@sjm46 ,
Good that the ablation worked for you. I was 79 when Afib presented itself as persistent. I have Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and see a genetic cardiologist in the HCM clinic at the Mayo in Rochester. He said I had to hve been having episodes when I thought I was having palpatations (which never showed on my holter). He referred me to the Heart Rhythm Clinic and the EP I saw gave me all the options and the pros and cons. When I asked what he would recommend, he said he would start with an antiarrhythmic medication. So, I have been taking dofetilide (Tikosyn) for 3 years and worked great for 10 months and then I had occasional breakthroughs that would self convert. When they started to become more frequent, my HCM cardiologist added Jardiance to "fine tune the diastolic dysfunction" caused by the ApHcm. Now I have been afib free for a year. I realize an ablation is the best if done early and think I was headed that way when I was having episodes, but the ApHcm is an additional risk factor as I have a pouch (not quite big enough for aneurysm) on the apex of my left ventricle. So, I am hoping to avoid an ablation, but might happen in the future. Good luck and I hope you remain Afib free.