After you have had your Electrical Cardioversion it is important that you know what to do in the 48 hours following your procedure.
You must not
- Drive for 48 hours
- Return to work for 48 hours
You can resume normal activities after 24 hours as long as you feel well enough to do so.
You must
- Continue to take your anti-coagulant until you see the cardioversion nurse or cardiologist at your follow up appointment. This is very important because you could still be at risk from blood clots, despite your heart beat returning to normal.
- Continue to take all your other tablets unless your cardioversion nurse has told you otherwise. If you were taking a tablet called digoxin then your cardioversion nurse will have advised you to stop this particular tablet.
- Let your cardioversion nurse or GP know if you think your abnormal heart beat has come back. An ECG test can be arranged to investigate this.
- Attend your follow up appointment so that we can make sure your heart beat is still normal and stop any medications that you may no longer need.
If you need advice
Please contact the cardioversion nurse if you need advice about anything. Contact numbers can be found at the bottom of this leaflet.
If you think your abnormal heart beat has come back and you feel unwell with any of the following symptoms, chest pain, severe breathlessness, severe dizziness, severe ongoing palpitations then you must seek urgent medical advice by calling 999.
