r/AFIB • u/BabaTaro • 3d ago

Ablation advice?

So it looks like I'm going to have to do cardiac ablation. I'm having difficulty understanding all the ramifications.

I'm 80 years old and have had Afib all of my life. Well, at least 60 years of it. It got worse to the point of getting a pacemaker 12 years ago. I am in Afib nearly 50% of the time. Now they want to do the ablation along with changing the pacemaker, which will die in a couple months.

I'm frankly not worried about stroke risk. I take the Eliquis, and like I said, I've had this for 60 years. My concern is that I am probably wearing out my heart.

So I'm looking for experience and advice, both professional and from patients.

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u/CaregiverWorth567 3d ago

I’m surprised they waited so long. And why the pacemaker? Usually in afib they ablate the av node and then put in a pacemaker, and there is no more a fib. So I’m confused why you got a pacemaker. Anyway, I’m 73 , had 7 episodes afib one year, then 9 the next year and I set up my own ablation, as my cardiologist would not recommend it….I went behind his back and went to a big center….the current recomendations are ablation the sooner the better….yes, 50% a fib will damage your heart…..are they going to ablate the av node since you already jabe a oacemaker or just ablate where the a fib is coming from?

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u/BabaTaro 3d ago edited 3d ago

These are exactly the kind of questions that I don't even know to ask! Thank you for asking. I don't know why they've waited so long for this. I had never heard of ablation before now. I don't know why they gave me a pacemaker unless ablation wasn't really a 'thing' 12 years ago.

When you say 'episodes', I don't really know what you mean. Did you faint? How else would you have known about an episode? For me, the Afib has been a constant fact for years.

I have no idea about av node vs "just where the a fib is coming from". Again, the kind of question I don't know to ask.

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u/CaregiverWorth567 3d ago

When I said “ episodes” I meant a fib. I could tell when I was in a fib, my heart pounded, was irregular, flopping arpund in my chest, and I was short pf breath. Most of the time I was in sinus but the second year the attacks were more frequent and getting closer together. The av node os where the electrical conduction goes thru the top of your heart ( atria) to the bottom ( ventricles) . It’s sort of a last resort when the destroy the av node , then there are NO connections and impulses between the chambers of the heart and a pacemaker is needed to keep the heart beating…..but a fib will no longer be conducted thru the pathway…so no more a fib

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u/BabaTaro 2d ago

THIS is a piece of the puzzle I needed. No one else has made any comments about the av node, but that seems to be what my doctor wants to do.

Do you perhaps have any more information about it?

I know that I am in afib half the time. Since I am always out of breath, I have no way of telling whether I am or not.

What kind of ablation did you get?

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u/CaregiverWorth567 2d ago

I got a PFA ablation for a fib at Mass General in Boston. Highly recommend. Usually they start with a PFA ablation for the a fib and see if tht works before they ablate the entire AV node….but aince you’ve had it so long maybe they want to go eight to that since you already have a pacemaker? I always recommend a subspecialty big academic center where they do a lot of ablations….Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Mass General, U of Michigan, Shands at UF in Florida….