A-Fib, A-Flutter and Doctors

I just recently had my third ablation, in fact it was done one week ago today.  I really had faith in my doctors this time and thought it would work and for 3 days it did.  Anyway, on Sunday I started feeling really horrible and went to the hospital later on that night.  It was determined by the ER doctor that I was in full blown A-Flutter and was admitted and ended up staying for three days.  The very doctor I saw on my ward that night tried to convince me I was not in any kind of irregular heart beat and that it was only my heart beating very fast.  She told me it was nothing and most of the problem was in my head. I could not believe what I was hearing, she said I could spend the night and would be sent home in the morning.  My heart was beating at 140 BPM and I was feeling horrible.

The next morning a group of doctors came in my room and looked at the EKG and still thought I was not having problems.  One doctor in the group believed differently and said he wanted to do some test and check out my pacemaker to make sure it was working properly.  They sent me to several labs and still were unable to find out what was going on, they tried several medications and finally the pacemaker guy came and did a reading and found that I had been in A-Flutter since 3:30 pm Sunday afternoon.  The cardiologists were notified and a cardioversion was scheduled for the next morning.

I came out of A-Flutter after that and got to come back home yesterday afternoon.  I am truly grateful to the doctor who refused to give up on me, I am also going to file a complaint with the hospital admin and let them know how I was treated by their staff.  I think as A-Fib and A-Flutter patients we deserve better treatment from doctors who are supposed to help us, not tell us we are crazy.

Thank You





13 Comments

Ablations

by ElectricFrank - 2011-04-15 02:04:20

It would take a lot of talking to convince me to have an ablation unless the situation was life threatening, and then it might take me another 30 minutes to say NO.

frank

A-Fib, A-Flutter and Doctors

by Hippie - 2011-04-15 03:04:45

I really don't regret having the ablations done, I just wish the would have worked for me, I was filled with much hope when the first one was done, but it didn't work.
After 2 years of the a-fib getting worse my wife and I decide to try it again, this one didn't work either.
After another 2 years of being in a-fib constantly my doctors suggested a pacemaker which I now have and have had for the last year and a half.
The pacemaker is designed to make my heartbeat go no lower than 60 BPM, it works very well but I still have a-fib and a-flutter.
Last December my cardiologist convinced me that we should try another ablation, he said this this time they would do it differently by going in behind the heart, my wife and I decided it would not hurt to give it another shot.
I have already been disappointed because after 3 days I went into a-flutter and spent more time in the hospital.

If someone were to ask me if the ablations are worth the time and effort I would say yes.
When you have chronic a-fib as bad as I do you will try anything to control or stop it completely.
I will say this now that there is no way I will ever get another one done.
I will never give up hope that someday they will find an easier way to control a-fib without ablations or high risk medications.

Don't regret ablations?

by ElectricFrank - 2011-04-16 01:04:04

This is a good time to look at your decision making process. The desperation approach rarely works. I can understand the feeling. I went through a period of having 1500-3000 PVC's per day, but still turned down ablations after studying how they work. The procedure involves deliberately destroying heart tissue in the hope of eliminating the offending area that initiates the arrhythmia. Sounds like a good idea til you think about it. It only works if they can accurately detect and then ablate a very small area of a beating heart. Then there is the possibility that the ablation process will cause that area of the heart to become irritable in much the same way a cut nerve can produce phantom pain. Only in this case the result is a new kind of heart activity.

The other issue is that an ablation is not reversible. If there are serious side effects you are stuck with them.

There is no doubt that the results can be very helpful as a number of folks here on the site will report. A consistent recommendation is to have any ablations done at one of the well known heart hospitals such as the Cleveland Clinic. With such a tricky procedure you want someone who does it on a regular basis and is highly skilled.

One suggestion in evaluating medical procedures and meds is to ask the doc to state his/her success vs bad outcome rates in absolute numbers. Medicine is clever in stating benefit in relative statistics and side effects in absolute. Makes it all look rosy.

