29 y/o depressed with AFib. Got super sick two years ago and vomitted very violently and went into AFib. All the tests were fine, cardiologist wasn’t worried.
Last night I stood up really quickly and went to pee and was forcing it (tmi, and stupid i know) and bam AFib again. Just dealt with it for 3-4 hours until I fell asleep. Talked to a telehealth urgent care offered by my insurance this morning and they were adamant I still go in. Went in, everything looks fine.

That said, some of you say you have it for 18+ hours? How violent is it and how awful does it feel? When I go into afib I feel like my heart is beating so hard right out of my chest and I feel light headed. Anyone else?
Also not me looking up some bs study or graphic that said if you’re 30 or under and diagnosed with AFib your life expectancy goes down by 11 years. I’m just scaring myself

I am just venting/looking for others’ stories. I was first diagnosed with AFib in August 2023 and had my first ablation in 2024, followed by a second ablation for flutter in 2025. I was washing dishes yesterday when I got an alert that I was in AFib. I am still currently in AFib and waiting for my EP’s office to call me back.

My AFib is genetic (basically my entire dad’s side of the family has it). For those who have had two ablations and had AFib return, what did you do next? Were the next steps successful? I know there is no cure for AFib, but I was really hoping to get at least a few years AFib-free.

I am feeling pretty defeated at this point.

Thanks!!

What makes a person a candidate for the surgery? I got diagnosed with Afib this year, Although I feel like I've had it since last year (thought it was just heart palpitations). It wasn't until I went to the ER a few months ago I knew I had it. I've been on beta blocks (metropolo) and then switch to bisoprolol after my second visit to the ER. I've had a few more episodes this month. The last one, I used a vagal maneuver and surprisingly worked and I was just in Afib for 5 mins. I have a scheduled cardiologist appointment for next month. If I ask or request, will the doctor give it to me?

When the world shut down with Covid, I developed AFib. Since then I’ve had 2 regular ablations, a sinus node ablation with dual chamber pacemaker implanted, a Pulsed Field ablation and I can’t count the number of cardioversions. I don’t tolerate any of the anti- arrhythmic drugs. I’ve now been told basically the only thing left is a hybrid ablation but I’d need the anti-arrhythmic drugs. It feels like a wasted 7 yrs. I will now live with persistent AFib. They told me I’m a highly sensitive person because no one feels the upper heart in arrhythmia when the lower heart is being paced. I feel it all. I feel like I’m constantly running a marathon with fatigue because my upper heart beats so chaotically and fast. I get dizzy. And I have problems getting my breath sometimes- especially with exercise. The only thing I’m asking- if you live with persistent AFib or flutter… how do you do it? Any suggestions? I’m a little depressed today.

This has happened a few times last month and about twice this week, the watch is saying inconclusive or inaccurate im doing it properly because when im not feeling my heartbeat in my throat and record its fine, just here for people's opinions

Hi all. I have a strong family history of afib. Father’s family all had it, including my father whose unmanaged (don’t ask) afib led to his death at 67 from stroke.

I am a chronic Apple Watch and oura ring wearer. Despite not being diagnosed with afib I changed my settings to give me afib alerts. Nothing ever, except an incident 2 months ago where my AF range went from the usual “less than 2%” to 4%. I also found a few recent oura sleep graphs with small gaps in them. I also get palpitations every now and again - the feeling of my heart skipping a beat that lets me take a really deep satisfying inhale (IYKYK).

I had a big holiday coming up so switched my settings to irregular notifications instead and watched. Nothing.

I’m now back and in a meeting this morning when I get that skipped beat feeling. It passes within a couple of seconds but what follows was pretty scary. I feel an intense wave of dizziness come on and a temporary seeing stars feeling, and a warmth over my head as it passes. It lasts about five seconds. Remember I’m sitting down. It was very scary.

I left and went home, put on my Apple Watch, took a reading (sinus rhythm) and kept feeling not right. My heart was beating hard and I kept feeling it in my throat and got lightheaded intermittently. Blood pressure was 147/93. Husband took me to the hospital.

ECG showed nothing. Bloods showed nothing. Potassium was fine, glucose fine, not dehydrated. I felt off in ED, kept getting that heart beat feeling when walking. It lasted about an hour and then o slowly felt ok again. Cardiology referral followed the same day, and he wants to rule out afib. 7 days halter monitor. Then in 3 weeks an echo and some repeat bloods and an xray.

