Posted by Ken Willis on December 05, 2002 at 00:29:50:
In Reply to: chronic a-fib posted by larry on December 04, 2002 at 15:23:59:
Larry,
Unless you're one of the really lucky ones for whom one of the medications stops afibs without unacceptable side effects, my feeling (and experience) is that it's a downhill slide to more frequent, and probably ultimately chronic, afibs. It's just a matter of how fast you get there. The drugs just slow the process down a little, usually at a side-effect price, but the end result is probably the same in many or most instances. In the meantime life isn't a lot of fun.
Unless you've broken through a number of the meds (i.e., gotten afibs despite taking the drugs) short of amiodorone, you may not be a viable candidate for the maze either in the eyes of the hospital or your insurance company. You may want to check that out. It would be good to read Mike Ware's report to this board on what Cleveland Clinic told him about his candidacy for the maze when he went there (in September, I think) not many months after his diagnosis and before he'd undergone any drug therapy. He had an ablation (PVI) at CC on Nov. 25th and was quite enthusiastic about what they're doing there. It doesn't appear that any facility considers the maze as an early-intervention option- it's used after a person suffers through other therapies and fails on them. That doesn't seem to be the case for ablations. But if you're going to have an ablation, my own recommendation would be to go to CC because they seem to be ahead of everyone else in this country there, and their success rate is the highest I've seen. As a person who had an ablation that made my afib problem far worse, I'd be really choosy about where and by whom I got one.
I wish you good luck with finding a solution to your afib problem. The maze worked wonderfully for me (6 months post-surgery I'm in constant normal sinus rhythm, exert myself as much as I want and feel strong), but I had broken through several meds, had an ablation and a dual-site atrial pacemaker (didn't make any difference, good or bad) before I had maze surgery. I sure hope that you can get a solution faster than I did. Good luck to you.
Ken