HEART RHYTHM SPECIALIST
HEART RHYTHM SPECIALIST
I had my first experience of atrial fibrillation in 1995. I had been competing in triathlon since 1989 and was racing internationally as a member of the elite Great Britain Long Distance team, and was training hard for the European Champoinships that year. I remember waking up one morning with an irregular heart rate.......what felt like a bag of worms wriggling around in my chest. I had no other symptoms, no breathlessness or pain etc.
The symptoms hadn't subsided after a few days so I saw my GP who suggested I went to A & E. I was kept in hospital and was given IV drug treatment which put me back into sinus rhythm. I also had an echo and chest X ray done and subsequently had 24 hour urine tests, ambulatory monitoring for heart rate and blood pressure which all proved inconclusive, so I was advised to take 6 weeks off training in case the AF had been caused by a virus.
After this period I continued to train, reaching silver medal position at the 2002 Great Britain elite long distance national championships, and winning my age group at the 2003 GB long distance national championships. Since the time of my first episode I would suffer from bouts of a fib lasting up to 48 hours, usually when I was training hard and getting stressed at work etc....I would usually feel myself getting tired but would push on regardless and this is when I was most susceptible to the afib. My afib always self reverted back to normal rhythm if I got some rest and this usually happened a couple of times per year so it was not a major inconvenience although after hard training sessions my heart would always feel a little irritated and I would be susceptible to ectopics so I got used to 'managing' my afib and making sure I got plenty of rest and avoiding alcohol after training etc.
I retired from triathlon in 2005 due to time constraints with my career however I took up a sport called powerlifting in 2008, winning my age group at the 2011 GB National Championships, and continued to suffer from the bouts of afib a couple of times per year, however I had a bout which started January 2nd 2012. When my irregular heart rate hadn't settled after 6 days I went to A&E at my local hospital and was diagnosed with atrial flutter and sent home with a beta blocker and told to wait for an appointment with the consultant.
At this point I decided to research my options as I was concerned that my condition had not reverted itself back to normal rhythm and the prospect of having the condition for another six weeks or so was worrying, even though my symptoms were mild compared to the accounts of other people I read about. I discovered that the ablation procedure offered a high chance of a permanent cure for my afib, and I wanted to ensure that I got the best person for the job, someone who has a lot of experience of carrying out the procedure, has a passion for curing afib, and uses the latest state of the art equipment.
Through this research I discovered Dr Gupta's website and researched his work and success rates which were very impressive. At this point I was still in afib after two weeks and being fortunate to have private health care with my job, I rang Dr Gupta for an appointment. During the consultation he explained my condition and described the ablation procedure. After the consultation I felt reassured that Dr Gupta was the man for the job and felt reassured that there was a good chance of permenantly curing my condition.
I had my ablation on January 25th (nearly 12 weeks ago as I write) reverting to sinus rhythm during the operation, which Dr Gupta suggested was a very good outcome, staying in hospital overnight and returning home the next day. I felt some mild discomfort during that night and the next day, and the site at the groin where the catheters were inserted was a bit sore for a few days, but I was back to work after five days, and have had no bouts of afib since, and was taken off the beta blocker and warfarin 4 weeks ago. I started brisk walking three days after the ablation and was back in the gym after one week starting light and back to heavy training after two weeks. I still get the odd run of ectopic beats when doing a presentation at work for example but only lasting for a second or so and don't have that feeling that they could kick off my afib again. I can also train harder now and more frequently.....I feel as though I now don't have to plan my life around avoiding the chance of setting off an afib attack....it's a very liberating feeling, and I'm now training hard for the 2012 Powerlifting championships.
It's still early days, and Dr Gupta explained that if I get a recurrence of the afib then a second procedure may be required (however there is an 80% chance I have been cured first time) although this would be a shorter time in theatre and more of a touch up procedure.
I wanted to write this to allay any fears that anyone else may have about going through with the ablation, and to assure anyone that it is possible to get back to hard training and competition after an ablation procedure, and would advise anyone to get the procedure done before their condition deteriorated and impacted negatively on their life.
Michael Prince, 47 years, Oldham, Yorkshire
29 April 2012