DH and atrial fibrilation returning after ablation treatment

[MarySueSaidBoo]

DH was diagnosed with AF when going under a GA for a hernia repair. He was brought back round immediately, surgery cancelled and sent to a Cardiologist. Then lockdown happened, so it took 18 months to have treatment, which was a catheter ablation at a regional specialist unit. They also treated for atrial flutter which they found whilst he was having this treatment. It took around 6 months to fully work, but he's been fine now for 2 years and without meds. But he's been getting regular episodes again, his AF burden has been as high as 47% on his Apple watch - and he's now sitting in A & E as his bpm was 155 for over 6 hours. Has anyone else had a re-occurence of symptoms after surgery like this?

My DH had AF in his 40s. He had two or three procedures for AF and flutter, and it did come back once or twice. Finally he had another ablation to address it fully and he has been entirely free of either AF or flutter for years now. After this last one the surgeon told him that he was no more likely to get it again than anyone else. Hoping you and DH get help with it soon.
Have you identified any particular triggers? For my DH we worked out that red wine and sunbathing in hot sun set him off - so often when on holiday! He doesn't drink caffeine drinks anyway, but coffee and colas can set some people off. Sending hug.🌸

Thanks for your post, that's quite reassuring to read.

He does drink too much coffee, even though it's decaff - and same with tea. And he is a so and so for not drinking water. He does get very stressed but that's tough to remove when he runs his own business.

It was all so painfully slow last time that I'm just worried about getting back into that cycle again, but needs must.

Its very common for it to come back, but if he has another ablation, they will likely knock it down for another few years. Do you know what his blood pressure is like?

My DH had cardioversion which sorted his but we are aware it's a temporary solution. He has cut out also alcohol, caffeine and MSG and cut down on coffee.

His BP, ECG and bloods today were all fine. They took the readings off his watch and were a bit concerned that he's getting anything between 44bpm and 186bpm, so he's now home again but they've recommended seeing the Cardiologist. The Dr today was too concerned to give him medication given how low his heart rate drops.... so not really any further forward.

When is he going to see the cardiologist? He really should be fast tracked. Keep a very very close eye on the low heart rate. If it gets below 40 (particularly overnight) he should be straight back in to ER. He may be developing heart block. The GP could also test his thyroid levels and electrolytes including magnesium.

In the meantime, make sure he is taking a full rda magnesium supplement every night before bed and cut out the caffeine, get him to start going on a walk every morning before work. Just enough to get his blood pumping, doesnt need to be anything crazy (in fact he should avoid new heavy exercise until he has been seen by a cardiologist)

If the wait to be seen by a cardiologist is more than a month, see if you can manage to go private. It will likely be around 400 pounds…200 ish for the appointment and 200 ish for an ECG. Then he can get seen and referred back onto the NHS for any treatment that is needed. You can self refer to private consultants.