What downside have you experienced after an ablation?

I had two ablations within a week in 2021. First for Afib and second for ventricular tachycardia. The Vtach happened as they were removing the wires from the first ablation. Dr told hubby that it needed watching. Dr said in all his years he NEVER had that happen. He was going to bring my case up when he had his conference meeting. Thank goodness I was in good hands and at the heart institute in Houston Tx and a great Electrophysist. It’s been said the the first ablation doesn’t always take so when I went home on a Friday by Saturday if was back in what I thought was Afib again. 26 hours later on Sunday ( I’m a procrastinator I’ll admit it was foolish to wait that long) I called the dr and was told to immediately get back to the ER. I was admitted and after 30 hours it was under control. Wed I had the 2nd ablation. I was kept on Xeralto until 2024 and I am now on a low dose aspirin and have had NO episodes of a racing heart. I felt every beat of my irregular heartbeat when I was in Afib with many lasting 14 hours. My mother also had Afib but could not tell when she had an episode. She now has a pacemaker.

I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (Afib) almost eight years ago (at the age of 58). At that time, I was started on several medications (went from taking no medication to taking 6!) including beta blocker, statin, blood thinner, diuretic, receptor blocker, and antiarrhythmic. For six years, my Afib was generally well-controlled—until I finally got COVID. After that, my heart went haywire, and I was in ED three times in three weeks for Afib with heart rates in the range of 160 to 200 beats per minute. I then ended up getting an ablation which went perfectly with no side effects. After three months they took me off the antiarrhythmic but continued all the other medications. Thankfully, since then, I’ve been heart-problem-free for almost 17 months (knocking on wood). Wishing you good health!

Thank you so much. Would love to know who is the EP who did the ablation.

Would love to know the names of the doctors you consulted with. Thanks

My Electrophysist in Houston Tx was Siddharth Mukerji. He is with Memorial Hermann heart institute. On 6400 Fannin St. Houston Tx.

Great!! At one point my cardio switched me from 250 to 500mcg (not sure why) and I immediately had a severe rash on my hands. Looking into it, that's one side effect of too large a dose so I went back to 250mcg. Seems to be the right dosage!

From personal experience, surgeons seldom give general anesthesia especially in older patients. I'm 70 and the past 4 surgeries (over 3 years) have been Propofol.

Are there long term risks with this med?
Do you experience any side affects from it? Assuming you still have to take eloquis or some blood thinner?

New here! Does anyone have any knowledge of any EP’s in Ontario (GTA) doing PFA? Doesn’t seem to be as common here as in the US.
Has anyone who has undergone the ablation had twilight sedation as opposed to general…?

Hi - long term risks are unknown since there's no research [per Mayo EP] and yes, my side effects were intollerable at 500mcg BID [max dose.] But for me, all side effects were dose-related. In addition, max dose provoked a 3x higher risk of Torsades de Pointes [because I'm female] which is potentially life-threatening. I hope that answers your first two questions. Except as needed for a procedure, I'm not a DOAC candidate - per Mayo - see link below