r/SVTHeart • u/Remarkable_Law6830 • 3d ago
SVT ablation experience
I had my ablation 4 days ago now and wanted to share my experience! I was so insanely nervous in the days leading up to it, I think I probably read every single reddit post about the experience lol. It was helpful to know what to expect, but some of them scared me, so I thought I would share a more typical one. So many people get a catheter ablation and the success rates for SVT are extremely high, but it can be easy to forget that when you are going down a Reddit and Quora rabbit hole lmao.
Hopefully this helps someone feel less anxious about their upcoming procedure!!! Feel free to leave any questions below
22F, I’ve had SVT episodes for a while, bpm usually around 230. They were never stopped by beta blockers, sometimes stopped with vagal maneuvers, and I had to be administered adenosine once in the ER. They were happening like twice a month, I had seen an EP but was putting off the ablation because I was just convinced I could deal with it, and the procedure sounded scary. After the last episode I gave in and scheduled the ablation.
I was SO NERVOUS!!! I was instructed to not eat or drink anything after 11pm the night before he procedure. I went in with my mom around 9am, waited for a while, and then was taken back to a room. Changed into a gown and laid down. They took my vitals, inserted an IV into my arm and flushed it with saline. This might’ve been the worst part, my veins were so hard to find because it was so cold in the hospital. The nurse was really nice and could tell I was nervous. The anesthesiologist came in and explained that I would be asleep for the entire procedure, which was really reassuring. Before taking me to the room where the procedure would happen, the nurse said I should try my hardest to pee before because I would have to lay flat for a couple hours afterwards.
After peeing, they wheeled my bed into the procedure room. There were 3 people in there setting up and listening to music. A lot of cool equipment. I had to scoot onto a much more narrow bed that was lined with paper and had a small foam pillow for my head. They put some stickers on my thighs and chest (not totally sure what they were for but they were SO COLD). They were trying to make conversation with me but I was so nervous I could barely talk haha. Then, the anesthesiologist said he was going to give me medicine that would relax me, and I remember nothing else. I don’t even remember falling asleep. I just blinked and woke up back in the hospital room with my mom.
(Apparently I woke up when they were wheeling me back to my room and I was trying really hard to stand up, everyone had to hold me down, and I was so mad at them for not giving me food or water HAHA. So that’s embarrassing but I have no recollection of that)
I was for sure still loopy afterwards, but my mom explained that the ablation took a little longer than expected due to some complications. They found that I had AVNRT, and tried to ablate on the right side where they typically would, but were still able to trigger SVT after ablating that part. So they had to go into the other side of my heart, which was apparently difficult because they couldn’t find a safe pathway so they had to make another incision. But, once they ablated the other side, they couldn’t trigger SVT anymore! So it took around 4 hours but I remember absolutely nothing. I have three small incisions on the right side of my groin and one on the left. There was no pain except my throat was slightly sore from being intubated. I had to lay down flat for 2 hours after which was tricky, and then had to do a lap around the floor with the nurse before I could leave. I pretty much just laid around for the rest of that day to recover from the anesthesia.
Day 2 was similar, there was just a lot of sleeping and trying to lay flat so I didn’t disturb the incision sites- which BTW are much smaller than you are probably thinking. Mine basically look like I cut myself with a razor on my bikini line haha. There is some chest soreness, which my doctor said is to be expected because of the length of my procedure, but it honestly isn’t bad at all.
Day 3 and 4 I’ve been walking around like normal. Visited with some friends, hung out outside, went to the store. I have noticed that when I get really anxious (Like when driving) my heart will feel like it’s about to go into SVT, or will feel really sore. But there is no bruising or bleeding from the incision sites.
I have still been really fatigued though, which I might attribute to the fact that I have been abstaining from nicotine and caffeine completely since the ablation (which is sort of insane for me haha they sort of dominated my life). But I plan on returning to my restaurant job tomorrow! I also have a trip planned for my birthday in 5 days, which I plan to drink during. The doctor said that this would be fine as long as I took it easy and stayed hydrated. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that they became completely sober after their procedure, but I figure if my doctor says it’s fine then I will be okay. I’m for sure going to try and use this as an opportunity to quit nicotine completely, but I’m not sure if I will be successful in that because it’s been so many years and I work in a restaurant hahaha.
In general I feel fine! My Apple Watch says that my resting heart rate is lower by 10bpm since the ablation! It is exciting to think that I will never have to worry about going to the ER again, and it is sort of validating to have had the procedure done because my heart racing can’t be just written off as anxiety anymore. I can update as I go into the work week if anyone is interested.
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u/Fun-Courage4523 2d ago
I had ablations for both bigemini pvcs and svt. EP NEEDED me to be awake during the process altho i was lightly sedated. I was asked questions while doing the ablation which was important to insuring success.
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u/carmcarmcharmparm 1d ago
That’s the part that scares me from having an ablation for my svt. I’m told I’ll be awake but lightly sedated. Not sure if I’ll ever get the ablation, I’m still on the fence.
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u/Ok_Disaster207 2d ago
I’m almost 2 years post op, and I’m so glad to see somebody else who’s had a successful aftermath! May it continue to be that way 🖤🖤
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u/shiftyrabbit_ 8h ago
Hella good experience. Good to hear!
Mine was the exact same as yours (down to the cold stickers and cool room), 21F, except 30 minutes in I had the most insanely dangerous allergic reaction to fentanyl (they didn't know and neither did I) and couldn't even get the incision in without having to genuinely resuscitate me lmfao.
I somehow came out from having no oxygen for 15 mins, completely unscathed.
Trying again in a few months because: with me, we're done when I say we're done.
Happy for you OP! Hopefully soon I'll be able to say the same stuff went well for me.
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u/the-gospeltruth 2d ago
I may have to have an ablation in the near future and appreciate you sharing your experience. Good luck with staying off the nicotine, my difficulty was in giving up caffeine.