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verruckter51 t1_j43w81j wrote

Yes, had periodic afib for 15 years. When I got to the point the drugs no longer worked they did cryoablation. No drugs and no afib for the last 15 years. Would have preferred surgery first instead of drug side effects and feeling like sh_t while waiting to self convert. Raising kids with afib was not fun.

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YooperScooper3000 t1_j443utz wrote

How often was your heart in AFIB? I ask because I get occasional flutters at night.

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verruckter51 t1_j44am0h wrote

At first once a month, usually converted back in 72 hours. Was on Cardizem to limit heartrate. But also worked my way through all the drugs over the 15 years. Right before I had the ablation I was going into afib multiple times a week and wouldn't self convert. So had to do the paddle reset a couple times over last month before surgery. Found out over the course of treatment that beta blockers turn me off( hr in 20s and 30s), the azt.....drug cause a light show when I tried to sleep, and something cause me to have muscle spasms periodically.

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dcheesi t1_j45zzyr wrote

How invasive is the surgery? All surgeries involve some risk, after all.

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verruckter51 t1_j469aae wrote

The surgery was done with a catheter, through the femoral artery. I think at the time it took three hours. From what I was told with cryoablation, they mapped the electrical pathway that caused the afib. Then position ballon and cool area to make sure it is in right place. Test to see if blocked current. If right spot, then freeze. To be honest the worst part for me was waking up feeling great (like ten years younger) and having to stay in bed. Other thing that for me was weird is that I always felt my heart beating growing up, after ablation I no longer feel my heart except if I do major exercise or it skips a beat.

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truffle_shuffle_5000 t1_j46f9ty wrote

Not OP but I had an ablation performed for a heart issue many years ago where they went through the femoral, I was fully recovered more or less in a week. All the gave me for pain was ibuprofen and that’s just cause it was sore to walk from where on my leg they went in with the catheter.

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Mikejg23 t1_j46mx2w wrote

Minimally. People leave the day of or the day after the procedure, worst complication is usually it fails or a tiny bit of bleeding at the insert site of the catheter.

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[deleted] t1_j488ly4 wrote

There are many different kinds of surgery and procedures, from minimally to maximally invasive

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lavadora-grande t1_j5u30le wrote

You did not have afib 15 years after ablation?

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verruckter51 t1_j5u4495 wrote

It has been 15 years since the ablation and have not had any issues since.

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lavadora-grande t1_j5ucmxg wrote

WOW that is a long time :)

How often do you have skipped beats or weird feeling in your heart since ablation? And what kind of lifestyle do you have? How often are you working out or what kind of sport do you do (or recommended your doctors)? And do you follow a diet like "dash" or so (nutrition in general)?

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Sorry for the question but I am always a little hyped up an interested when people talk about such a success after an ablation.

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I am 1 1/4 year post ablation and also did not have afib since then.

I hope my grammar is ok. Best wishes and thank you :)

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verruckter51 t1_j5ulj80 wrote

Maybe one or two skipped beats if I overdue caffeine. Lifestyle is typical mid 50s, dealing with some kids in college, coaching soccer for youngest, dealing with taking care of aging parents yards and homes along with mine. Walking, biking, and some lifting if time permits. Diet is varied, 80% of time is like dash and Mediterranean. Other 20% is SAD; bbq, pizza and bacon still find their way in.

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sockalicious t1_j4fyuqd wrote

Most physicians wouldn't characterize catheter ablation as 'surgery', nor does the source NEJM article use that term, preferring 'ablation'. It's an interventional procedure done by a cardiologist via a catheter in the femoral or radial artery.

The properly-called "surgical" treatment for a-fib is Cox's MAZE procedure, which has undergone several modifications over the years and is sometimes called pulmonary vein isolation. It involves opening the chest and making a series of precise cuts in the back wall of the left atrium, then sewing it back up. It's usually - I dare say almost always - performed only when the surgeon is already in the chest for some other reason, such as surgical correction of mitral valve stenosis.

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gringorios t1_j45sg5d wrote

I had the ablation surgery around 20 years ago after the medication stopped preventing episodes of AFib. No problems since. I think at the time it was a fairly new technique.

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Playful-Ad6556 t1_j45scsu wrote

Drug companies will be putting out sham studies showing the opposite to protect bottom line in in 3..2..1

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