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POTS and Cardiac ablation...


bamagirl

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Hi Bamagirl,

Thanks for responding to my post.:) My cardio does not feel it necessary to do an ep study. He feels it would do more harm then good.,ie, my anxiety before and during etc. He feels the rhythm strips I send him(with an event monitor I put on when I need it)shows him what he needs to know.

I most of the time also feel like garbage when it hits. The chills, teeth chatters are the least of my problems, the chest tightness, feeling like I will pass out scares me, though I have not ever come close to passing out, guess it is the anxiety with the tachy.

So you have not had an ep study or did you and they want to ablate?

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It's the worst thing I did. I now have an electrophysiologist that won't even consider it on pots patients. Since the underlying problem is not in the heart, it does no good and probably more harm to ablate. He says the success rate is maybe 10%, with 90% of people just finding another accessory pathway for the tachy within 2 weeks. He could make 50,000 off me by talking me into it, so I trust him....After my ablation in 2003, I ended up on disability and have never gotten better. That's my input...morgan p.s. they did find an abnormal area in my heart, but it still didn't work and made me worse

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This is a really good question. I think it all depends on the reason you get tachy.

I don't really think there's much to do if you get tachy from POTS. If you have WPW or another condition, an ablation might be a good idea. If I were you, I would try to rule out as many conditions as possible before you have an EP study done.

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Guest Belinda

I had an ablation done about 6yrs. ago it was called a blind ablation since they didn't know what was causing my SVT's. They never really did figure it out. But did it anyway, After I still had Tach. and at one point was put on Amiodarone(nasty) My heart rate dropped to 40bpm and I was gray. Eventually, I slowed down on my own I was on Paxil for Alot of Anxiety because of my heart racing.

At any rate, I still have problems PVC"s with occasional Tach. episodes. Not to mention chest pain.

I didn't get chest pain until after the ablation, I swear it did something to my nerves inside.

So to answer your question, if you have a study and he knows where it is coming from yeah I would do it.

But if they don't know it's definitley something in your nervous system, like mine probrably is.

Good Luck alot of people have ablations more than one sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt!! That is what just happened in my case.

Edited by Belinda
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The EP study in and of itself might provide some useful information but if I were in your shoes I would not agree to Ablation unless I went to Mayo or Vandy or somewhere like that and got a second opinion and they said ablation was the way to go. I think many Dr. have good intentions but they don't know enough about the various forms of dysautonomia to give you the best answer sometimes.

It is possible to have an intrinsic cardiac problem and have POTS also but it's a lot trickier to treat.

I was told that very closely capturing an event on tape from beginning to end is a key in trying to decide what to do. If the tachy starts by increase in heart rate over a few seconds then that's the "normal-abnormal" for some type of dysautonomia and would not be helped by ablation (in fact, it could hinder your body's ability to react as it needs to). If, on the other hand the tachy is instant then that may indicate an intrinsic cardiac problem. The only way to know though is to get an entire episode on tape to view how the tachy started and ended (which is not always easy to do).

Good luck with whatever you decide!!

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i'm having an EP study with possible ablation on dec 2nd. I've already had one ablation and even though my pots got worse for quite a while I would go back and do it again in an instant. the tachy i was dealing with every single day got better. I now have a different area that's causing problems. It's definitely not tachy caused by POTS...I get that too of course but this tachy is very different, it even feels different and it goes a lot higher than the POTS tachy I get. We caught quite a few episodes on an event monitor. I'm nervous about it but i've tried antiarrythmia meds and those made my POTS really really bad so this is the next step.

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Bamagirl...

I would have to say I hope that your EP doc is well knowledged and versed in POTS and dysautonomia...as treating pots tachycardia is much different then treating like a rythm tachycardia that is unrelated to pots...

I would be cautious of having an ablation done.. ( in my opionion) if the ablation is being done to help your pots related tachycardia...as that can make you feel worse..b/c when apotsy person stand or sits up.. or needs there heart to speed up to compensate for the lack of blood and oxygen to the brain and heart...

I dont mean to be negative or scare you..

also I think that it is normal to feel physically ill when you get tachy.. I know that it isnt a good feeling..I hope that you can find a casue for your tachy and a good treatment for ti too!

if you have any questions please PM me!!

Hugs to ya

dizz...

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