ep study and ablation

Hello My name is Jessica and Im 25yrs old who lives in WNY. Im having an ep study and ablation done in july. If anyone has had this done before, what should I expect during the procedure? What are the side effects after having this done? How long did it take to heal? Is it uncommon for me to be dealing with this at my age? If anyone has anything they would like to comment on this, please respond thank you :o)

7 Comments

'Piece of Cake' ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-06-27 10:06:16

Welcome to your PM Club. You will find a lot of great, experienced people on this website who will help you.

The dread of the 'not known' is for sure a lot worse than the ablation/PM implant. I joined this PM Club in 5/09 with a whole lot of questions before my actual decision to go ahead with the procedure in 10/09. I can not even try to explain how many wonderful, good answers were given to me ~ the pros/cons of all situations. Some of the PM members have had their PM's since early childhood and some of us more 'mature' people have had anywhere from one to a dozen replacements when the 'energizer bunny' battery goes down.

My implant only took about 1 1/2 hours. I stayed in the hospital overnite just for observation. I could have easily gone home the same day. A lot of people have the implant and go home the same day. A lot of people on this website have said they are awake, partially awake and like me, asleep during the procedure (I talked too much/the Dr. 'knocked me out'). In my case, I turned down the offer for pain meds at home. The first nite spent at home, I decided when dawn came (Sunday), I would call & get something for the stitiches around the implant area so I could be more comfortable at night. Then, I only took them for 2 nights. Some of the PM members said a type of aspirin worked for them. I take Coumadin/Warfarin for DVT so I can't take aspirin.

The main things to remember is to listen to your Dr./nurses/PM rep. When they give you rules/advice, heed all of that. On mine, I could not raise my left arm (the side of my PM) above my heart for the 1st 6-8 weeks. They told me not to lift over 5-15 lbs. the same time period. The main other thing, is to listen to your own body when it talks to you. If you are getting tired, rest. Exercise, after the Dr. gives you the ok. Do NOT let anyone put an arm sling/support on the side where your PM is. My Dr. said that your arm could 'freeze', hurt painfully and would need a lot of painful re-hab.

Besides having this wonderful website to ask all your questions, up in the right corner of this screen, is a word 'search'. Put in key word(s) on anything you might want to know about, and you can get some real positive inputs/comments from the past. I could not begin to tell you all the people I trust, love, appreciate and can depend on for good, accurate, helpful answers, ie, TraceyE, Smitty, ElectricFrank, Snitch, Pacergirl, Blue, Loopy Lou, Cabg Patch, Angelie, Hot Heart and soooo many others; too many to name.

Please ask questions from your new PM friends, keep us informed of your implant and your progress.

Carolyn G. in TEXAS ~ I am the 'long winded' one ~

mild clarification

by justme - 2010-06-27 10:06:27

just wanted to clarify a little thing from CarolynG that if you are having an EP study and ablation it does not mean that they are putting in a pacemaker. There is actually only a very small chance of needing one during/after an EP study and ablation. So please don't totally freak out thinking that's what an ablation does, that only happens when they completely ablate the sinus node, and if they were doing that on purpose you would already know.

hi

by justme - 2010-06-27 10:06:30

I'm also from WNY and I had one in January. A lot of the details are dependant on your case. Talk to your Dr. before hand about what he is planning on doing regarding sedation and you will have a better idea what to expect. The side effects are really minimal when things go well. The time it takes to heal/feel better depends on how much surface area and the location of where things are ablated, but not a super long time. I think that within 6 weeks everything was pretty much back to normal, no twinges or anything and I was able to come off of my meds within about 2 months. I was 29 could have and probably should have had it done much sooner than that. It's not that uncommon.
If you want to PM me with any specific questions I'd be happy to respond :-)

Had an EP and ablation at 30

by DybHen - 2010-06-28 04:06:59

I had a heart study and attempted ablation at the age of 30. The ablation was unsuccessful. They couldn't induce the bad rhythm in my heart so he didn't know what needed to be "burned". He woke me in the middle of the procedure to try to get anxiety to kick my heart into a bad rhythm, but that didn't work either. The only uncomfortable thing about the whole procedure was the catheters in the groin. Following the procedure you have to lay completely flat for an hour. After that hour they stand you up. I developed a hematoma in one of the incision areas so blood start gushing out, but then all I had to do was lay back down for another hour while I nurse applied heavy pressure the rest of the time. Once that hour passed, I stood up, everything was fine, then they sent me home. I didn't get a pacemaker for 3 years after that.

hey

by wmelanie - 2010-06-28 10:06:30

I'm 22 and have had 3 ep studies and 2 ablations. They are really quite simple procedures. I had conscious sedation for all of them so I was asleep and don't remember a whole lot for the procedure. Some people are awake, but relaxed depending on how the medication affects you. They freeze the area(s) where the caths go in, so you don't really have any pain during or after. You have to lay flat for 4 hours or so afterward because they don't use stitches, then they sent me home the same day for all of them. With the ablation I had some burning in my chest and palpitations the next day, but it was very minimal. It usually takes me about a week to feel completely back to normal just because of all the drugs they use during the surgery, and I'm a little sore at the cath sites, but never bad enough to even take ibuprofen or anything. 2 of my friends had ablations done when they were 18 and 20 so its not that uncommon to deal with at your age. If you have any questions feel free to message me, I know I wanted to know exactly what was going to happen before I had it done too.

you guys are great!!!

by starlite1247 - 2010-06-30 09:06:57

thank you everyone for your comments, it means allot to me and calms me down a little :o) My palpations started about 5 yrs ago and I could be doing any activity and then all of a sudden my heart will just start racing, and racing. Sometimes my pulse will get up to 245-260. The left side of my body gets very numb and tingly and I get really dizzy to the point of passing out. If I turn from side to side or try to walk, it hurts really really bad and my back and chest hurt allot to where its throbbing after words. After years of seeing allot of docs, my recent doc told me what I have and how to get rid of or handle it. I was then curious to see what other people have gone through and how common it really is. Im glad im not the only one lol thank you all again!! I'll let you know how it goes after july 8th!! Keep me in your mind on that day :o) tx you all again.

Peace
Jess

recovering but still feeling flutters

by starlite1247 - 2010-07-13 11:07:00

hello all!! I had it done and now Im recovering. Im still having heart fluttering like im about to go into an svt attack but the doc said its normal but if it continues in the next two weeks, ill have to go in for the surgery agian :o( so in the next two weeks, I hope it calms down alittle. did anyone experinece this afterwards?

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