Hello Linda,
I too had perforation of the atrium during one of my 5 ablations. It is an unpleasant experience. And I totally understand how your husband feels about the meds. I found metoprolol difficult to tolerate as well as some others. I had 4 "regular" ablations; one of them resulted in the perforated atrium and the other four were unsuccessful since the doctors couldn't find the origin of the "rogue" electrical signal. My 5th ablation was a PVA (pulmonary vein ablation) and it was terrifically successful! That was 4 1/2 years ago. In my situation the assumption was that when I went into SVT (supra ventricular tachycardia) or a very rapid, regular rate , it triggered atrial fib. I had SVT all my life and developed AF in my early 50's. I'm 65. So I was eager to solve the problem since the AF was really complicating the SVT and the symptoms were becoming too difficult to sustain as well as having emotional repercussions. It was dampening my enthusiasm for sailing into remote areas! Anxiety is a very normal response when this happens! If your husband's doctor feels that ablation is a viable choice I would jump at it. It sounds like mild exercise is triggering your husband's AF. That is what happened to me during a 5 month sailing trip. I finally had to leave the boat by ambulance and that's when I had my successful PVA. There are several drugs that can be tried but it seems that if there is a chance to resolve the problem permanently it might be worth another try. I wish your husband luck and please let me know how it goes.
All the best,
Martishka