Here is the current situation:

Newest research suggests that there is little to differentiate longevity between those who have paroxysmal or persistent AF and whether they take medication or have an ablation. IOW, the morbidity is about the same across the entire population of AF patients if they are broken up 'randomly' into two groups, one receiving monitoring and drugs, the other getting an ablation.

But...............................................it's the individual patient who matters. Some do well with cardioversions now and then, with DOAC (Daily Oral Anti-Coagulation medicine), and with rhythm and rate control (rivaroxaban/apixaban and metoprolol/bisoprolol/diltiazem respectively), while others do best with the mechanical 'fix' (it isn't a fix, it's just a way of blocking the spurious electrical impulses) in a procedure called ablation. [Sorry, I tend to write complex sentences that may need a re-read...].

Secondly, the patient is the one who is either really bothered by what he/she feels when in arrhythmia, or they are blissfully unaware and don't lose any sleep or feel pressured to deal with the arrhythmia. I was highly symptomatic, so as soon as I read about catheter ablation, I began to push for that form of relief. I finally got the relief, but not until I got a second ablation (my first one failed. F first ablations have a 75% success rate, 85% for a second attempt).

Thirdly, almost all cases of AF are progressive. At first, they are manageable and infrequent. Then, they begin to come more frequently, and they often last longer, even a couple of days. You want to be treated before you enter the 'persistent' phase, and certainly before you are deemed to be 'permanently' in AF. The reason is that the heart begins to 'remodel' its substrate (underlying structure) with chamber thickening and with fibrosis, neither of which is good for the heart. A heart advanced in remodeling is usually headed for heart failure, or what I would wish they'd rather call it 'cardiac insufficiency', because the heart doesn't really 'fail.'

You are strictly in the paroxysmal phase, where your AF comes and goes. That's good. If you ever feel like you're beginning to lose ground to the disorder (that's what it is, an electrically disordered heart), you must get referred to an electrophysiologist as soon as possible and get either improved medication control or get in line for a catheter ablation. You want it dealt with firmly before you become 'persistently' arrhythmic.