SVT Ablation Progress Report

Hi all, there's so much difficult medical discussion on this forum that I want to add a happy note to this Friday.

I am 73 years old, female, always been very active. In November 2025 my long-term, previously well-controlled SVT exploded into once a month ER visits for adenosine to reset my 180-200+ beats per minute pounding heart. My excellent cardiologist of many many years jumped right on it, tried increasing my meds (metoprolol) first, but that failed spectacularly.

She and I had discussed ablation right from the first outbreak. After the 2nd ER visit, she immediately referred me to her preferred electrophysiologist. (I am fortunate to live near Hartford, CT, a medical mecca right in between NY and Boston.) My scheduled appointment was delayed by our big blizzard in February, so when I finally got there in March, I had 2 more ER visits with full ekg's for him. He took one look at the fistful of ekg's and got me in for ablation in 13 days!

The whole ablation procedure was so uneventful from a patient perspective (highest praise I could possibly give.) I am now a month out from the procedure. Recovery was pretty straightforward, mostly listening to my body about resting and not overdoing activities too quickly. A few days of rough heartburn, but it subsided quickly enough with otc meds.

One thing I don't hear much about is the huge relief that I felt immediately because I did something major to help my condition. I didn't quite realize how thoroughly stressed out and anxious I had been feeling. (My friends and family quickly agreed that I had been so noticeably stressed 😉.) Even with a 3-month "blanking" period ahead, I was able to think that any further incidents would be information for my dr to act on rather than the life-altering events they had become.

My 4-week checkup was earlier this week. My first and last post-op checkup, as it going so well that the EP discharged me back to my regular cardiologist. And, the cherry on the top, cut my 50 mg/day metoprolol back to 25 mg.

Not a peep of svt since the ablation. A few flutters here and there, but I've always had flutters and as long as it's just one or 2 once in a while, no worries for me.

That 50 mg metoprolol dose slows me down SO MUCH. My energy and exhaustion levels are already starting to recover! I'm optimistic that I will be able to drop that last 25 mg of metoprolol and get back to my former active self.

I understand how much more difficult afib and its complications is, but there are great ED'S out there just waiting to help. And there is so much excellent advice on this forum too.