Wellness

[Marciirene]

I have suffered with heart palpitations since I was 17. I was diagnosed with SVT. Has anyone had success with this procedure? I have MS also and as of late had a tremendous amount of stress which is making my symptoms worse. Thank you for your input!

[jlkz]

@Marciirene 

 Without understanding what SVT and the MS implications, I can only share what I know of the ablation for Afib that DH had about 3 years ago.  The Afib is still gone.

The ablation doctor was a specialist with a phenomenal list of credentials from major well- respected hospitals.  He took the time to explain the procedure carefully.  

When I said I was concerned with the frequency of folks who said they had the procedure done elsewhere but it failed.  He told me that sometimes the electrical problem which was addressed may have been more extensive than the surrounding area that is normally addressed.  Therefore, the initial area is fine but the electrical signal continues beyond the area addressed. Thus the " failure ".

He showed us the map of where the imbalances were spread throughout the heart.  It would be a lengthy procedure.  It took 5 hours and was then followed by 3 hours where a pacemaker / defibrillator was inserted into the shoulder above the heart.  8 very long hours, but the outcome is wonderful.

DH wrote the doctor a letter of gratitude for spending an entire day working on him.

I hope you have the same successful outcome.

[CalminHeart]

I had a cryo-ablation in 2015. I had a-fib and had to have my heart shocked back into rhythm 3 times before that.  I haven't had any trouble or rhythm problems since.

At the time I had mine there were 2 kinds of ablations for the heart.... one uses heat and one uses cold. I don't know which is more common now. 

[drizzellla]

@Marciirene Thank you for bringing up the subject.

My brother has been dealing with A-fib since June. They have been trying to fix it with shock and medication. But have not been successful. So there is talk about ablation.

He had a-fib before, 5 years ago, but he was able to be shocked back into rhythm.

It scares my brother and me too. So I am interested in hearing about people's experience.

[brandiwine]

My husband had to have this done many years ago and he's been fine ever since.  He's had 2 heart attacks starting at age 46 and has had a defibrillator for around 15 years.  The procedure was a blessing.

[Scooby Doo]

I had the procedure done this past January and I'm very satisfied with the results.  I had been taking meds to control my afib, but those can cause serious side effects over time.  I decided I needed to get off those meds.  My first cardiologist diagnosed me with SVT, but after the procedure the new cardiologist said I had afib not SVT.

Since the procedure I've only had one or two short episodes of afib, which is much better than the one or two I had each day.  It was so worth it and I would do it again in a heart beat (pun intended).

I was fairly nervous about the procedure, but my cardiologist assured me that he had done over a thousand of these procedures.  He's a well known doctor in our city and head of the dept at two hospitals.  He specializes in this condition.

It's an outpatient procedure.  You will be under general anesthesia and won't know a thing that's going on.  You will be in the recovery room for one hour, then lay flat and don't move for 3 hours.  They monitor the small incision for bleeding and you go home with a bandaid on your groin.  There's no pain.  So it's not nearly as scary a procedure as what I conjured up in my head.

The nurse taking care of me told me that there's different kinds of afib and she had the most serious case.  She had to have the procedure done 3 times.  But that's unusual.

If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them.

I forgot to mention that my GD had the procedure one 13 yrs ago and has not had any problems since.  She was diagnosed with afib when a toddler and they had not approved this method yet.  Finally, in her late teens she decided she'd had enough and went through with the surgery.  She reassured me before hand that it was no big deal and she wished she had done it sooner.

[hckynutjohn]

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@Marciirene wrote:
I have suffered with heart palpitations since I was 17. I was diagnosed with SVT. Has anyone had success with this procedure? I have MS also and as of late had a tremendous amount of stress which is making my symptoms worse. Thank you for your input!

@Marciirene 

I know many people that have had Ablation. A couple of my friends have had several of them. Most were done because of their Afib becoming more frequent. One of my ice skating friends had only 1 Ablation, in the early 2000's, and he hasn't had a heart issue since.

I personally have had PVC for as far back as I can remember. It was long before they had the precise equipment to actually see it, thus the diagnosis. It has also happened at precisely 120 Beats per Minute Heart Rate. I know exactly when it happens, with or without wearing my Chest Heart Ratd Monitor.

Don't remember which was first, but my Cardiologist told me this after my very first Echocardiogram. He also told me I have a "leaky" heart valve, but to not worry about either.

Still have the PVC, and heart valve issue, but! Neither had any relationship to me 2 heart attacks.

Sorry to see you have MS. I am familiar with it, but only know what I have read, and heard from others. 

I have Respiratory issues along with my most recent finding of CHF. Dealing with multiple medical issues can be hard for many. Myself, I pretty much take it stride and do everything I possibly can to deal with it. Worry has never done anything positive, so I learned decades ago to deal  rather than worry.

Hopefully others here with personal experience can give you more specific information on your Ablation and SVT.

My best yo you,

hckynut(john)🥅🏒 🇺🇸

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[Marciirene]

Thank you to all who replied!

[Mindy D]

@Marciirene @My SIL bad it three months ago ands she's feeling fine and doing great. 

[aubnwa01]

I had an ablation done during open heart surgery in 1988 for WPW (Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome). 

The WPW started when I was about 12 & multiple drs. thru my teens said I'd grow out of it. Never happened & I'd have hours to days long bouts with tachycardia, some times starting in my sleep.  I finally had a proper diagnosis in 1975 at age 25 (when I had my own health insurance from Ma Bell) & was put on multiple drugs over the years at various dosages, with little success & one of the drugs, procainamide, made me very sick with lupus-like symptoms & finally at 37 my cardiologist said it was time to get rid of it. 

I had an electrophysiology test to map my heart & pinpoint the location of the accessory electrical pathway that was causing the problem done & was set up for open heart surgery at UW Med. Ctr in Seattle.  The night before the surgery, the cardiologists did an angiogram & one wanted to do a radio frequency ablation to avoid open heart & the other said the area that needed ablating was way too close to some place in my heart that could cause me to have a massive coronary on the operating table & it was safer to go open heart. 

The one that said open heart is the one that won & I had open heart surgery as scheduled rather than the less invasive route, so I'll never know if the ablation would've worked or not. The technology is probably more advanced now than it was back in 1988 & it would be fine now, but I'll never know.

I've never had any more problems, though the mechanism that triggered the WPW is still there & every once in a while it still feels like my heart wants to kick into tachycardia, but since the accessory pathway was severed, the electricity has no where to go & it just stops right there. 

No longer on any heart meds since 1988, so I count that as a success.  After this novel, I'm not sure I answered the original question or not!