A-Fib, need adivce for our Lorraine.

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Hey Steve! Thanks for for your help big brother. :) Yes I did like how my EP explained everything. It made me feel comfortable, but once I did more research and read about ablation with mechanical valves is not recommended, then I got scared. Now the article I read was a couple of years old and we know technolgy is moving faster and faster, but from my understanding to ablate the electrical impulse he will have to go through my valves to get there. My valves are small, which would make it more of a challenge I would think. Again I plan to call the EP tomorrow and ask if he has done an ablation on patients with valves. It also would help if I could converse either online or on the phone with anyone who has a mechanical valve and has had this done. Yep I am doing my homework! I'll keep everyone posted!

Janie! How the heck are you? As you can see I'm causing trouble again! ;) No my EP did not mention magnesium. Does that help raise your heart rate? My episodes of Atrial Flutter have not been all that often, though now they seem to have graduated to a month apart. The problem is when I convert back down from the Atrial Flutter my heart has paused and made me light headed. That is more of the reason why they want to do the ablation. When Gina first posted for me, was when I first found out what I had was Atrial Flutter and learned what an EP was. I had never heard of one before. If the magnesium help with Atrial Flutter it is certainly worth trying. I will go buy some. I don't think it will hurt. Thanks a lot GF! I'll keep everyone informed. Thanks for your help my friend.
 
Oops! Rob I forgot to address what you said, my friend! That is a very good point. I knew when I mention it in my post to Steve I had read that from you earlier! lol! Yes I am still researching and looking for answers. I do think my EP knows what he's talking about, but the real questions is he experienced? with someone with artificial valves. We will know tomorrow. I"ll ask about the freezing technique. Thank for bringing that up.
 
Hi All,

After reading everyone's responses and researching online, I have decided to have the Atrial Flutter Ablation done. In fact it is going to be done this Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 8am. I have to be there at 6am on Wed. I gave it a lot of thought, and if it works, great. Maybe I won't end up needing a pacemaker down the road, then. If it doesn't work, at least I tried. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, because I am. I have my faith and trust in God and also the EP though. I appreciate everyone's help. I will post when I get a chance after it is over and I am able toget to a computer. It will be either later that night or on Thursday.
 
OK, Little Sister. We'll be here waiting patiently to hear, and I pray that all goes well for you. The pacemaker isn't a big deal, but it is another piece of hardware to carry around with us. If you do end up going the pacemaker route, we should talk (offline if you prefer), as I now have a full year's experience with mine.

Somehow, I think you'll be fine. You're just that sort of a fighter.
 
Thanks LucyLou and Steve. I don't think he's in going tp put in a pacemaker tomorrow but you never know what might happen. I appreciate everyone's who has helped me make this decision. I'll will be in touch on Thursday when I get back home.
 
Lorraine
My thoughts and prayers are going out to you now and will continiue through post op. Your courage is inspiring.

Please keep us posted.
 
Good Luck!

Good Luck!

Keep us posted. I'm following your post as I have been dealing with valve surgery induced afib. I'm taking 3 meds to control the afib/aflutter and they work really well, but I don't want to take all those extra meds the rest of my life. We are gradually stopping them to see if the afib comes back. If it does, an ablation is in order.
 
I've had 3 episodes of A-Fib in the last 12 months. The first one was for 4 days and they were 15 minutes away from shocking me before I converted. I'm pregnant now so I can't be on many anti-arrhythmic drugs, but they are waiting until I deliver and then will use them if necessary. Of course ablation should be discussed, but medications should be tried first. I'm surprised they jumped straight to ablation. I agree with the PP who suggested she ask for a referral to another Electrophysiologist. My EP doctor tens to go with the idea that unless you're highly symptomatic (15 times in 2 years might count) he likes to leave people alone. Meds are always the first option with him. I'm "lucky" in that they believe ablation won't work for me so it's not an option but she should find someone who will discuss meds first - I'm guessing that would be most EPs.
 
