Back in the hospital :(

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A

Andrea

Well folks heres a warning... Just when you think you're getting back to normal you may not be.

I just spent almost a week in CCU because of steam cleaning. I have been working my butt off at work in a new position and thought my health was pretty much back to normal except I'm a bit out of shape. I decided one Sunday that I would steam clean the carpet which is something that I normally do every few months as I have 2 kids under 4. Well Sunday evening rolled around and my pulse was high... real high. It was so fast I couldnt even keep up with it to count it (and I was a patient tech at a hospital for years). I went to the ER after trying to ignore it for a couple hours and they got a reading of over 190. They rushed me back and a team of people came in to work on me which freaked me out because I had walked into the ER just fine and didnt think it was quite that bad. The ER Doc gave me an IV med and told me I was going to blackout. Actually what he was doing was stopping my heart and restarting it to bring down my pulse and try to regain a normal synus rythym. I was in Atril fib and they couldnt pull me out of it for a few days.

So just a warning... when they say dont over-do it THEY MEAN IT! :)
 
Hi Andrea,

Glad you have it under control. Have felt that sensation before. Like my heart wanted to speed up. Took my pulse and it was within normal range. I am beta blocked so it really helps in keeping my heart rate down.

Without the medication..... issues would be much different. Tried to come off it once without sucess..so guess I am in it for the long haul.

Take care.
PS. My carpet is ready for a good cleaning. Think I will call Sears to help me out;)
 
I'm so sorry Andrea! I'm glad it is back under control. You can tolerate that high rate for just so long and then you can crash pretty fast. It was very rapid atrial fib that finally forced me into the ER last December and led to the discovery of rheumatic heart disease.

Are you back in sinus rhythm? Are you on any new medications?
 
Hey lady, stay away from future hospital visits will ya? I think you've been there enough now.

I've been "talking" for over a year about steam cleaning mine. It still hasn't gotten done, but yet the machine sits beside me like a trusty steed as I type this. :(
 
That's really scary, Andrea. When they tell us to take it easy, we don't really always know what's easy, do we? Steam cleaning seems not all that much, but I guess it is. Like Ross, mine is sitting there.
 
Hi Andrea-

I'm very sorry to hear that you had this happen. Afib is no fun at all. Joe is in chronic afib, and he can't take any of the ordinary meds for it, it's just something he has to live with. His heart rate isn't as high as you experienced, though.

I hope from now on, all will be well for you.

Take care,
 
Hi Andrea

So glad you are back out of the hospital....are you back in NSR???I'm sure you were terrified. I know from Tyce's experience that it is not the place you want to be.

TAKE IT EASY!!! What did they put you on?

Evelyn
 
Andrea, this must be so frustrating for you. I know how hard it is to be away from your children, I'm glad that you're back at home and that they were able to finally control the A-fib. Are you taking anything as a preventative measure? I'm on Metropolol for a fast heart rate and I've seen it mentioned here that it's also used for A-fib.
A-M

I have to steam clean my carpets as well, I think I'll tell my husband it's high risk and that he has to do it!
 
Andrea,

Andrea,

Glad to hear that you are doing well. When I used to get SVT for hours I would head to ER to get them to stop it. Once they gave me something through my IV. They didn't warn me that I would "crash". I guess it stops your heart from what I understand. It brought tears to my eyes as I never expected this sensation I experienced. After that....I signed up for an ablation. I didn't want to go through that again!

Take it easy.

Gisele
 
I'm glad things are back under control. Those kids need you so TAKE IT EASY! Trust me, I know how hard it is to take it easy. I'm being watched like a hawk by everyone around me since I also tend to "forget" that I just had surgery not long ago. I'm so glad things are a little more back to normal for you. I also have two young kids (2 and 5) so I can completely relate to what you are saying. From what I hear, I takes a good complete year to completely recuperate from surgery (in general). I have to remind myself of that every day. Take care girl! From your neighbor Caroline
 
Well Andrea, I've been thinking about this and what you said about listening to "take things slow" and today I decided I will do just that. I felt really great yesterday but today not very well and I really think I might have overdone it yesterday.