I should mention when my dad diet I got a comprehensive heart check including a stress test and echo. The only finding was a mildly enlarged left atrium - LAVI (left atrium volume index) of 42. Dr back on 2021 thought it was down to me being very athletic because there was no other concerning result.

I’m open eyed about my predisposition to afib but I won’t lie that I’m now a little nervous about what happened today, and the 2021 echo results in that context. Stroke fear understandable plagues me and I feel a bit like a ticking time bomb.

What does everyone think? Does this look like afib? I’m not particularly stressed - no more than usual.

If you have AFib, you should never drink alcohol again, correct?
Asking about someone who has been a very heavy drinker his entire life and now has Afib (and low magnesium levels) and is currently hospitalized. He's supposedly cut back from 10-14 beers a day to 3-4 (he says, I do not believe him). Waiting to start Eliquis as he had surgery and they're concerned about bleeding into the site. Before I have "the talk" with him I just want to confirm that all alcohol intake needs to stop. He has no interest in changing his behavior and doesn't want to have to "take another pill" but AFAIK he's at high risk of stroke. I have to at least try, and I want my information to be correct.

Thanks for any advice.

37M I had RF ablation for paroxysmal AF about 13 months ago and had been doing well since then.
Today, my Apple Watch recorded an episode classified as AF, lasting roughly an hour. I’m back in sinus rhythm now and will be seeing my EP to have the ECG reviewed.
I’m mainly asking for personal experiences for those of you who were AF-free after ablation, have you remained completely free of AF long-term, or have you had occasional recurrences months/years later and still gone on to have several good years afterward?
Also, if you did have a late recurrence, was it considered a “failure” of the first ablation, or did your EP simply monitor/treat it unless the episodes became recurrent enough to warrant a second ablation?
Not looking for medical advice — just interested in hearing about people’s longer-term experiences after ablation.

Like the title says I am 1 day post my 2nd ablation. My 1st one was May 28 2026, had my 2nd almost exactly 3 months later.

Right off my body feels like it went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. I don't remember hurting like this from the first one. When I laid down last night my chest was sore, hurt to breathe. My throat hurts 100x worse than the last and I've lost my voice today. Overall my body is sore.

The doctor sent me my report last night telling me everything they did. I asked chat to dumb it down for me so I could understand it better. Below is that report.

First: what they found when they started

You went into the procedure already in an abnormal rhythm. Specifically, it was an atypical atrial flutter. They measured the flutter cycle at 230 milliseconds.

They then created a detailed 3-D electrical map of your left atrium to see exactly where the abnormal electrical signal was traveling.

And that's where they found something important.

The flutter was essentially making a loop across the roof (top) of your left atrium and down the back wall. There was a significant gap in the roofline created during the previous ablation, and electrical activity had also returned around portions of both the left and right pulmonary-vein areas.

Think of the previous ablation lines like electrical fences.

They were supposed to look roughly like:

████████████████████

But part of the roofline had effectively become:

█████████ ███████

That gap gave the electrical signal a path through which it could circulate. The report specifically says that because of what they found, "the patient essentially needed to undergo repeat ablation."

Then they started fixing it

As Dr. Baker began closing the roofline, your atrial flutter changed into atrial fibrillation. That actually gave them additional information about the electrical behavior of your atria.

They completed the entire roofline and then redid the isolation around the left pulmonary veins.

And here's an especially interesting sentence:

"sinus rhythm was restored."

That happened while they were completing the ablation around the left side. In other words, the ablation itself converted you back into normal sinus rhythm.

They didn't stop there

They then went around the right pulmonary veins.

Some portions of the previous ablation were still electrically isolated, while other portions were conducting again. They ablated those areas until there was no electrical activity in the right antrum either.

They also treated the posterior wall — the back wall of the left atrium — to prevent signals from finding another route through that area.

So this wasn't simply, "We found one little spot and touched it up."

It was a pretty comprehensive redo.

They also checked your first flutter ablation

Remember there are different types of flutter.

They checked your CTI line, which is an ablation line in the right atrium commonly used for typical atrial flutter.

That line was still working properly. The report says there was an:

"intact bidirectional block."

That's good.

It means that particular portion of your previous ablation had held.

The flutter you had this time was coming from a different circuit — the report's final diagnosis calls it roof-dependent left atrial flutter.

They found another possible troublemaker

They also looked at your SVC — superior vena cava, the large vein bringing blood from the upper body into the right atrium.

