My heart has been in a- fib sense at least dec2. Going in Thursday to have ablasion done to try to correct it. They shock me twice a few weeks ago and it didn’t help. Hope it works.never knew so many people have this problem.

Good luck Sir. That stuff is unnerving at best.

It’s the most common dysthymia in America. Millions of people have it. And if it’s rate controlled, they don’t even know it.

Wishing you good luck and speedy recovery!

My best bud had that done several times over the years.

2 years ago they tried to do the ablasion on him and they stopped because it started slowing his heart to low.

He woke with a pace maker in his left chest.

He had gone onto a-fib once after and the pacemaker kept him from feeling it when it happened.

It just took one time to get him flipped back to the right rhythm.

He took a few days to get over it and has not looked back.

I have Afib. The hospital nearly killed me last year trying to bring me out of it. They injected me and dropped my blood pressure to 50 over 48. I thought I was going to die. Now when I slip into afib I don't tell them.

You may have a stroke. Big danger of A-fib is blood pooling in the heart during fibulations, starting to clot, then sending that clot to your brain. Not a great idea to ignore it.

I can't go in every time. I'm usually back to sinus rhythm within 24-48 hours anyway.

Just take a baby aspirin morning and night and keep livin’.

Already do. As well as the other things they have me on.

I have A-fib and it’s usually a much rare occurrence now. I take Metoprol - which is mainly for high blood pressure, which I’ve never had - but it keeps my heart rate from racing into the high 130’s or low 140’s if I do have the occasional A-fib. I’ve only had it last overnight twice. My normal BP is about 110 over 70 usually.

I also take Warfarin (generic Cumadin) which is an anticoagulant and prevents those blood clots from forming when I am in A-fib. They track my INR once a month to make sure I stay within that 2.0 - 3.0 range that I’m suppose to. If I do have an episode it’s not as violent as it used to be. Whenever I’m in A-fib now my heart beat is usually mid 80’s to low 90”s. My normal resting heart rate is the mid 50’s to mid 60’s.

Good luck.

I have A-flutter. Similar to fib think just different chamber or something? Most of the time it is controlled by meds however it has gone into a consistent flutter 2 times in the last year. I have to have it "shocked" back into rhythm. If continues to do this I will need ablation as well. Dr says high chance of curing issue with ablation. Good luck.

I had a bout of that in the early 90s. I found out I was sensitive to caffeine. I cut down on soft drinks and chocolate, etc. and it stopped. It runs in my family, so I keep an eye on it and still limit my caffeine.

have had it, onetime heart rate was 178 for about 6 hrs. got light headed.

Has your cardiologist discussed ablation with you?

I had an ablation 8 years ago when I was 69. It takes about 60 days for the scar tissue to block
impulses and from then on I've had no issues. 100 days after the ablation I shot a nice dall ram.

Hope it fixes you up! Good luck, let us know please!

There are all different levels of A-fib, some minor, some very serious. It is nothing to play with.

Wife has it, caused a small stroke 5 or 6 years ago, happily I realized something was very wrong and went immediately to a hospital which was only 2 miles away. No lasting effects that we can tell. She had complained about it to doctors for quite a while, two different ones put her on a halter monitor for 24 hours, but since hers was intermittent nothing showed up so neither took it seriously. Take an aspirin, quit caffeine, try these meds, none stopped it. Then came the stroke.

Went though a few years of different meds, blood thinners prevented another stroke but when her heart got out of sinc she couldn't do anything except set down and wait for it to pass. Even Tikosyn didn't stop it. It was terrible, always on guard for another stroke.

SRWSHOOTER, we did the ablation 3 1/2 years ago, it took about 8 hours but it has made a world of difference. They probably told you it has about a 60% chance of stopping the a-fib completely, wife is in the other 40%, but it has made a huge difference. The episodes are much more rare and very mild, it feels like a miracle to us. These days we do what we want, almost as if it weren't there. She still takes Tikosyn, but some of the other meds have been discontinued.

The cardiologist said they could do the ablation again, chances of success would go up quite a bit, for now she's doing well enough that she doesn't want to face that again.

Praying for the best for you Thursday.

I've had it off and on for many years starting in my thirties. If it flares up I take a baby aspirin.

I also jog and work out just so my heart stays strong and remains accustomed to being in rhythm.

What does A-fib feel like?

I get an odd PVC once a day, that feels like that first big hill on a roller coaster, lasts me about 3 seconds, then my heart skips a beat and then situation is normal.

I’ve had a couple of Holter studies but the seemingly never happen when I got the monitor on.

Afib is nothing to mess with unless you're hoping for a stroke. I had ablation surgery 8 yrs ago and the Afib subsided until last spring. It's not unusual to have to get a "tune-up" ablation periodically. For whatever reason the March ablation didn't completely solve the rhythm problem this time so I had a follow-up ablation in December that seems to have put me back into normal rhythm. I highly recommend ablation by a good electro physiologist before going to a pacemaker (or having a stroke). All 3 ablation surgeries were done early in the morning at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and I walked out of the hospital by 4 PM that afternoon.

