Heart appointment tomorrow

Wishing you all the best Luckygirl

I had an AV node ablation in July. Yes it is a fairly big decision but I had had a pacemaker since May of 2024 and tbh I trust my pacemaker more than I trust my own electrical system. It has enabled me to reduce my medication significantly and I feel as if I have walked out of a fog into the sunshine. I sleep better, have more energy and I don't have that horrible foggy feeling that made me wonder if I was starting to lose cognitive function.
I don't have sick sinus disease and I'm fortunate to be able to regulate my own atrial rhythm as long as I am not in A flutter. If I go into flutter my pacemaker immediately takes over the atrial as well as the ventricle rhythm, it is seamless and the only way I know this has happened is because my resting HR changes from 60bpm to 70 bpm. My pacemaker team have been excellent and I'm back at the gym four times a week, walking the dog without pain or breathlessness and generally I'm a lot fitter than most 77 year olds.
I can only share my experience but it's been life changing and I'm so grateful to have had it done. Everyone has noticed the change in me. Good luck and I hope you get a good outcome. I don't think of myself as being pacemaker dependent, I just have a battery operated pacemaker that looks after me instead of my rather unreliable one which allowed my heart to do potentially dangerous things!

Thank you for telling me your experience. I am pleased it has been so positive for you. That sounds wonderful.

My pacemaker was put in because of drops in HR that they thought might be triggering my AF episodes. However these have continued and got worse and now I am dipping in and out of AF all the time with virtually no respite.
I am lucky that I only rarely get very fast HR with it but even when slightly raised I am very symptomatic ... chest pain, breathless, giddy etc. Medications have not worked or given intolerable side effects.
They have said that the AV node ablation will mean the disordered atria will continue to be so but not be transmitted to the ventricles so they should not trouble me or give me the same symptoms.
I am hoping they are right.
I have a state of the art left bundle branch pacemaker which is said to be especially suited to having an AV node ablation.
Hoping for the best ....

I think you may have a similar pacemaker as mine was put in for LBBB and a partial heart block. Boston Scientific Ingevity dual lead? My heart doesn't like being messed with so a few days after my AV node ablation I went into a 15 hour bout of flutter, unfortunately my pacemaker had not been programmed correctly (left in factory mode!). I knew something was wrong but tbh I was not having the usual fast HR (150bpm is my usual) but my HR was stuck at 70bpm regardless of what I did. I did find it very scary but actually the pm was doing what it was programmed to do not what it should have been doing once I had had the AV node ablation. However, I was perfectly safe but not entirely functioning on full capacity. If you are very symptomatic, I think you will notice a huge difference in how you feel. I did a lot or research and most people are significantly better after the procedure. Best wishes for a really good outcome and please let me know how you get on.

Thank you for the good wishes.
I am hoping that at least some of the symptoms will subside sufficiently for me to be able to plan may life and be more active.
Things are also complicated by whether fact that I have a stent in right coronary artery.
I feel totally bowled over by all this as there is no history of heart disease in my family and my build and lifestyle do not make me an obvious candidate for all this.
Sending good wishes to all.other heart sufferers.

Just to clarify, in the unlikely event of pm not working, you will still have a small amount of residual function across the AVNode. Enough to keep you alive for about half an hour or so. You'll feel dreadful and unable to function but it does give some time for a medical intervention. However, failure is incredibly rare tbh I'm much more likely to die in some other way!
My EP did offer an ablation for my flutter but it didn't have a high degree of permanent success and it would have been a very lengthy procedure under heavy sedation. The AV node ablation is very quick, straightforward, less risky and has a very high success rate in terms of improving QOL. Mine took less than an hour. I think the most important thing is to ensure your pacemaker settings are correct for you. Mine were most definitely not but I had someone who listened to me and was prepared to make fairly radical changes to the modes and the parameters of the rate. Please don't hesitate to contact me by pm if I can help in any way.