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Ablation for Afib

Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Aug 10 2:21pm | Replies (128)

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Profile picture for Zebra @californiazebra

Thank you for your reply. I know it seems silly to those of you who moved right to treatment but fear has kept me from taking action. I have a long medical history and have had some complication or mishap with every procedure I’ve ever had and some really severe and rare adverse reactions to so many meds that I don’t feel any choice is safe for me. I’m afraid of the DOACs and have a rare hereditary neuropathy that makes my nerves damage easily so the ablation worries me too. It has felt like a damned if I do and damned if I don’t situation. But my last afib episode was 60 hours instead of the usual 30 so I feel that’s too much time for a large clot to form. It also just wipes me out. I’m afraid it’s time to have to take that treatment risk. I also held off on treatment because I thought the cancer would get me first but that battle has been going better than expected and I’m still here so…

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Replies to "Thank you for your reply. I know it seems silly to those of you who moved..."

I sincerely feel for you. My wife is a 'basket case' who defies all study and who suffers greatly each day. She takes at least ten medicines routinely each day and is still beset with arthritis, irritable bowel, GERD, abdominal cramps, and a great deal of anxiety both from these intractable disorders and due to childhood trauma. I can only imagine what it is like to face uncertainty, dread, and the strong desire for self-preservation at the same time, and always in conflict with the day's realities. Fortunately, and if I could encourage you to try one ablation, we're only dealing with an electrical pathway that shouldn't be there. The ablation blocks that signal from entering the left atrium and causing that vessel to contract. From then on, only the SA node does that job...which is what nature intended in the first place. If the ablation is successful, you can forget that problem, perhaps for the rest of your life. As it is, though, the risk of stroke is about 6 times what it would otherwise be whenever you enter AF. It can be for a single hour or for days, the stroke can still happen due to poorly circulating blood in the left atrial appendage.
Lastly, I wouldn't dream of assigning 'silly' to anything about you. Your life is a constant struggle, and you're trying to find the safest and least 'costly' way through it. I applaud you for sticking to it, despite the effort and duress you have had to endure.