A V NODE ABLATION

AM INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM ANYONE WHO HAS HAD A PACEMAKER IMPLANT AND A V NODE ABLATION TO CONTROL ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

6 Comments

That's me

by aldeer - 2008-02-26 06:02:14

I had my AV node ablation and pacemaker implant the end of Aug. 2007. I was told that I would always be in Atrial Fib but I just would not feel it. That leaves me in a high risk for stroke and must stay on Coumadin for the rest of my life. I must say that I hate being on that drug for it is very difficult to control, but when all your doctors say you must be on it, it leaves very little room to argue! I have had Afib for about ten years and tried many different drugs to control the rythrym, tried atrial ablation & it failed and because of a severely enlarged atria the av node ablation was the only way to go. aldeer


That's me

by aldeer - 2008-02-26 06:02:21

I had my AV node ablation and pacemaker implant the end of Aug. 2007. I was told that I would always be in Atrial Fib but I just would not feel it. That leaves me in a high risk for stroke and must stay on Coumadin for the rest of my life. I must say that I hate being on that drug for it is very difficult to control, but when all your doctors say you must be on it, it leaves very little room to argue! I have had Afib for about ten years and tried many different drugs to control the rythrym, tried atrial ablation & it failed and because of a severely enlarged atria the av node ablation was the only way to go. aldeer


AV Node

by mike thurston - 2008-02-26 07:02:24

Bert,
I had my AV Node ablated and a ICD/Pacemaker implanted on May 15th of 2007. Scary stuff and I often struggle with it - but there seemed to be no other choice left. I am doing pretty well although I wish I could have beaten the A-Fib. As is I have lived to meet a beautiful new Grand Daughter and just got back from rock climbing in Mexico. Hard, hard choices that only each individual can make. Best of luck - let me know if you want more specific info.

Mike

AV Node

by JohnS - 2008-02-26 08:02:37

The stoies above sound just like me. I demanded a pacemaker from my doctor as the drugs were not controlling my Afib and the side effects were horrible. To my suprise he did not argue, and just said yes.
I had my pacer implanted, then the node ablation 8 weeks later and have not looked back since. The only drug I take now is asprin as a blood thinner.
I feel 100 % better.
Good luck, and pm me if you want more info.
John S

av node

by Susan - 2008-02-27 10:02:19

I had a av node and I got a pacemaker several years ago. At that time I had been tried on several different meds and none of them worked. Alternatives to pacemakers were few with just the Maze surgery being discussed so I went with my dr's recommendation for the Maze was not available locally and my dr did not support the idea of it. Initially after the procedure I did feel better but then over time the afib gradually returned. I was less symtomatic but the pacemaker interrogations always showed what really was going on. After a couple of more years and a gradual increase in the amount of time I was in afib I decided to explore other options for I did not feel it was good for my atria to be beating at such high rates (>300) though I was mostly asymtomatic. There was more info about PVI's and the Maze. I sought the best for PVI's for what I read said that success was correlated with drs that were very experienced. This meant considerable travel but I did it. And I needed two ablations which, if you read other sources, is not at all uncommon. I am now free of afib and aflutter and I am off Coumadin. The technology is rapidlly chaning in the treatment of afib. Today there are more options available however with all options there is not the long term research on effectiveness.
My recommendation would be to explore all options and consider a second opinion. I know I had to be a bit pushy to say I wanted an ablation but I have no regrets and my local cardiologist thinks it was a good decision thought he was skeptical at the time.
SusanD

AV NODE ABLATION

by William R. - 2013-06-06 02:06:22

I am 78 years have had A-Fiub for approx 6 years had a cardiac arrest in Jan 2008 and a ICD implant 6 weeks later. Then got went into Afib in spring of 2008, tried ablation in 2009 felt great for a white then had cardio version in 2010 went back into A-Fib Dec 2012.. The A fib drugs made my thyroid hypertoxic so could not take those anymore. On May 7th/13, had a new ICDE Boston scientific 3 leads implanted. Two days ago I had an av node ablation After the ablation they pace me at 60 bpm so no escape rythmn but two leads into the heart. Ido have other heart problems but at the moment am just exhausted . Now the procedure went well, no problems but it may take you a while to recover and your energy may return slowly. There was no option left for me but the scurity of the two leeds and the checkups should give you some security. It is not a bad proceedure the docs who do this well.. this is alll they do so you can expect reasonable results. Good Luck

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I, too, am feeling tons better since my implant.