

Fred