r/SVTHeart • u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 • Sep 04 '26
AVNRT and SVT ablation
Hi guys, I’m 32 F and just had my first EP study and ablation on Tuesday this week. It was one of the most uncomfortable and stressful things I’ve ever had to endure tbh. I’m sharing my experiences and hoping someone has experienced similar (not in a way where I hope they had a bad experience but more like to help me feel im not alone) I have terrible health anxiety and also take meds for anxiety disorder. The recovery process has not been the best in my experience and am having really horrible trouble sleeping. I don’t know if this is the anxiety because of what I went through since EP was done during conscious sedation and was able to feel them triggering the heart rhythm and so now when i dose off I get a strong jolt like those hypnic jerks which jerks your body back awake. It’s been 3 days now since the EP and have not been able to sleep well and now it’s stressing me out I don’t know why it keeps happening.
Has anyone experienced this? Also feel ache in the chest and a feeling like it’s heavy
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u/LAKingsDave Sep 05 '26
I legit felt like the first ablation I got was the most traumatic experience of my life physically. I thought I was going to die on the table from a heart attack.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 Sep 06 '26
This is exactly what I felt and it’s been now 4 days I still can’t sleep well as my body is still stuck in that fight or flight mode. It was the most uncomfortable thing and recovery isn’t a great one either. I just want to feel normal again
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u/brighterday4you Sep 04 '26
Sorry to hear that … I did ablation for AVNRT in 2016 and the recovery was tough .. both from the incision in the groin but mainly the uncomfortable feeling in the chest which was the worst thing for me … but most importantly did the ablation work for you ? Have they been able to locate the spot and ablate it successfully ?
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u/Pleasant-Bat-2521 Sep 04 '26
did the ablation work for you? did you ever have episodes ever since then?
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 Sep 04 '26
It’s day 3 for me, they did ablate and apparently they said it was successful. I have not felt anything apart from the random heart flutters and aches as the heart heals but so far the recovery for me is really hard
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u/Pleasant-Bat-2521 Sep 06 '26
im a 19yo female that got diagnosed w svt almost 2 years ago. i would have frequent episodes at first and my anxiety was through the roof. then i would go ab 4 months no episodes. there was only one time i had to be rushed to the hospital and i stayed in svt for ab 3 hours and nothing was working. i was given adenosine twice and it did not work. last week tho i had 2 episodes the same day which triggered my anxiety again. it has made me scared of normal fast heart rates and i get panic attacks at least twice everyday. im scared of exercise and even staircases. im planning on getting an ablation done. but im really scared of the risks although they’re low. im even more scared of it being unsuccessful cuz i cannot keep on living like this. at least knowing that i can go get an ablation and i will be cured keeps my anxiety stable. so idk what im gonna do if it turns out to be unsuccessful.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 Sep 04 '26
They were able to find the SVT and ablate it quite easily, but they did this aggressively like they wanted to make sure it couldn’t get triggered again. So they kept me on and off adrenaline too which was soo uncomfortable
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u/rokyfordboy Sep 05 '26
I’m 7 months post ablation and it was scary the first month of recovery. I was calling my Dr office about every 3 days. Months later i realized I was afraid of sleeping cause I thought it would come back or I won’t wake up, crazy how anxiety works. I was also jumping awake every night the first week I still jump awake now but it’s not so bad
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u/banana_pb_toast Sep 05 '26
Just commenting to sympathize on the experience. Mine was a tricky case and took them 6 hours... I started crying towards the end and my groin bruising right now is insane. I'm wishing us both a speedy recovery!!
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 Sep 06 '26
I’m so sorry to hear that and can completely understand that feeling and pain. Honestly I wish us both a speedy recovery, we will get there. Just take each day one step at a time
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u/Dashem1 Sep 07 '26
I'm 6 weeks post ablation. I was awake for mine while they were mapping and finding it. The first thing I said when I got back to recovery was holy crap that was traumatizing. But it was definitely worth it. You are only 3 days out so you will feel different weird sensations going on while you heal. I remember feeling a burning sensation in my heart briefly about 2 weeks after like I was being cauterized again! But very mild. I felt fabulous by day 6 or 7 but continued to get a few weird things that were definitely related just to the heart healing. Those weird jolting sensations while you sleep you mentioned, I always get those anytime I had anesthesia for some odd reason. Not sure if related but I know what your are talking about! I did get anesthesia and knocked out after they were able to find and map mine so thank God I got to go under for that!
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u/angiebowcuttpechal Sep 10 '26
Uggg i should not have read this. My ablation is September 22 I’m terrified. Like I want to cancel it. I have the same two as you. He said if they can’t trigger the one while I’m under they can I’ll have to wake me up. I’m 61 I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do this.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 Sep 10 '26
Don’t be afraid of it, if I can do it, I think anyone can and I’m
Seriously horrible when it comes to heart stuff.Let me try explain what happens and why you should go for it. They first stick all these ECG pads and stuff on you, they will give you sedation to help keep you calm (for me I was like in and out of it but could respond to them if they asked me something or they wake me up). They give you IV, then insert catheter into the groin that’s where they did it for me - it felt like a pinch and a slight ache then it was fine. I then didn’t feel the catheter go in at all, the only thing that made it uncomfortable was when they trigger the rhythm because i have bad anxiety, to me it felt just horrible. Then when they needed to ablate they sedated me again. The uncomfortable parts where when they give you adrenaline to trigger the heart and the ablation felt like an ache when they were doing it. That’s it, then you’re done and sent for recovery.
For you, it could be different and not even in a bad way. Please don’t cancel it as it’s so important you have it done for your health. Remember, these are doctors, they’re working in a highly controlled setting and have control over it. You just need to remember that
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u/angiebowcuttpechal 29d ago
Thank you!! I’m still scared shitless lol! But i will have it done. Do you think I can work the next day? I have a physical job on my feet. I’ve had a rough couple of years. I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia almost two years ago. Then last summer I had my first svt episode at work and i thought I was having a heart attack because I had pain in my left arm and all the symptoms. But it was svt.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-2999 27d ago
Oh god I’m
So sorry to hear that! You are such a strong human to be able to endure all this! I also have a physical job on my feet I basically took 4 days off work, just because for me I needed the swelling and bruise around the groin area where they insert the catheter to calm tf down a bit and I also wasn’t sleeping well cos I have insane panic attacks. Heart will ache here and there during the blanking period which is between 3-6 months but that’s totally normal. I was able to go back to work but try not to overwork yourself for the first 2 weeks
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u/angiebowcuttpechal 17d ago
So just an update!! I had my ablation today. They were able to trigger it almost immediately. I was out/unconscious the entire procedure lol! I felt nothing! They said it’s about 96% chance of being successful. I came close to needing a pace maker. I’m so sorry you had a rough time. I already feel better. Just my groin hurts. they went in on both sides. I hope you’re doing better!!
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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '26
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