Hi Everyone, I'm back. I finally got back home a couple of hours ago. The procedure went well. They were able to recreate the Atrial Flutter and do the ablation. Unfortunately when they went back in to recreate it again, I went into Afib, but immediately went into normal sinus rhythm. The EP did get rid of the Atrial Flutter, but only time will tell if the AFib was an only one time shot, or will I now have Afib? I go back to see him in 4 weeks. Of course I am to watch for any palpitations and also watch to see if I get any more light headedness. When I go see him he is going to have me wear a monitor for a month, to see if I have anymore arrythmias. He did say it was possible down the road I may still need a pacemaker if my normal heart rate doesn't come up some. My normal heart rate is 44-46 right now. And no, I am not real physical. I am on a beta blocker though and I do know that does lower your heart rate, but I guess this is just a tad lower than most people on beta blockers. To me the whole procedure was amazing. The skill, the precision! Wow!

To answer Chicagomammy: I did discuss using meds to control the Atrial Flutter with my EP. As he said, I am already on a betablocker and I already take coumadin. The fact I have the low heart rate is what convinced him and my cardio that I really needed to have the ablation done. If this works, that will be great. If not, like I said I will probably end up with a pacemaker. Not the end of the world, but if I don't have to get one, that would suit me just fine. Thanks for your input though.

I will keep everyone informed of what happens. Thanks for your help everyone.
 
Lorraine - So far, so good! You behave now, and stay in normal sinus rhythm, you hear?

I would keep an eye on that low heart rate. That, by itself, could cause light-headedness, if your blood supply is not sufficient at that heart rate. It may be worth a talk with your docs about possibly reducing your beta blocker dosage to see how things go - unless they have a medical reason not to try it.

I'm glad you're home and in good spirits. That's half the battle. I'll be watching for updates.
 
Steve, what? Me behave? lol! I do plan to try in normal sinus rhythm. Certainly don't want to have my heart hetting erratic on me again! :)

Oh believe me, I am watching the heart rate. As far as lowering the beta blocker, we did lower the dose from 50mg to 25mg. We lowered it to 25mg the end of January. It went from the low 40's to the mid upper 40's for my resting heart rate. Sometimes it's in the 50's and 60's though. The other day when I went to see my GP it was 72. So it can go higher. That was my cardio and EP's concern, that I was still genearlly only in the 40's. I can ask my cardio again, but my EP didn't seem to want to lower my dose more. I told him I could get 25mg pills and cut them in half. i know a lot of people only take 12&1/2mg. He didn't seem to want me to do that. So lets see what happens in the next 4 weeks. I'm hoping my heart rate goes up some and I don't get light headed anymore.

Steve, as far as I'm concerned, the fact I made it through the procedure put me in good spirits. I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks!
 
Yikes, Lorraine! Your heart rate sounds like mine, pre-surgery. My resting heart rate was in the high 40's or low 50's. There were times when I was standing still on the treadmill, getting ready to start my jog, and I watched my heart rate go down. . . from the 60's to the 50's to the 40's. . . and I would think "I'd better get moving fast or this thing may just stop!" We suspect that I may have had a tendency toward bradycardia, which after surgery became heart block, requiring the pacemaker.

As of my last pacer interrogation, I was no longer 100% dependent upon the pacer. At the next interrogation I'll find out what the current percentage is. Doc says I'll never get to lose the pacer, but it would be better to have it as a safety net, rather than being dependent on it.
 
Low INR levels

Low INR levels

I am 4 months away from my open Heart Surgery and the recovery is good though, but I keep on having low INR values and am afraid this can lead to issues.
 
Hi Steve,

Yuppers! My EP said I seem to have had a tendency toward bradycardia too. On a good note though, at least to me, I have taken my heart rate the last few days, and now my resting heart rate seems to be in the uppers 50's. So maybe this procedure is helping. Again only time will tell, as my heart heals from the zapping and remodels itself yet again. I'll keep everyone posted of course.

Zaumul, I am not a doctor, but it sounds more like your INR is not being monitored and regulated correctly. Yes, of course if your INR is low, you could possibly throw a clot. The low INR is your clotting factor, that your coumadin clinic should be monitoring and regulating. I myself have not heard of any correlation between having consistently low INR, values and a low heart rate/Afib. Does anyone else have any feedback on this?
 
Hey Cort,

Thank you. Now you know I could never just behave! What fun would that be? I'm doing okay so far. Gotta say though, I do feel like someone zapped me! :) You, Steve, GIna and I need to get together again. It's been a while.
 
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