Yet another lines up for Ablation

November 17, 2005

Opinions needed!

My A-fib was " discovered " in 2001 during a routine physical.

I really don't know if I ever had A-fib before then but what are the

odds of being in A-fib for the first time just when I was scheduled

for a physical?

I was feeling normal, tired and maybe a little hung over, the

physical was in the morning and they would not let me eat or have

coffee.. that may have kicked me back into NSR. But no.. they had to

find this lone A-fib and lead me down this dark path. Heck, the

doctors can't even tell me why my heart beats irregulary at

irregular times of the day.

My cure,that would have worked, should have been to ignore the

Alarms and calls for a cardo that my Family doctor put out and just

have another pot of coffee to get moving in the morning, followed by

a few cocktails to unwind with at night.

But no .. I went (within hours) to the cardio and was declared in

need of medications. Pharmicals that cost my insurance company big

bucks, could have caused worse damage to my body then the a-fib

(which I never felt before!). Test after tests to help determine the

proper course of action... until finally after almost a year I

convinced my HMO cardio to try cardiovesion. She failed-and I left.

New doctor, I stress no drugs only Cardioversion, but still ended up

on rat poison for 4 months before he would attempt the cardioversion,

It took him 2- attempts, once with stick on pads (failed) and once

with the paddles (success!). He said he had to lean into it .. .

And even though I left the cardioversion with dire warnings that the

A-fib will most likely return, I overrode their progonsis by telling

myself that my heart come back stronger and I was past the A-fib

part of my life. But I did take their drugs.. and (I believe)

because of their drugs, my A-fib returned.

This time I was able to schedule a cardioversion right away, so I

got zapped, but this time I did not take their prescriptions with me

when I left the hospital. And I lasted another eat/drink and be

marry year before the 3rd cardioversion.

That got me to stop drinking. July 4th 2004 was my last drink... but

I still refused their side effect riddled medications...

Then came the visit to the ER in

May 2005.. Cardioversion successful ...

July 2005 .. Go flecainide!

Sept 2005 .. Cardioversion successful ..

November 2005 .. Flecainide wins again!

Brings us up to date... I simply can't stand the thought of another

episode. I don't know what is worse, being in A-fib and feeling my 1-

heart flip around uncontrollably or spending yet another day in the

ER. (I carry a prescription from my cardio.. Thin blood, Slow heart

rate to under 100, try 300mg Flecainide, if no convert in 3 hours --

ZAP Him!)

I have made an appointment with the cardio to talk about an ablation.

I was hoping to get a referrel so I could start shopping for a good

place to have this done, but .. it looks like even if my HMO

approves the procedure they will want it done at Lutheran General,

which is a great hospital but surely not the best place to have this

done.

So did anybody read this far?

Do I push for an Ablation or should I put it off for a bit longer?

I am still drug free.. and expect to refuse continued attampts to

control my " irregular " heart beat with drugs that can

cause " irregular " heart beats! I just want the CURE!

November 18, 2005

Tell your HMO if they don't approve you getting an ablation at a GOOD center,

then you're going to keep billing them for 3k cardioversions... see what results

that gets!

but seriously... we all know the fear of going on drugs to control our hearts,

and I don't think there is probably one person here who really WANTS to be on

drugs (vs. NSR with no drugs), but often they are the lesser of two evils. In

your case the least you should be on is probably a blood thinner, since it

sounds like you are not always aware of your state of affib. I imagine having a

stroke is worse than taking drugs...

Many people here are medicated after one short afib event, and I don't agree

with that necessarily, but it sure sounds like you are way past the need for

something, and not ALL the drugs have bad side effects. And honestly, I've

never actually spoken with anyone who's gone into a worse rhythm from their

anti-arrythmics.

I take Tikosyn (1000 mcg per day - the top), and Atenelol (50 mg per day) and

they keep in in NSR, which is a blissful feeling to be sure. Tikosyn has the

possibility of Torsade de Points (a bad ventricular arrythmia), but you are

closely monitored to start the drug, and I believe the period when these may

develop is only in the initiation of the drug... never heard of anyone actually

having them either, and there are a bunch of us on this drug. The side effects

are basically sustained NSR (for those for which it works), without fatigue and

all the other " lovely " side effects that some of the other drugs carry.

An ablation is a good idea, but not at a facility that is not known for them..

it's also REAL surgery, with REAL complications.. some of which are pretty

henious. It is not a cure all for everyone, and should not be something gone

into quickly or without careful consideration.

Please do yourself a favor, and research research research... research drugs

and procedures so that you can make a better judgement on what you might

tolerate in your own case. Drugs are really not the end of the world.. and if

you decide to try one, and it fails, you can always stop and then consider an

ablation..

just some thoughts,

Stef

kwelname wrote:

Opinions needed!

November 18, 2005

>[sNIP]

> So did anybody read this far?

>

> Do I push for an Ablation or should I put it off for a bit longer?

>

> I am still drug free.. and expect to refuse continued attampts to

> control my " irregular " heart beat with drugs that can

> cause " irregular " heart beats! I just want the CURE!

>

If you are approaching ablation as the CURE without any complications

I'd be tempted to remove those rose tinted glasses Be aware that,

like meds, an ablation (and maze) can cause irregular heart beats.

Personally, I would give meds a serious try before opting for an

invasive procedure. You can always stop the meds but I know of no way of

removing the scars that are left by an ablation or maze procedure.

Whilst some people are free of AF and meds after the procedure a

substantial amount avoid AF after an ablation only by continuing with

medication (off the top of my head it's somewhere around 20-30% are free

of AF but still on meds - but don't quote me on these numbers). I

suspect you need to talk this through with a doctor you trust (not

necessarily the experienced EP you should find to actually do the

ablation)

Good luck

--

D

November 18, 2005

I would say ablation is a personal choice that only you can decide upon.

Don't listen to people here so much as ask yourself the following important

question:

* Do I enjoy my life and is it worth living under my current situation? *

If the answer is yes, don't get an ablation. There's no need to ever get a

surgery done unless you feel that the gains outweigh the risks. If you're

happy in life why put yourself through the pain?

If the answer is no, get it done. When I decided to get my ablation it came

down to the fact that AFIB makes my life miserable and I couldn't see myself

living another 60 years on this horrible medication.

Andre

_____

From: AFIBsupport [mailto:AFIBsupport ] On

Behalf Of kwelname

Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 5:48 PM

To: AFIBsupport

Subject: Yet another lines up for Ablation