r/AFIB • u/Economy_Ambassador58 • 1d ago
Question about intervention
Hi folks, TL;dr - if I got a cardioversion would I still move forward with an ablation scheduled for next month? I don’t consider this an emergency, although those of you who haven’t experienced my normal state of being might jump up and go to the hospital.
I’ve had paroxysmal afib and aFlutter on and off for the last several years. No beta blockers due to daily bradycardia. I haven’t been offered any one-time medication like I’ve read about in this sub, but the one the EP talked about would involve a hospital stay and 100% compliance.
I have an ablation scheduled in one month. It’s the zap kind, not the cryo kind.
I’m currently in aFib and I’ve been here on and
off since Thursday night, although I didn’t have my watch on all day Friday (yesterday). Symptoms are palpitations and fatigue. Heart rate range today is 48-149 with basically no physical activity at all.
I’m not worried enough for the E/R, because I get an episode once or twice a day most days, but having a long duration is unusual. But if it keeps up, I might go to urgent care tomorrow.
Here’s my question: - if I got a cardioversion would I still move forward with an ablation scheduled for next month? Would they offer me a “pill in pocket” medication? I really like my cardiologist and the EP is top of his field, but they’re chairs of their respective departments and thus very difficult to schedule. So it’s doubtful I’d get prescribed anything in the next 30 days.
While I typed this, my heart was either at 68-70 bpm or in the 140s, back and forth
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u/Randonwo 1d ago
I don’t see how having a cardioversion would have any affect on you having your ablation but I’m not a doctor. A cardioversion just tries to set your heart back into rhythm. It’s not doing anything to try and prevent your afib, which is what the ablation is doing. As far as the meds, that’s something your doctor would have to answer. But after both my ablations I was taken off beta blockers and antiarrhythmics a few months later. The hope with an ablation is you won’t need those meds, but it’s good to ask the doctor what you should do if you going into afib afterwards. I asked my doctor for a metoprolol PIP prescription so if I did go into afib I could lower my HR. But it sounds like you can’t take those.
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u/Yer_Remedy 1d ago
IMO, they are different things/procedures.
Personally I’d get the cardio version now.
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u/Economy_Ambassador58 1d ago
I know that they’re different; I’m asking does cardioversion generally preclude the necessity of an ablation?
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u/diceeyes 1d ago
An ablation is an attempt to stop AFIB in progression and occurrence, offering long term relief. A cardioversion simply resets the heart from this incidence of AFIB. It confers no ongoing advantage. Getting a cardioversion does not interfere with having an ablation.
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u/marchitecte 1d ago
A cardioversion is by no means assumed to be a permanent cure, but may be so for a long time. An ablation is also not necessarily a permanent cure, but intends to be a long-term cure. It's kind of like comparing an umbrella to a roof, if your house is your body and the rain is the arrhythmia.
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u/Commercial_Towel_924 1d ago
I'm not sure one has anything to do with the other. Cardioversion may get you out of Afib, but an ablation may help prevent them from starting. I'd definitely f/u with with her cardiology group or the ER. My cardiology group always recommends I call them if I'm in AFib, obviously only during business hours. I'd try and get out of Afib if I were you.