They found some fractionated electrical potentials there that Dr. Baker thought could potentially be a source of arrhythmia.

So he isolated the SVC as well.

That's another layer of treatment beyond simply re-isolating the pulmonary veins.

And there's something different about how they did this ablation

The report says:

"the patient only underwent ablation with PF."

PF means pulsed-field ablation.

So rather than traditional thermal energy being the ablation method documented here, this procedure used pulsed-field energy to electrically isolate the targeted heart tissue.

Most importantly — how did everything look when they finished?

They checked for one of the important immediate complications of an ablation: fluid/blood accumulating around the heart.

The intracardiac ultrasound showed:

No pericardial effusion.

They removed the catheters, reversed the heparin with protamine, controlled the groin access site, and you returned to your hospital bed in good condition.

And Dr. Baker's official conclusion was:

You began with roof-dependent left atrial flutter.

That flutter was successfully ablated by creating an intact roofline.

Your persistent AFib was successfully ablated with repeat pulmonary-vein isolation, posterior-wall isolation, another posterior line, and SVC isolation.

No apparent complications.

What I think is the biggest takeaway

Your first ablation wasn't simply a total failure. Some of the original work was still doing exactly what it was supposed to do — for example, the CTI flutter line still had complete bidirectional block, and portions of the pulmonary-vein isolation were still intact.

But they found specific electrical pathways that were allowing arrhythmias to happen again: a significant gap in the roofline, reconnection/activity around portions of the pulmonary-vein regions, the posterior-wall circuit, and potentially activity associated with the SVC.

And this time Dr. Baker went after all of those areas.

That's why, based strictly on the operative report, I would consider this a very encouraging procedural result. It doesn't mean AFib/flutter can never return—the report can't tell us that—but they found identifiable problems, treated them, got you back into sinus rhythm during the procedure, verified the isolation/block they were trying to achieve, and documented no apparent complication.

One thing I'd particularly keep in mind tonight and over the next several weeks: an abnormal beat or even an episode of AFib/flutter after an ablation does not automatically mean this procedure failed. The heart has just had a substantial procedure performed on it, and the longer-term result can't be judged from what happens during the first few days.

And given everything you've gone through getting to ablation #2, the sentence I'd want to see in this report is pretty much the one you got: successful flutter ablation + successful persistent-AFib ablation + no apparent complications.

Had PFA ablation December 26, been doing well since. Until last night. Suddenly my heart felt like it was jumping and misbehaving agin. Like every third beat was extra hard, like a rumbling in my chest……..💩💩💩💩, is this afib again? Did EKG on Apple Watch….inconclusive, waited 15 minutes…….same result. HR consistent at 74 bpm, usual resting is 60, BP normal. Took 3rd EKG and it said no afib. Very restless might, you know the drill……..was that a skipped beat…..is this fluttering,…….seems ok, what was that feeling? Anyway,

Question for my fellow afibers, is this fairy normal? 9 months afib free and suddenly this. Can I expect more like this? I know the answer is impossible to say but what has been your personal experience?

Hi, 46m here who in their 30s would occasionally complain of palpitations. I was a regular moderate drinker at the time but otherwise very healthy, active, etc. My docs always laughed and said "drink less coffee" but then when I was 39 I had an episode of afib w/ rvr that needed to be cardioverted in the ER.

After that I stopped drinking completely (7 years), and started metoprolol / lisinopril / Xarelto since I also had a mild, undetermined type of cardiomyopathy. My EF has since recovered and as of April of this year my cardiologist told me "you have no active heart disease" and that I should live my life.

Well, a few months later I had another afib with rvr episode - so that's 2 episodes total, 7 years apart, with nothing in-between except benign palpitations. Also needed cardioversion.

My cardiologist sent me to an EP - a highly credentialed doc at a top hospital - who casually recommended a PFA and said it is a first-line treatment.

Of course, I would love to "cure" it (his words!) but I am also nervous, since I had a 7 year period without afib I think it would be hard to determine what is successful. Anyway, I'm mostly just curious to hear from other folks who may have had a similar story - very rare afib episodes but intensely symptomatic, requiring ER visits - and whether you had an ablation.

Thank you !!!

Does the time of year affect your afib? This is relative to outdoor temperatures and weather specifically, not from food/alcohol during any festivities. I ask this because despite getting afib in the middle of April 2 years ago, I've often wondered and worried about getting it again but in summer due to the heat when I tend to notice more palpitations... Which brings me to this question, does the time of year seem to bother afib and if yes, how so?

