dizziness

[john.m]

hi evryone,,i am 4 months post op mitral valve surgery,,before surgey i sufferd 3 heat attacks in 10 years,,my first was at age 36 and my last was at age 45,,,the first 2 were minor and i was young so i didn't change my life style (in other words i did not quit smoking). the 3rd. was pretty major and i have been smoke free eversince and i changed my life style,,,i just turned 48 this past may,,to treat my heart attacks they used stints to open the arteries,,last february the doc said my mitral valve had a severe leak and i need surgery,,,so the surgeon said if he seen anything else that might give trouble during the surgery he would fix that to,,,so on march 3rd. i ended up with a mitral valve repair and a triple bypass,,,i was lucky that the mitral valve could be repaired from what i am told instead of a mechanical or pig valve being used,,,i work out almost everyday such as situps,leglifts,lifting 5lb weights and walking atleast 20 minutes,,the problem i have is i seem to feel dizzy and when i i walk the dizzier i kinda feel or i feel lightheaded,,working out on my mat i am fine but when i walk i get dizzier,,is this part of the recovery,,am i expecting to much to soon,,the meds i am on are amodarone,lipitor,cumadine and an asperin,,,could these be making me dizzy,,,has anyone else gone thru this during recovery and did it eventually get better,,,thank u all for your input,,,john

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Why are you on Amiodarone?

I HATE IT when Doc's just put patients on amiodarone as their FIRST choice for any and all types of post-op arrhythmias because it is the SLEDGE HAMMER of antiarrhymics and is known to 'work' right off.

Do a GOOGLE Search for Amiodarone to find out about it's side effects and the FDA Warning about it's use. Even the manufacturer states that is should be used as the antiarrhymic of LAST RESORT. There has been CONSIDERABLE discussion of this drug on VR.com. To find those discussions, click on "Search" in the Blue Header at the top of the page and type in keyword "amiodarone". That should keep your busy for a while!

Have you told your Primary Care Physician (PCP) or Cardiologist about your dizzyness?

'AL Capshaw'

 

[JimL]

John, I think Al is right to flag the amiodarone. It may not be the cause of your dizziness, but it probably doesn't help much either. I took amiodarone for thirty days about two months after surgery because of some heart irregularity. At first it worked great, but by the end of the thirty days, it was not working so great. I checked the Physician's Desk Reference, and one of its side effects is heart irregularity. When your heart isn't beating in the right rhythm, blood isn't circulating properly, and dizziness is a rather likely effect. Talk to your cardiologist about getting off the amiodarone as soon as possible. It may not be a good idea just to stop the drug on your own.