On the subject of a-fib and ablation, any recent views on impact of ablation on performance?
I think I've reached the end of the road on medication and magnesium, and am starting to think ablation.
TIA
It is difficult to say what the impact is. I actually spoke with my cardiologist today and in some people pulmonary vein ablation will elevate their resting heart rate (not all). Inintially my resting hearth rate increased by 20 bmp, now 3 month after ablation it is 10 bpm higher. I hope that LHR training will take that even lower.
I do not know anything about your medical condition so speak with a professional, I am just sharing my story.
I was severely impared physically when I had my afib episodes, I am young in afib term, "only" 49 so I was a good candidate for ablation. I am also completely off my meds 2 months after ablation (after advice from cardiologist). I can only say that I am very happy that I had this done.. my life was sh.t when I had afib episodes and had to struggle to walk the dog 1 km and had to stop for breaks walking slowly up a hill. That was not a life and I felt 100 years old.
Long term studies have shown that quality of life and outcomes of ptt below 60 years are better after ablation then on medication, so for those ablation ptt could be considered first (that was me). Especially if they are as affected I was by it.
I will say that I had chest pains for about a week after ablation. Started slowly training after 2 weeks.
If you are out of options, then I had very good effect with meditation (12 min per day). As good as not drinking alcohol.
Very much appreciate the response - and yes, only looking for the story of others vs. medical advice.
I'm actually young too - first episode at 32 yo (11 years ago). My path has been different, where my episodes are only every few years, but when I get them they last until cardioversion, so very debilitating. I started multaq in 2019 and that has really helped, but has also given me atrial flutter (which stinks but way better than a-fib).
So I'm constantly faced with the question of how long I "let it ride." I was running 50MPW in the fall, not even thinking about a-fib. Now after a recent episode I'm leaning towards ablation. I see 2 EPs (a sr. guy and a "jr" guy who works under him who runs the day-to-day). The jr. guy is always pushing me to ablate, but then the sr. guy will say wait. Though after this last episode I suspect he may flip.
My gut is saying push for the ablation, but there has always been this hope that I could beat it, balanced by the fear that the ablation will turn me into a slow guy.
Time will tell. Regardless, I appreciate the color, and glad that it has worked well for you.
I do not know what is right for you but considering your young age, I would diffidently look more into ablation. I can only say that it sure was right for me. Today my resting hearth rate came down to 60 bpm, getting closer to were I was before.
There are risks with ablation, but for me they were well worth the benefits. I got the cryo ablation and there you avoid the risk of pulmonary vein stenosis and it is a little easier procedure for the electrophysiologist to do (generally it takes shorter time to learn cryo than radiofrequency ablation- so there are many more centers now doing the procedure with Cryo)..
Depending on you going under anesthesia or not, I will not lie, I could feel everything they did... I was actually meditating on the table the hole time and it got me through it all without much trouble. Afterwards I had chest pains and actually some difficulty concentrating for a week. But now I am back running 40-50 km per week with LHR and I am immensely happy about putting this behind me.
Interesting side story to this, for 5 yearsI used to work for a company selling equipment for ablation treatment (Radiofrequency ablation - RF) for arrythmia treatment some 8 years ago, so I have seen many AF procedures done. So I chose the place where I knew there had a lot of experience and I was given the choice between what I sold in the past (RF) or the competitor Cryo. All my contact professionals in the business now recommended Cryo with my profile, so I was happy to be treated with my "old" competitor (which has more or less taken over the AF market).. Anyway, treat this as an anecdote on the internet from a stranger and seek professional advice. I It is soon 8 years since I worked in this field.
Final anecdote.. When I sold the equipment, I did not really understand how crippling AF can be. I thought it was just reducing the risk of stroke,, but was I wrong.. I will never forget the day I decided to take a walk in the wood with full AF going. And even in my slowest speed, I was not able to walk back up that hill without stopping for rest several times..