Good luck,

frank

A-fib and Doctors for Hippie

by Malltura - 2011-04-16 08:04:07

Mr. Hippie:

I have PAF and had a St Jude Algorithmic pacemaker installed in July 10.

It keeps my A-fib in check by over beating the A-fib at 85 beats when in A-fib.

No ablation, but this keeps me from taking thinners and I can do anything from 60 to 120 heat beats, including triathlons at 69.

My Cardio Dr. feels ablations are not the cure all and opted for a PM instead. So far so good! I have about 5 A-fib events each month, mostly in short duration.

I have a PM reader by my bedside which the Dr. Monitors.

It ain't too great but as they say, it beats the alternative like being DOA! I got a lot of livin to do!

A-Fib, A-Flutter and Doctors

by Hippie - 2011-04-17 07:04:15

It's a little late for me to change my mind, don't you think ?

Firedog

by Firedog - 2011-04-20 07:04:08

Hippie

Get more research. Often the electrophysio docs simply are not humble enough to admit they can't do a procedure. Many cardiologists will state AF/Flutter is highly treatable. True. If they are not experienced going into the LEFT atria to the pulmonary vein. They will ablate (burn) the dickens out of your right side atria then put in a pacemaker. With AF/Flutter still there!

Only the best do this today. You also need to set times for your surgeon. If they have not successfully ablated the problem in 45 minutes, get out of your chest. This will be a recommended timeline soon. So be a pace (trend) setter.

A-Fib, A-Flutter and Doctors

by Hippie - 2011-04-27 02:04:54

Thanks for all of the great advice, I just got out of the hospital again for A-Fib.
They had it under control within 2 days this time.
The problem this time is I got very sick while I was in the hospital nausea, dizziness and was given an increase in medication.
They upped the dose of amiodarone to 200mil. and metoporol to 300 mil. per day.
It seems to work for now because I have not been in A-Fib for about 5 days now.
The side effects are really severe, I guess my body will have to adjust to them.

lende

by lendebraceymc1 - 2011-07-20 08:07:37

I just recently got a pacemaker in June, 2011 and had my pacemaker checked on yesterday at the doctor's office. I had may one or two flutters. I thought that no I would not have any more flutters. Can some one help me please. I am taking amiodarone 200 mg once per day.

A-Flutter

by Hippie - 2011-07-21 05:07:36

lende,
I understand your confusion about going into flutter.
Medications are not always the answer, you may go through this for a while until your doctor figures out exactly how much medication it will take to get it under control.
Ablations have not worked for me and medication is not working either.
My doctor increased my amiodarone to 300 mil. per day and I still have a-fib/flutter.
A-Fib is very hard to control.
I would advise you to be patient and keep doing as your doctor suggest.
My pacemaker does a great job, after having it for 2 years I believe it has saved me more than once.
GOOD LUCK

Pacemaker

by Hippie - 2011-07-22 08:07:21

I just wanted you to know that pacemakers are not designed to stop a-fib/flutter.
They are made to control the heart rate so they go above or below what they are set for.
I still have flutter problems, I don't even get upset about them anymore.

lende

by lendebraceymc1 - 2011-07-23 11:07:35

Thanks for your comment. I know that I will have to be patient. I am happy that my a-fib is not like it was. I feel so much better and able to go about my normal routine. Still on blood thiners which I do not like,but will see what happens when I go back to the doctor in August.

shoulder pain

by lendebraceymc1 - 2011-07-29 07:07:52

Is any one having shoulder pain after pacemaker surgery? My left shoulder hurts so bad. It has been exactly a month since surgery.

lende

by lendebraceymc1 - 2011-08-06 03:08:21

I have been having A-Fib, A-Flutter for about two days. I don't have appointment to see doctor until Tuesday. This is very uncomfortable. After having a cardio version last month I was doing fine with the A-Fibs. Will this ever go away. I really can't do much while in A fib.

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