Re: Ablation doctor / facility recommendation

[Guest guest]

>

> I've decided to have an ablation (once my thyroid levels are normal

> again) and wonder if anyone has a doctor/facility they would

> recommend.

Hi , I'm not suggesting everyone is the same and I hope your

thyroid is back to normal soon. It took me 18 months to recover from

thyrotoxicosis after taking amiodarone, maybe getting yourself on the

list at Cleveland may not interfere with your time scales?

--

D

[Guest guest]

:

It was my understanding (as of a couple of months ago) that the wait isn't that

long if you don't insist on Dr. Natale at the Cleveland Clinic. They have a # of

EP's besides Dr. Natale who do PVA's. If their success rates were similar to Dr.

Natales I wouldn't hesitate to have another EP perform the procedure. Since the

CC is a teaching hospital, a " fellow " is involved in the PVA anyway. (at least

in my case) I don't know if Dr. Natale or the " fellow " did the actual ablation.

I know Dr. Natale was there the whole time & I recall him talking continually

(teaching) during the procedure. But who actually had control of the branding

iron I don't know. I think the 1st question to ask ANYWHERE you might consider

of a PVA is what there success rate is. One of our board members posted an

excellent list of " questions to ask " regarding a PVA. Maybe they will see this &

re-post. It seems the PVA topic is being considered by a lot of AF'ers now.

Thor

Ablation doctor / facility recommendation

I'm a 42 yo male, was diagnosed with a-fib approx three years ago,

and tried to control it with different medications. I had varying

degrees of success, and started taking Amiodarone (200mg/day) about

two years ago. Amiodarone helped - I only had minor episodes once

or twice a week - but side effects were bad. I was very sensitive

to sun, and last month I developed hyperthyroidism.

I've decided to have an ablation (once my thyroid levels are normal

again) and wonder if anyone has a doctor/facility they would

recommend. My current doctor, an elecrophysiologist, is a great doc

and very knowledgeable about the various ablation procedures and the

latest research. However, he has only performed about a dozen

ablations. The number performed isn't all that worrisome to me -- I

figure they all started at zero and he's got the benefit of the

knowledge from others in the field and what they've done in the

past.

The group at the Cleveland Clinic was highly recommended, but they

have a long wait list I hear. I would like to have the ablation

done soon, and would appreciate any suggestions as to choosing a

doctor.

Thanks for any suggestions,

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[Guest guest]

Hi

I too stopped Amiodorone after 7 years. I keep thinking I should be taking a

different amount of synthroid as amio works out of my tissues. Blood tests for

T4 and TSH are normal levels which suprises me. What would you expect your

thyroid levels to be post amio??

Buz

Re: Ablation doctor / facility recommendation

>

> I've decided to have an ablation (once my thyroid levels are normal

> again) and wonder if anyone has a doctor/facility they would

> recommend.

Hi , I'm not suggesting everyone is the same and I hope your

thyroid is back to normal soon. It took me 18 months to recover from

thyrotoxicosis after taking amiodarone, maybe getting yourself on the

list at Cleveland may not interfere with your time scales?

--

D

Backup web page - http://afibsupport.proboards23.com

List owner: AFIBsupport-owner

For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email,

send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help

Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should be

acted upon without consultation with one's physician.

[Guest guest]

> Hi

>

> I too stopped Amiodorone after 7 years. I keep thinking I should be

> taking a different amount of synthroid as amio works out of my

> tissues. Blood tests for T4 and TSH are normal levels which suprises

> me. What would you expect your thyroid levels to be post amio??

>

> Buz

Hi Buz, my thyroid test now come back in the normal ranges and have been

doing so for quite some time. At the time the trouble was spotted they

where coming back high (I had hyperthyroidism due to the iodine in the

amiodarone)

When thyrotoxicosis was spotted I was put on a high dose of carbimazole

to completely rest my thyroid and I took thyroxine to substitute for the

lack of thyroid activity. After 18 months ( which was going to be 12

months but it got extended) I came off both carbimazole and thyroxine

and have not needed to take thyroxine since that point. I think the

initial 12 months was indeed to make sure all the amiodarone was out of

my system but since I was taking enough carbimazole to knock my thyroid

out there was not much adjusting of thyroxine required.

I was told that another method to try to fix the problem was to give

lower does of carbimazole and let the thyroid do some work. Perhaps this

method would be more susceptible to the sliding scale I think you are

suggesting as amiodarone works it's way out? I don't really know, other

than to say in my case my thyroid was temporarily put out of action to

give it a chance to recover and my guess is that this scenario is less

susceptible to diminishing amounts of amiodarone.

Just my guess

--

D

[Guest guest]

> Hi

>

> I too stopped Amiodorone after 7 years. I keep thinking I should be

> taking a different amount of synthroid as amio works out of my

> tissues. Blood tests for T4 and TSH are normal levels which suprises

> me. What would you expect your thyroid levels to be post amio??

>

> Buz

Hi Buz, my thyroid test now come back in the normal ranges and have been

doing so for quite some time. At the time the trouble was spotted they

where coming back high (I had hyperthyroidism due to the iodine in the

amiodarone)

When thyrotoxicosis was spotted I was put on a high dose of carbimazole

to completely rest my thyroid and I took thyroxine to substitute for the

lack of thyroid activity. After 18 months ( which was going to be 12

months but it got extended) I came off both carbimazole and thyroxine

and have not needed to take thyroxine since that point. I think the

initial 12 months was indeed to make sure all the amiodarone was out of

my system but since I was taking enough carbimazole to knock my thyroid

out there was not much adjusting of thyroxine required.

I was told that another method to try to fix the problem was to give

lower does of carbimazole and let the thyroid do some work. Perhaps this

method would be more susceptible to the sliding scale I think you are

suggesting as amiodarone works it's way out? I don't really know, other

than to say in my case my thyroid was temporarily put out of action to

give it a chance to recover and my guess is that this scenario is less

susceptible to diminishing amounts of amiodarone.

Just my guess

--

D