My middle son had the procedure done when he was 25. He takes a pill daily and has been fine since.

No.

Your heartbeat is out of rhythm. You get tired much easier when its occuring.

Slumlord , some people feel it , others do not . I had loss of Energy , and a high Pulse . Some folks feel a thumping Heatbeat . There are also two types of Ablations . The common one is Right Atrial Ablation and I have seen various High numbers given for success . Unfortunately , that was not my case . I have had two Right Atrial Ablations and still have A-Fib . The severity at present , however , is much less than before . There are certain Nodes in the Heart Chamber which are destroyed to try to prevent A-Fib . There are at least three ways to accomplish this destruction . I seem to recall telling the Surgeon ( just before Anesthesia ) to avoid the PV1 Node ( hope my Memory is correct ) . He chuckled at that one , and off to Dreamland I went . Anyway if a Pacemaker is installed and your PV1 Node is gone .......and your Pacemaker FAILS ........ you die . My present Cardiologist says if you have A-Fib and you live long enough , you will probably go into 100% A-Fib . There is another Procedure called Left Atrial Ablation pioneered by a Professor at Pa. University in Philadelphia . When I was first told I had A-Fib , I was put on a Med. ( Amiodarone ) where you had to sign a Release . Lost some hair from that Med . That Cardiologist suggested a Left Atrial Ablation . I asked for the Pa. Professors Phone No . ....and was told some BS about contacting the Professor .... shortly thereafter I got a new Cardiologist . I found the Contact Info on the Computer , called the Professors Office and made a Consultation Appointment . Going there and meeting the Professor was an interesting story in itself . Anyway , Left Atrial Ablation is a much more dangerous Procedure( as it involves piercing the wall which separates the two Chambers ) . About one in three hundred people don't make it . This was a few years ago , so the figures today might be better . I was told to stay on Amiodarone for the time being as that Option was the safer way to go . After my second Right Atrial Ablation , I was able to get off that Med . Sorry to be so long winded , but hope this Info. helps folks afflicted by A-Fib .

Good luck Steve hope you got a good heart dr to take care of you.

It is definitely not something to ignore. Had an episode a couple years ago, got shocked back into sinus rhythm and fine ever since. On a few meds to keep things that way and I pay pretty close attention to it.

Had it for years before I knew what It was. For years I had a high heart rate of around 100.Was easily winded by sudden exertion such as running in to answer the phone. In 2007 my heart really jumped time. Blood pressure too low for my machine to register a reading. Pulse jumping back and forth from 40 to 170. Got shocked back into time 2 or 3 times over the next few years. Refused to use a cpap, but took medication. In 2013 went to Oklahoma City OU hospital for cardiac ablation. It took all day but it was working nicely for a while. Still wouldn't use the cpap and decided I could quit the medicine. Guess what, it came back. 2015 The ablation was tried again. Now I'm addicted to the cpap and take a medication called Multaq and one called Xarelto, both very expensive but I have good insurance. No recurrence except one minor episode when I lost 5 lbs. of sweat one day chainsawing this past August.

That last part, your electrolytes were probably way out after sweating so much.

I’ve been in constant A-fib for at least 4 years. I asked my cardiologist what I can do. His response, if you have ever to go to the emergency room for anything and they tell you are in A-fib... tell them not to even try to deal with it because there is nothing they can do to fixit.... I reckon at this point it is what it is...

Guess I’m GTG on a fib then. I got some other issues with mine. Some wall thickness in a couple places they brought to my attention.

I always show an abnormal EKG, and anyone new gets a weird about it. lol
The print out will say danger Will Robinson, abnormal, possible ischemia. I cast a neg T-wave on every read since 2015. I’m just say well ok, thanks. lol

Cardiologist I see says don’t worry about it.

Well ok. If you say so. 😐

Right, that's what my cardiologist said.

Had a little touch of A fib several years ago. Doc had to stop my heart to get it back in rhythm.
On Eliquis to control clotting in my heart chambers. Hasbeen

Sleep apnea brought on A-fib for my father, which in turn became heart failure. It killed him. That was 1978. There was no mention ever of a cpap machine for him. He would snore loud enough to shake the house and would stop breathing for over a minute. Probably a hundred or more times a night.

Wow.

My first ablation failed too, after a few days. The second one flew like an eagle and I have not had a single occurrence of afib since. Been checked several times.

Moosemike, good luck to you brother.

Guess we’ll see what happens on Thursday . Went in today for all the pre- op stuff , so I’m ready.one night stay they say so Friday I should be out. Interesting bunch of reply’s here.i’v been hearing all kinds of stuff from friends about a-fib to. Sounds like no sure fire cure to me.

Here's hoping things go good at the Hospital.

My friend runs his own business and it has not slowed him down since he had it done.

Roger, are you on meds for it now?

Good luck to you and the OP too.

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.