Tachycardia

Hey, I'm a 31 male who recently underwent a mitral valve replacement on June 7th, after two successful repairs once at 6, and other at 20, they decided it was time to replace it. I went with the on x mechanical valve. After my surgery fluid was around my lungs pretty bad so I was in the hospital a week, and my heart rate was around 105-115 depending on my pain and anxiety levels, then after my one week at home I saw my GP, and was told to go to the er because my heart rate was 135 after getting in her office, but that's what it normally is after light walking. My cardiologist saw me in the hospital, echo is great, ekg they say is fine. They say my tachycardia is from the healing process, and should go away with time. I'm wondering if anyone else dealt with tachycardia like this and how long it lasted before it subsided? Ok thanks.

I had a repair and I don't recall tachy but If your cardio says it part of the healing process, good to know. Make sure you follow up.

Scruffydragons said:

They say my tachycardia is from the healing process, and should go away with time.

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directly after surgery my HR sat at 120 for some time, so they introduced me to Metoprolol (presumably, because of that but maybe its more common generally).

I was on this for a few months and then I came off it. I recall some time after that (within a year) I had bouts of 120 again which could be brought under control by deep (no I mean it deep) breaths, hold, slowly release and again deep (and slow) hold ... cycles would bring it back.

during this time I was sensitive to alcohol and a drink would send it bat5hit again. However after a few months it not only lessened I was able to resume (gradually, tentatively...) resuming my normal alcohol intake (a beer in the afternoon in summer an or a glass or two of red in the evenings around dinner with occasional more intake with friends over dinner evenings).

I had been fine since then (so that's over 10 years now) and it gradually manifest again in Nov as occasional off beats and then rapid rates in bursts to eventually full blown hits that continued for some time. During this period I discovered that laying on my LHS abated it ... but in the end that failed too. I'm now taking metoprolol again.

You should know that (as a deep part of my personality) I have sought an aetiology (structural or environmental cause) of this but so far nada.

Who knows what the ocean will wash up on the beach tomorrow.

Best Wishes

From everything I have read, many people have elevated heart rates after OHS. Many people on this forum have reported it. FWIW, mine was elevated after surgery too.

Many surgeons/cardiologists will put the patient on Metoprolol (as pellicle points out above). It’s a beta blocker and will lower your heart rate. Many people here have been put on it after surgery specifically to lower the elevated heart rate. This is done to protect the heart.

I too was put on it after surgery. However, I actually had to bring it up with the surgeon because he thought that the staff already had me on it. Once I told him that I wasn’t on it and that I thought that I needed to be on it, he put me on it ASAP.

I slowly weaned off of it during the first month of recovery by watching my resting heart rate fall and then slowly adjusting the level. You should do this in concert with your cardiologist.

FWIW, I’m 8 weeks post op and my heart resting rate is about 10bpm more than before surgery.

I was at a heart rate of around 100 bpm for the first week post AVR. At some stage during the week I started Bisoprolol 5 mg per day and after a couple of weeks my heart rate was back to normal. They reduced the dose to 2.5mg after 6 weeks as I was getting periods of light-headedness when I'd stand and my heart rate was dropping below 50 bpm. They took me off it completely at my 3 month check up and my heart rate and BP are perfect ever since (6 months).

After my surgery (Dec. 2020, first peak of COVID) I also had fluid around my lungs after my surgery. It was monitored while I was in the hospital. I also spent a week in the hospital. I had to stay in my hospital room, no roaming (walking) the hall, which I think didn’t help. Plus, no visitors. I was to follow-up with an Xray, I think, my first week after being home. The fluid had worsened, all my walking and breathing exercise didn’t help. The procedure thoracentesis was performed the next day and what a difference! Amazing! Reading about the procedure was a little intimidating but the procedure was easy. There wasn’t anything said about my heart rate, they were concerned about the amount of fluid.

I had heart surgery at 31, and it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Despite my discomfort and repeatedly expressing that something didn’t feel right, I felt like the doctors kept insisting everything was fine. I was moved to a new room with an older roommate, which wasn’t the issue, but it seemed like no one was really listening to me.

After my surgery, a caring physician sent me to the ER. The ER staff decided to send me by ambulance to another hospital, where they also said everything was fine and sent me home.

Three weeks later, during a follow-up visit, they finally discovered fluid in my lungs. During my stay at the hospital, I ended up losing a significant amount of blood because something had broken open, which was extremely frightening. I stayed there for a week until another doctor addressed the issue and helped me recover.

While I’m grateful to be alive, I wish there had been clearer communication about why I was bleeding and why additional intervention was needed. I’m sharing this to highlight the importance of truly listening to patients and taking their concerns seriously. If this had been someone older, the situation could have been even more critical. I hope my story underscores the need for attentive care and clear communication.

I eventually became normal heart rate not tachy, and able to live a normal life! I just wanted to share my story. If anyone needs help, let me know. I know this stuff can be scary, but it's worth it. It gives you your life back.

Going to add my anecdotal experience on here.. Had my procedure 4-weeks ago, yesterday (27M). Pre-surgery my HR was 65-70 resting and 85-90 with walking.

There was 1 day post-op where my HR was my pre-surgery level. Since, I have been running fast. In the hospital for the first 4-5 days my HR was 100-110 at rest (they started me on 50mg Metoprolol 2x/day) and when I returned home, for the first 2-weeks it was still 95-100 at rest and spiked to 125-130 with any walking (not speed walking but anytime I was on my feet). The last 2-weeks it has started to normalize. When I am sleeping my HR is between 75-85 and during the day, my resting HR is 80-85 and gets up to 95-110 depending on how vigorous I am doing an activity. My Metoprolol dose has been adjusted to 25mg 2x/day (from 50mg) since I was having hypotensive episodes. My BP is ~ 115/70 at the start of each dose when I take it.

From what my surgeon told me, which is the entire point of this post, for whatever reason (he does not know) he sees more episodes of tachycardia in younger patients. Younger heart surgery patients being <40 in his eyes. He says typically this normalizes over 6-months to 1-year and he uses the beta blocker as a bridge until then. My plan is to continue to monitor my HR, ensure I am properly hydrated and watch/wait. I'd love to discontinue the metoprolol ASAP but not at the expense of a faster heart rate. I am not worried about it, as my rate is regular (well-- regular irregular-- my pulse skips a beat has an abnormal beat every time I inhale-- but it was that way prior to surgery and my cardiologist does not seem concerned) and I have no symptoms or increased dyspnea or exhaustion.

Time will tell

My surgeon said the heart is "irritable" after surgery, so it can take months for the HR to come down. That was my experience too.