Just dealt a major setback following my recovery from ablaltion....

[tom_h]

Early Saturday morning, I was awakened with severe arrhythmia from out of the blue.  I had to get back on the Metoprolol which coincidentally I had stopped completely taking only one day earlier. I took a scheduled stress test today that was suppose to see how I was doing off the Metoprolol, but it became a test to see what was going on rather than to see how I’ve progressed since the procedure.  This was nothing like I had before.  I was/am experiencing PAC's with non-sustained runs of SVT thrown in.  Cardiologist wants me back on  my original dose of 100mg per day that I was taking before the procedure back in Nov. and may fool around with other meds before sending me back to the doctor who did the procedure.  He thinks there might be  filament of conductive muscle that he missed during the procedure.  So ultimately, I may have to get another ablation done.  We’ll have to see.  I still managed to get 10 minutes on the treadmill which doesn’t sound like much, but at the end is running 4.2mph up a steep incline.  Doc says at some points, my heart was throwing salvos of SVT between 250 up to 300 beats per minute.  I could have gone more, but he punched me out having gotten enough data.  I'm currently OK, but I feel PACs at least once a minute at rest, and walking about the large building here at work results in SVT and lots of PAC's.  This is not good…….  

[bonzia]

So sorry to hear about your arrhythmia problem.  I can't imagine what you are feeling.  I'll keep you in my prayers and
have fun on that vacation and live for the moment.  Every day is a blessing.
Each day is different and there will be better days ahead.
Please keep me posted on how you are doing.

[merileegal]

Glad to hear you're feeling better and hope that all goes well for your vacation.

[tom_h]

I tappered off the Metoprolol very gradually, halving the dose on a weekly basis.  So I went from 25mg twice a day to once a day, then halved the dose to 12mg once a day per myt cardilolgist's instructions.

I guess I shouldn't say anything because it usually blows up in my face afterwards, but....  I'm happy to report that the arrhythmia has subsided to almost nothing.  I'm back on a daily dose of 100mg Metoprolol, and seem to tolerate this pretty well as it was my former level before my ablation.. Friday, I'm going on vacation for a week at the South Jersey shore and it will involve some walking around, so I'll have to see how that goes.

Thanks everyone for your concern.  I really do appreciate it!

[LindaTX]

So sorry, Tom....I know how disappointed you must be but I don't think this is so unusual.  I do want to tell you that going off metoprolol can be difficult.  I'm assuming you weaned off it gradually, very gradually.  The fact that you had just gone off it the day before may be more than coincidental.  There could be enough of a connection to throw you into tachycardia to say the least.  It's just a possibility.  It actually happened to me when I went off ToprolXL a little too suddenly.  Wish you the best....I think you'll be fine!

[is_something_wrong]

From what I know (and that's unfortunatly not much), an ablation really upsets the atria and it takes a long time for this to completely heal. That's why medications are continued for a long time after ablation in some cases.

The runs you had (and the PACs) aren't necessarily caused by a reentry mechanism? Some spots may just get really upset and start trigger PACs. The annoying thing is that just a few atrial cells may cause trouble, because they have the "domino" effect on the heart (one cell depolarize, all will).

I hope this didn't set you back too much, if you do like your cardiologist told you and start taking the meds again I would think you would be fine?

[tom_h]

Thanks for your concern and encouragement.  The 100mg/'day of Metoprolol help to surpress the arrhythmia, but walking more that a hundred yards, or climbing a flight of steps causes a huge reaction.  Ba-beat beat beat ba-ba-ba beat beat beat ba-beat.  That kind of pulse.  It's terrible.  I don't know how I'm going to function when I need to exert myself.  Running, something I've been doing again is impossible at the moment.  Cindy, thanks for your advice. I'm going on vacation next week to the south Jersey shore.  If it's no better when I return, I will contact my cardiologist and see what's next.  About 4 months ago, I drastically altered my diet (not dieting), reducing carbohydrates to about 1/10 of the daily recommendation for adult males.  This has resulted in rapid weight loss, as well as steep decline in my blood glucose.  But I can't help wondering if I screwed something up with my electrolytes?  I started taking no-carb electrolyte replenishment fluids, but that hasn't helped at all.  Meanwhile, my chest has begun to ache again like when I use to have SVT of a lot of PVC's.  Advil seems to help for that.  I'll keep you posted.  Thanks agan.