ATTN: RONH DO NOT READ THIS POST!
Originally Posted by Bacco
I developed afib at Bike Florida 2002. I was cured of it only eight months later. I went to the Cleveland Clinic for a pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) ablation by Dr. Natale. I spent one night in the hospital and the recuperation time was just a few days. Nowadays, I don't have to take any drugs or worry about taking blood thinners. Most cardiologists will not recommend or even tell you about the various cures for afib. They are not up-to-date or don't want to lose a patient. If afib doesn't affect your quality of life, then live with it if you like, but for me, I didn't want to take drugs or be slowed down by afib. Also, afib is probably one of the biggest contributors to strokes.
Thanks so much for the input.
Who paid for your ablation at CC?
My doc is very much up on research and is urging me to go for an ablation.
The doc I will be seeing in February re: cryogenic ablation was with the Cleveland Clinic prior to coming to Colorado.
The docs in my previous health care HMO (Kaiser Permanente) insisted that all I needed for my AFib was to take maintenance doses of beta blocker and live my life at a reduced level. They didn't even want me to see a cardiologist. I refused to accept that "solution" and left, seeking more modern medical care.
Also, there is more and more research linking sleep apnea to AFib and hypertension:
I would strongly urge anyone who has not had a screening or a polysomnograph for sleep apnea (SA) to seriously consider so doing.
Typical symptoms/factors are
Sleepiness during the day, falling asleep
Essential Hypertension
Stop and start snoring
Obesity
Interestingly, I did not have any sleepiness during the day - I awake bright and alert at 5:30-6:00 am, and am "ready to go charging through the day." I did have on and off snoring, amd most definitely had hypertension, which has been hard to control, and which I find the highest when I awake, which is atypical. Your blood pressure is suposed to drop during sleep by about 10 points.
SA causes your heart to work much harder all night long, and there is now a strong correlation between hypertension and atrial fibrillation and SA.
Even though I did not present the typical symptoms, my cardio INSISTED that I have the SA test. I was shown to have 18 SA episodes per hour, but I had up to 40 episodes during REM sleep. Despite the rigors and strain for me of the all night polysomnograph study, treatment for SA may prove to be extremely important in improving my quality and length of life. The sleep doc says that it is likely that treatment of the sleep apnea will reduce my pulmonary hypertension, my essential hypertension and my atrial fibrillation.
So, check it out!