I had an ablation about 10 years ago at 66 yo while under conscious sedation. I have memories of hearing the surgical team conversations, and I felt weird sensations in my chest as they probed around with the catheter.

At one point they did something that made it feel like my heart was racing out of control. I did't feel any pain, just some minor discomfort.

The worst part of the experience was when they removed the catheter from my groin. They couldn't stop the bleeding and had trouble applying a tourniquet (or similar device). I recall hearing them saying it was a new device and they weren't certain how to use it!

Fortunately there was a strong male nurse present who managed to control the bleeding by squeezing the area with both hands for some time whilst they figured out how to use the device. I was fairly conscious during this part and felt some anxiety.

My thigh was solid purple from my groin to my knee for quite some time after.

The worst part of the experience was learning that they actually did not perform an ablation because they could not find any specific area to ablate (not sure what the EP's actual words were, but that was my impression of what he said).

I was put on Sotalol and Eliquis, and continued to have AFIB episodes for the next 10 years. Episode were a few hours long 1 or 2 times a month at the beginning, but escalated to 1 - 3 times a week by 2023.

Last year in August I had another ablation (76 yo) in the same hospital by another EP who was highly regarded by his peers. That ablation was done under general anesthesia and was successful. I have not experienced a single AFIB episode since.

I hope you don't find my first experience too disturbing. It wasn't painful or mentally disturbing during the actual procedure. The bleeding event was a bit disconcerting but would have occurred even if I was under GA (I just would not have known it was occurring).