You didn't tell us what changes they made in your medications or if your are back in sinus rhythm or not.

Gisele, I've had that chemical cardioverting done twice in the ER. I didn't like it at all!
 
Back in the hospital

Back in the hospital

Dear Andrea,sorry to hear u had to go to the hospital .
I had to have an ablation last week for a similar problem
spent half of july in an d out of the Er with heart rates of 250.
THe procedure was painless .
It's common after surgeries on the heart to have arrythmia
problem's .
Good luck to you . I See by your profile we are close in age :)
Dara
Tricuspid valve replacement feb 9th 2001
Dr Fuster ( my angel)
Dr


( surgeon)
 
hi andrea!
i'm so sorry you had to go through this!!! how scary!!
i am , however, glad that all is well now (it is, isn't it?)

dara,
where did you have your ablation done? in NY? by whom?

wishing you all the best. be well, sylvia
 
I am in normal synus rhythum now. They took me off of all of my everyday meds and put me on metropolol and tabocor. Of course I am still on Coumadin and my prn meds like lasix but these new meds are supposed to keep your heart rate low and regular.

Does anyone know about how different heart meds can affect weight gain or loss?

Andrea
 
Nancy should be able to help a bit on that question. I would imagine that since we are all different, the drugs would affect each of us differently too, but she's seen alot with Joe, so maybe she can advise.
 
Let this be a lesson for us all

Let this be a lesson for us all

DIRT DOESN'T KILL; cleaning does :D

I think I'll make that my slogan.

Andrea, I'm so sorry you've had such a bad time. Please take it easy; my doc said 6 months before doing such things; I really haven't admitted to my husband that it's no longer dangerous to lift those grocery bags with the canned goods.:rolleyes: Maybe when I hit a year . . .

Hope you can stay out of there. And I'm glad you shared, because there are a bunch of recent surgery types who need a reminder ( who aren't such born-slugs as I).
 
Andrea - Glad you're back on a slower beat kiddo. Let that housework go for awhile, or find someone to help out. Please start looking out for yourself. As far as I know, the beta blockers have no affect on weight loss or gain. I've been on toprol for quite a while, and that, per se, has made no difference. "The pill book" soesn't say anything about weight gain/loss. Chris
 
Andrea,

Good to know you're better.

And, I must admit, reading your post jolted me a bit...if only b/c I'm realizing I may be doing too much.... I've considered calling in sick to work a day sometime, but I'm not exactly one to give in that easily. But, I haven't been feeling well...can't sleep, etc....so, after reading your situation, I just might...if only for my own health and sanity....

Aye...trials and tribulations.....

Peace...always,
Cort S, pig's valve & pacemaker-enhanced 29/swm
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Hi Andrea-

The medications you are on may be very necessary for you. I will only tell you what had been true for Joe.

Joe was tried a couple of times on Metoprolol. It caused large fluid retention both times. One of those times was in a very controlled hospital setting. I guess for some it is a wonderful drug, but Joe has chronic and troublesome CHF and can have kidney failure, so that is not a good drug for him. I myself was on Inderal, which is similar, for hypertension, and found that it did put on weight. I am no longer on it. But if you need to be on it, then discuss this with your doctor. It is not a drug that you can just stop at will. Like any good medication, there are always side affects. The help it is giving you may be more important than the weight issue. It slows down your heart rate and also slows down your metabolism.

Tambacor is an anti-arrhythmic, he hasn't been on that, and probably can't be, even though he has chronic afib, because of a possible drug interaction.

Here's a drug info. link:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
 
Hi Andrea,

I am glad you back in sinus rhythm. I have been on flecanide(Tambacor) since last December. I can take very few drugs without my weight being affected adversely but flecanide doesn't seem to affect it one way or another. I was put on it again post operatively and was told I might be able to come off it in 6 months to a year once my heart has had time to heal and hopefully my left atrium can return to a more normal size.

What dose did they put you on?

I hope you start feeling better again soon.
 

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