Blood pressure change? And murmur.

[KatherineA]

My BP meds were all changed around by Cleveland. January 7. They’ve been awesome and BP steady even under stress, until this week. I take Amlidopine once a day lowest dose available and Lopressor twice a day. Also lowest dose. I take the Amlidopine and one Lopressor in the morning first thing.

The last week to 10 days, I’ve had a cold, that became bronchitis (light). I went to Urgent Care because, of course, I started wheezing badly late afternoon on a Friday.

I was given an antibiotic- 5 day course. Also Prednisone for 5 days, 3 pills then 2 pills now the last day of one pill of the steroid.

Since the sickness, My BP stays in the 150/80 range until noon ish. Then usually comes back to the 120 ish or below for the rest of the day. I’ve been takin* it random times during the day because I can tell it’s higher than the 120 or below desirable range

The I’m leaning toward riding this our for another few days before bothering my doctor until the prednisone is out of my system. And my congestion is better.

I do not have a local cardiologist yet. It is so hard to find one here or I need to decide if I’m traveling to DC or Northern Virginia for a “local” one ( 45-65 miles) So, I use my GP for now while I send my records out to those that aren’t too far to see if they will have me.

also the murmur, according to Urgent Care was “very distinct”. That doctor was “concerned”, she even said “worried” that the cold/bronchitis was causing pulmonary pressure too much. That was an issue prior to surgery.


Also new this week - I started cardiac rehab. This has been about 20 min of VERY light exercises, at least to me. I’ve been doing more and fast walking at home at least up until the cold. Then, I went back to yoga breath work and seated or static stretches. Not active type yoga poses or flowing like Sun Salutations. While the exercises are light, I drive 45 min each way to this, I don’t like crowded places inside with strangers in a hospital setting. I still have some residual PTSD fro ICU? surgery? I’m not sure how much adrenaline this is making. Probably some for sure.

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[KatherineA]

The prednisone seems to have left the building. I dropped a pound overnight and BP is back to normal. Yay

I am wondering about the post surgery murmur. I found a couple old threads on this. But not much information. Are these murmurs common? Do they indicate anything specific or are they completely dependent on the individual?

 

[tom in MO]

I had a mechanical valve put in so it clicks, but no murmur. However I didn't have a "nip tuck" for an aneurysm either. If you are concerned, I'd call Cleaveland Clinic and see what they say. I would also get a local cardiologist sooner rather than later. I'm kind of surprised Cleveland Clinic didn't address this aspect of your care before you went home. For me, my after surgery care was delivered by my cardiologist and the nurses that run the cardiac rehabilitation clinic, also run by my cardiologist group.

 

[KatherineA]

I’m sure they didn’t think it would be so hard to find a local cardiologist. Neither did I. I wasted 6-8 weeks finding a pompous jerk for what was supposed to be the 5-6 week checkup who refused to discuss anything. I won’t go back there.

My GP is awesome and I’ll go there until April and keep looking for a cardiologist who is within driving range


i did call the Cleveland nurse line. They really could not help long distance.

I’ll be going back to Cleveland for a 4 month follow up in early April.

 

[tom in MO]

Well if your GP will handle it you are lucky. I know that is the case for people who live in rural areas. Try asking your insurance company that can be helpful or better yet, ask the other patients in cardiac rehab.

 

[Protimenow]

That's a long drive for a cardiac rehab appointment. Perhaps you can do some aerobic stuff in the car while driving - pushing against the steering wheel, deep breathing, and other stuff.

All kidding aside, you might ask them to give you a list of (and instructions for) the stretches and other things that they normally have you do when you're there. I can't imagine that there's much that you can't do at home. (Of course, they can't charge for your visits if you're doing the work at home). You may convince them that it's less risk to you, and them, to stay away from them until it's safe to leave your self isolation.

FWIW - my wife's physical therapist is closing for the next week - and probably much longer. Unless the therapist has some REALLY LONG arms, it's awfully hard to maintain the six foot distance from the client.

Also - I just canceled a PT appointment that I had scheduled for next week - probably beating them to the punch.

Another also - it seems that telemedicine is becoming a major part of care - you communicate by phone, or Skype or another service, and usually don't have to go to the doctor. The White House is encouraging this for most patients. Perhaps the Cleveland Clinic has set this up.

I'm interested in how your cardiac rehab will respond to your request.

 

[rich01]

If you call your local hospital, they might be able to hook you up with a cardiologist.

 

[KatherineA]

Thanks all. The rehab is likely temporarily closing this week to comply with required distances between us, especially when every one shows up. Per the CDC and others. I am not sad about this at all, although, I will miss the structure. I am not good at making time for treadmills on my own and those other machines. But, I will have to be better at it for the next couple, few??? weeks. My spouse no longer has his gym, so we have agreed to walk the Appalachian trail areas around us and other fun stuff (outside treadmills)

I have an appointment (Yay!) with a cardiologist who is not too far (45 min, the standard range for here). I hope we like each other ok as his location is close to other professionals I see.