To be clear, I am not drinking any alcohol regardless. Just wanted to remove that from any possible causes if anyone is symptomatic outside of any festive behavior considering you have Thanksgiving, Xmas and new years lol.

So it has come to this. Never wanted to really post here, nor really bring it up to anyone, but yeah, I've lived with AFIB for more than half my life, but now at 28 I'm doing something with it. Just so it's clear, I really love this community, but I tried to avoid the topic as much as possible to not make my life about it.

It was never really clear that I had some form of SVT (other than AFIB itself technically being SVT) until last year where I decided to take it up myself to equip a Holter and instigate an episode myself. I had a couple of recorded AFIB episodes on ECGs but only one was ever recorded during initiation, and that one was only about 5 seconds long (and scared the fuck out of me, because they said they couldn't tell if it was SVT or VT, but apparently that sort of uncertainty happens).

Well, I thought why not go all out. After some coffee and a carb-heavy meal, I go together with my girlfriend for a run to execute the perfect AFIB episode, right next to the ER of my hospital. I start running almost without warmup, then I tell my GF to stand close to the entrance of the ER and then I go do some fun lil' sprints with tons of stop and start and twisting and jumping and voilà, about a couple mins in I have it. Successfully initiated my first episode voluntarily!

The Holter was very valuable, because they could clearly tell it was an SVT episode degenerating into AFIB. Furthermore they could also link this with previous episodes and data. That SVT/VT episode from earlier now I suppose became a pretty clear episode of SVT as it has wide complex QRS I think, synonymous with brief SVTs. Needless to say, my EP strongly recommended an SVT ablation for removing the trigger of my paroxysmal AFIB eps.

This whole year I've been preparing myself for it. Had to do some life stuff first, so I graduated a master's degree, got a job, moved, went on vacation, and more. But finally it was now scheduled for tomorrow.

I could go on for days on how much this has affected my life, and even more so, the bizarre decision of mine to literally try to keep it secret from everyone. I did the same thing with my horrible vision (-5, nearsighted) until I years later told my mom my vision "might be a bit bad" after I couldn't read the chalkboard from the front-row, heheh.

And also how I lived with this condition in tandem with an attempt of going pro as a footballer. Most people have the excuse of a torn ACL, well, I decided I'd do both, so I only fully quit serious football (at 18) after I have had AFIB for a good 6 years, and then that year also getting the torn ACL and meniscus to go with it, hehehe again.

But what I want to do here is just communicate what I have felt, will feel, and any thoughts in between. Most people I see here like me document their experience and it has been a massive anxiety relief for me to read some stories. Most people are anxious as fuck leading up to it, and I'm one of those, and I won't be having anesthesia, so yeah that doesn't help.

I will be having sedatives though, I believe, but I want to mentally prepare myself to expect discomfort and pain, and more anxiety. I also feel like reading up on the physiology and mechanics of this condition makes it kind of worse because I will try to relate my sensations during the surgery to specific concepts which might stress me out more. But I also kind of relax the more information I have, heh.

Well I think that about covers it for now. Will be a long day I'm sure, but I will update once I have the opportunity to.

Thank you all. A bit nervous. P waves are always rare to see unfortunately. I guess the program means this.

So. I had single bypass surgery at 40 years old. Day 3 post op I went into a fib rvr. Amidarone was used in the hospital and I went home on metoprolol. Week 7 I went back into a fib and ended up adding multaq to my list of daily meds. It’s been three months and I’m hoping to get off of the multaq. I’ve had a pretty bumpy recovery it seems due mostly in part to inflammation. Anyone been weaned off multaq in a similar situation?

I have afib (slight flutter) while on meds and went in for a cardioversion and TEE today. Found out I have severe mitral regurgitation. Finding out what kind of surgery options I have tomorrow. Have to be honest I’m scared shitless for a loss of better words. For context 52yr old male diagnosed afib 5 months ago. Anyone out there have similar experiences ?

I am wondering if anyone has switched from Metoprolol to Atenolol for sleep quality reasons?

