Cardiac ablation

[murielm99]

Has anyone here had a cardiac ablation? I have had two cardioversions to correct atrial fibrillation. Both have worked for a short time only. The next step is ablation.

The arrhythmia was supposed to be due to my Grave's Disease. They thought my arrhythmia would get better as my thyroid condition improved. I guess not.

[Warpy]

1. The good news is that you'll be zonked for the procedure

and sleep through most of it. They'll be able to wake you up if they need to. Your doc will give you all the particulars about what they'll do, along with all the scary stuff that can happen but rarely does.

The main complication is needing a pacemaker because the area of irritable tissue was too near the conduction pathways. That's not a big deal, and they often do it as part of the procedure.

The main complaint I heard from my patients is that they woke up hungry.

[murielm99]

2. I still think this is fucked up,

and I am angry.

I am convinced that the cardiac problems are secondary to my thyroid condition.

First this cardiologist gave me an anti-arrhythmia drug that conflicted with my thyroid medication, even though he knows perfectly well that I have Grave's Disease. When the endocrinologist called him on it, he said, "Oh, yeah," and discontinued it immediately. Don't tell me that it was the only anti-arrhythmia that could have helped me. He did not even try to find another anti-arrhythmia medication after the second cardioversion.

I don't think the two doctors are coordinating well. This heart problem is supposed to improve with the improvement of my thyroid condition. I was diagnosed in April. I don't think they have tried hard enough to find a drug treatment or another non-invasive method. I don't want no stinking pacemaker. I am only 58 fucking years old.

Pardon me. I know there are people here who are much sicker. But I have had it. Everything sucks.

[Warpy]

3. you don't have to like the idea

but frequent cardioversion is no fun, either.

It's up to you to talk to the cardiologist (grab his necktie if that's what it takes to get his attention) and explore the possibility of a regulatory drug that won't interfere with your thyroid medication.

Pacemakers aren't a sign of age. I've seen kids in their 20s get them after ablations for Wolff Parkinson White syndrome. Once they're in, you ignore them for 20 years or so until the battery runs down. Then you need another battery pack.

[The empressof all]

4. I've had it done and I also have Grave's Disease

My thyroid is controlled with medication and I've had no heart rhythm problems since the procedure. They couldn't induce a rhythm problem during the procedure so they weren't sure if they were able to hit the right spots. But I'm good now so :shrug: You may want to ask your doctor about your Adrenalin levels. I'm taking a med to help even that out now too. I'm not even having PVC's which use to freak me out!

[Justitia]

5. How serious is your atrial fib? My husband also has atrial fib & his cardiologists are very undecid

undecided on whether ablation is necessary or not. He has had atrial fib for many yrs and a long time ago one of them suggested cardioversion. After doing research we decided against it as we read many, many reports like yours that the correction is only temporary.

Another cardiologist suggested ablation, but yet another one said that once the heart muscle becomes trained in an irregular heartbeat (atrial fib) for yrs, that it is actually less risky to just allow the heart to beat in the rhythm it has become accustomed to - attending with medications for heart beat (coreg, lanoxin, digoxin) and blood thinners, of course. We've had addt'l cardiologists concur with this idea since then. Therefore, we have decided against ablation after considering the risk / benefit scenario.

I say trust your gut (esp since you believe your primary condition is a thyroid issue), keep gathering information, and ask multiple cardiologists about what is absolutely the latest, most comprehensive data on the procedure (a lot has changed very recently in this area).

Good luck and post back w/the outcome.