Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A-fib

I was getting a-fib so bad in the evening I had a hard time sleeping. Then, not connected to that, at age 56 I started working up serious miles on bicycles on preparation for my first cross country trip, that was seven years ago. It went away, I still have an occasional episode, especially when I'm stressed by hard days at work and/or lack of sleep, but nothing like before. Since then I also strive to use a bicycle as my major method of in town transportation, including the daily commute. I'd recommend it for everyone, especially as you get older

I wish you good luck with the ablation.

srwshooter, good luck on your procedure. Hope everything goes well and it is successful.

I had my first catheter ablation in November of 2017 and my second ablation in October of 2019. The first one put me back in sinus rhythm for about 18 months, but my A-fib came back worse than before. The second ablation has been successful so far and I feel great.

My symptoms included lightheadedness, extreme fatigue and a rapid, uneven heartbeat with many skipped beats. It got to the point this last go-round that I was reluctant to drive because I was afraid I might pass out. A month after the second ablation, I was able to drive 2,100 miles in only 2 days, from the UP of Michigan to southern Arizona, with no problems.

If you have A-fib, a baby aspirin is NOT sufficient to prevent a stroke. You need to be on a strong blood thinner such as Eliquis, and you need to stay on it for life.

I did have a cardioversion (electrical shock) procedure early in my first bout with A-fib, but it only worked for a couple weeks. I tried drug therapy, but it did not help much. I was in persistent A-fib both times, never coming back into sinus rhythm. The doctor that did the first ablation moved away and the new electrophysiologist did not want to do a second ablation. I hotfooted it to another doctor and he agreed to do it. Afterwards he told me that it would never be possible to do another one, because everything that could safely be ablated had been done.

The procedure itself is not too bad. The worst part is getting 3 IV's inserted. Then you conk out and wake up 5 or 6 hours later in beautiful sinus rhythm. You will feel some chest discomfort and be very tired for 2 or 3 days. It is normal for about 40% of patients to need a second ablation at some point.

Good luck with your procedure. If you would like to talk about this, feel free to message me and I'll give you my phone number.

Had an AV node ablation in November which stopped the lower chamber afib, but now my pacemaker took over the pacing 100% of the time. At least my ICD won't go off any more. Had a Watchman device installed in December and hopefully in 6 months I can get off the blood thinners.

Something that I haven't seen mentioned here; all 3 of my cardiologists/electrophysiologist's were sure to tell me that the ablations are NOT a cure but a treatment. There is no guarantee that the ablations will forever fix the problem. In my case, the first ablation was a laser, the second was a cryo-ablation (freezing the tissue rather than burning it) and I have been 99% good to go for about 2 1/2 years now. Off the meds completely, thankfully. Hope it works out long term for the OP.

I went into A Fib about a year and a half ago. Went into the emergency room and they put me in the hospital. After a few tests decided I had a blockage of 90% in the widow maker arter. Had to be drilled out due to the calsium blockage.

My BIL has struggeled with A Fib for a few years. Wears him out. This last time he's been in A Fib for over a month. He's going in Thursday for a pace maker. His is enough of a struggle I think the doctors are overwhelmed. They have decided Ablasion won't do anything. I know a few people that went in for ablasion and they weren't able to figure out where to use it.

Truth is they are still practising and don't have some medical procedures down, like they want you to believe. I'm one of those who have a tough time telling when I'm in A Fib. Add to that a few months later I thought I was in A Fib and it turned out to be Tachycardia. Same symptoms as far as I can tell, but they used a Saline IV and it sorted itself out.

ask your doctor about one on monitoring implants :

https://www.biotronik.com/en-us/products/crm

Thanks guys . I’m in the hospital by 6:45 in the am to get it done. I will keep you all posted.

Persiandog, my doctor showed me one a few weeks ago.

Doc says thing went well today. Feeling pretty good. Go home friday

Excellent.

Good news. Thought I was going to have one last year with tachycardia/PVC’s but when the doc did the EPS he couldn’t get the drugs to induce enough problems to justify an ablation so they upped my metropolol dosage and that seems to have done the trick.