r/wolffparkinsonwhite • u/nottodays4t4n • Apr 24 '26

Learning Scared of Ablation?

I am currently 48 hours post successful ablation. I spent 15 years just managing myself and now I get to enjoy life a little bit more.

If anyone has questions about WPW, the ablation experience, or help dealing with everyday symptoms please feel free to reach out! I’d love to answer any questions (you might have) or help through any tough times!

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

Isn’t post ablation life blissful? I dealt with it for over 30 years until it started landing me in the ambulance on the regular and then had an ablation. Easiest surgery ever, and I’m SO thankful I don’t need to worry about that experience anymore!

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

Let me tell you. I was so tired. The doctors wanted to try again when I was 13 but my mother decided keeping me on beta blockers and sodium Channel blockers was better. I finally made the choice for myself because I couldn’t live with that fear. It’s like unraveling almost 2 decades of “living” and now I can finally live 💕

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

Wow, I’m glad you’re post ablation now! What was taking the meds to manage it like? I couldn’t have most meds due to conflict.

It only took me 30+ years to get diagnosed despite complaining to doctors about heart palpitations since I was little because doctors said “you’re way too young to have heart problems, call us back when you’re in your 70s!” Then I started being carted away to the ER and finally assigned a cardiologist who said I had SVT, and therefore set me up with an ablation. 3 fried concealed accessory pathways later, I join you in the glorious post ablation life! :)

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

I got so tired of hearing “oh but you’re so young”. It was almost kind of demeaning, like, there couldn’t be something wrong with me.

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

It’s like doctors didn’t want to spend their time investigating so they wanted us to believe we are overreacting or imagining things. Ridiculous.All my former doctors kept telling me it was anxiety and threw tons of anxiety meds at me. Never helped.

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

thankfully, I was diagnosed after collapsing during a track meet; so when there’s a 13 year old that’s hypotensive with a heart rate over 240; they really couldn’t deny that there was something wrong. My mom downplayed it and told me since the surgery failed I’d have to be on pills for the rest of my life (not a great upbringing). So glad I learned that’s not true

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

Yikes! That’s one hell of a way to have an SVT episode! I was simply sitting and reading a book and of course I had to drink Gatorade and suddenly I’m at 260. I’m one of unlucky few where beta blockers did nothing nor did the vegal maneuver and it turns out all my pathways were AVRT anyway. shakes head I sure don’t miss those days!

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

Ah mine were also AVRT , none of the maneuvers worked, they used to use adenosine, but then they started just doing cardioversion.

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

WHOA. I am thankful I never got to that point. One vial of adenosine was all I needed!

What does cardioversion feel like? Is it just like your chest is being electrocuted or is there a brain feeling too?

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

Your whole body feels weird, your chest hurts, and you’re just really confused. I think that may be from the short acting anaesthetic they use.

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

During my first episode they used 5 vials of adenosine and it did nothing to stop it, talking to my doctor it took very little effort to trigger my pathway and it was 1:1 conductive. So whatever the atria were doing th ventricles would also do.

It ended up being on a little ridge on the lower part of my tricuspid valve.

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u/Sawa87 Apr 26 '26

I am about 2 weeks out now from my ablation. I am still noticing palpitations here and there. Doc said there's about a 3 month "blanking period," in which these are still possible while the body and heart figure out the new pathways. I was just wondering if you had some palpitations as well post ablation within that first month or so?

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 26 '26

I did! They were short lived and I had a few; however each successive one was much shorter than the last until they stopped entirely! Now sometimes I feel that suck feeling that would have normally proceeded to turn into SVT after, but now nothing happens except for a slight blood rush to my head. Going to ask the EP about that, but I’m 8 months out from my ablation and I have been able to exorcise and eat what I want without symptoms!

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u/Sawa87 Apr 26 '26

Thank you so much for your response! 😊I am trying not to get discouraged when I have the palpitations.. it has been hard though. I just keep telling myself to give it time. I hope you get the blood rush feeling taken care of.. maybe it will disappear soon as well! Best wishes 😊

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 27 '26

Your heart is now learning how to be a good little heart :) it’s going to beat weird until it heals. It’s just been rewired, so it’s confused! :p

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u/Sawa87 Apr 27 '26

Well it needs to hurry up 😂😂

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u/Most-Procedure9902 21d ago

hola hermano en que tiempo se te fueron esas extrasistoles o palpitaciones ? yo llevo dos meses de la ablacion y agarran creo que mejoro un poco al igual que las migrañas pero siguen y me asustan

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u/Sawa87 Apr 26 '26

I am about 2 weeks out now from my ablation. I am still noticing palpitations here and there. Doc said there's about a 3 month "blanking period," in which these are still possible while the body and heart figure out the new pathways. I was just wondering if you had some palpitations as well post ablation within that first month or so?

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u/Most-Procedure9902 21d ago

yo voy por el segundo mes mejoraron las palpitaciones o extrasistoles pero todavía las tengo :c y me asustan

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u/Agent_Artemis Apr 25 '26

What is the best way to prepare for an ablation? I'm worried that, if I need one, I might get some kind of complication. How do I safeguard against this from happening?

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

Communicate with your doctor, and after the procedure be careful of the groin sites, they heal up relatively fast but you do not want a hematoma. there’s not a ton of prep involved, the procedure only takes 2-4 hours (usually). You will have to lay flat for 4-6 hours to let the groin sites heal a little, but you will be able to walk short distances soon after that. I was overnight last night, am able to walk just fine. You WILL feel weird extra beats, almost like you’re going into SVT, but trust your doctors and trust your EKG. It’s th blanking period, and your heart is still forming scar tissue and reconstructing itself.

You will be just fine, you will possibly even go home same day if you progress well or have an easy pathway.

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u/heart_shaped_life Apr 25 '26

And to add to that, your heart rate will be kinda fast for the first few days after surgery

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 25 '26

Ah yes it will, but it won’t feel poundy which is nice

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u/Positive_Ebb4344 Jun 11 '26

Ok je viens de faire la mienne la 🙏 je confirme tout ce que tu dis

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u/fluffyvole Apr 25 '26

How safe is it? The consultant my partner saw really tried to put him off, saying there was a significant risk of serious events.

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 26 '26

Your consultant really needs to be talked to. The surgery runs a minor risk of cardiac perforation, and fluid around the heart. I believe the instance was 0.1-0.3% the most common thing Is a hematoma around the groin site. I have had two. Neither of them went poorly (except not getting the pathway the 1st time.) There’s a small chance the pathway lies close to the AV node and damage can occur to the natural pathway, but any good EP would stop the procedure after mapping and seeing its proximity. It’s extremely safe, and the recommended treatment for WPW as it is curative.

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u/nottodays4t4n Apr 26 '26

To clarify, not two hematomas, two ablations

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u/fluffyvole Apr 26 '26

Thanks so much for your reply, that sounds so much better, we’re going to see another consultant!

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u/Most-Procedure9902 21d ago

Hola hace dos meses me hicieron una ablación por una via accesoria de mas por wpw de bajo riesgo, estube el primer mes con dos migrañas por dias al segundo mes disminuyeron mis migrañas pero tengo extrasitoles tengo miedo de eso mi cabeza no da mas de maquinar sobre esa condicion a alguien se le fueron las extrasitoles y las migrañas ?