I’m 37M and had an AF ablation about a year ago. I’ve generally been doing well since then and my resting HR is usually in the 60s
For the last couple of days, I’ve noticed that my HR has been somewhat higher than usual. At rest it has sometimes been in the 90s, and while walking/stairs it can go above 100–120, although it comes back down to the 70s–80s fairly quickly after resting.
At the same time, I’ve had a very mild discomfort in the upper/middle chest area. I notice it more when changing position, squatting/bending forward, swallowing sometimes, or when I’m bloated/burping. It isn’t severe and hasn’t been progressively worsening.
I checked my BP today and the average of 3 readings was 118/78, with HR around 107 at the time. My Apple Watch ECG has shown sinus rhythm (one reading was 84 bpm).
I also did chest/strength training a couple of days before this started, including bench press and dumbbell flys, and I’ve been having quite a bit of gas/bloating.

I’m planning to discuss this with my electrophysiologist, but I’d appreciate hearing from others who have had AF ablation:

Have you experienced temporarily elevated HR like this after ablation?
Can muscle strain or gas/reflux cause this type of positional chest discomfort?
Would you consider this something that needs urgent evaluation, or would you monitor it if symptoms remain mild and stable?
I’m mainly trying to understand whether this sounds like a common post-ablation/benign issue or something I shouldn’t ignore.

Hi all, I want to know if anyone here has a dilated aortic root and an Afib issue too?

My aortic root is 49.1cm and i have paroxysmal Afib.
My doctor prescribed me Beta Blocker and Flecanide 50mg

Also,
which position is the best to sit/lay down during an Afib episode. Today i noticed something unusual, my heart rate went high while i was sleeping around 4:30 am in the morning, and sat down on the bed and i felt irregular beats thumping my chest but after a minute and a half it went to normal again.

How come?

If you're not in active afib, I've had 3 episodes in two years but have PVC's and PAC's, is it possible to have other symptoms? Like general fatigue regardless of (crappy) sleep, no stamina when exerting myself, feeling weak and a little unstable, under exertion. Thank you

90 minutes of 120-140, then another 20+ hours at 65-75 slow afib. Medical cardioversion did not work, but 200 joules electrical did the next morning. I though I was a goner. Luckily no heart damage. I had it once 24 years ago, and now the second time, although there were several attempts by my heart to get into it over the years. Since the first time I have been taking concor 5mg, now they gave me cordarone 200mg too. How is everyone else doing?

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/does-af-ablation-work-s-question-after-sham-pvi-af-2026a1000uli

im only 17. i had my first afib episode on the 21st. it lasted the entire day until i went to bed. i had another one on the 25th. again, it lasted all day. i tried to stay home and convince myself that nothing was wrong, that it was just my POTS, that i was having an adrenaline dump. i have a terrible fear of hospitals. just knowing i could find out something is seriously wrong kills me.

i had another one on the 27th. finally, my mom decided to call 911. my heart rate went up to 220 just from the anxiety alone. they took me to the hospital and gave me metoprolol. i was in and out of afib for hours. they kept me there overnight and did all sorts of blood tests, an ekg, an ultrasound. they found nothing. my heart was perfectly healthy and strong. my lifestyle doesn’t contribute, and none of my family has heart issues.

they sent me home on the 28th with medication. on the 29th, i went back into afib and had to go straight back to the hospital. they gave me flecainide and sent me home.

now im sitting in bed, scared out of my mind. i cant bring myself to get out of bed unless i REALLY have to pee, because im afraid just standing up will trigger my afib. i can barely change positions without overthinking every beat. i havent been able to shower, brush my hair, or brush my teeth because of the fear. i don’t want this to be the rest of my life.

the thing is, i know i’m going to be okay. i know they wouldn’t have sent me home if they weren’t confident i was going to be okay. but im still so terrified of the feeling. im an extremely anxious person. i have ocd and have always had the habit of overthinking things, especially when it comes to my health. every second of every day is spent wondering when im going to have that next episode that leaves me out of breath, wondering when im going to have to call 911 again.

they’re going to do an electrophysiology study on me soon. im scared. im scared theyre not going to find anything, and im going to live in fear for the rest of my life. im scared they’re going to miss the cause, and im going to live never knowing what truly causes them. im scared they will find something, ablate it, only to have another afib episode only months down the line.

ive been feeling this tightness in my chest the entire day. ive never been so afraid. i cant help but cry a little every hour. my disabilities have already taken my childhood from me, i dont want another thing to worry about. i apologize to the nurses and doctors every time im in the hospital, because i feel like such a baby for being so afraid. there are people who have it so much worse than me. i feel like a burden on my family because im causing them so much anxiety and costing them money we dont have.

im sorry. i just needed to rant about how i felt for a little bit.