Good days and bad days

[alicia]

I have had such a streak of good days where I felt energised and back to new or better than ever and then for no reason, wham, I am so fatigued and drained feeling. I have had hardly any energy over the past weekend and today. I havent done anything any different so I dont understand it. Is this part of the cardiomyopathy, CHF, surgery, or what? Feedback please...

Alicia

 

[Nancy]

How's your breathing, and how's your blood count?

 

[Kevin M]

This is totally normal, but it sure feels frustrating doesn't it?
I had the same thing happen to me. Inexplicably, I would have several days in a row where I felt like I had nothing to give. Other days, you feel like you could walk 10 miles.

For me, that lasted for several months. As time went by, the frequency of the fatigue decreased until it finally went away.

If you have no other symptoms, I wouldn't worry too much. Try to remember that you've been through some pretty major trauma and that it takes time for the body to heal. We tend to use those "energized" days as the benchmark, when in fact, we should be more gentle with ourselves.
Kev

 

[alicia]

Hello nancy and Kevin..My breathing is fine and my bloodcount is fine also. It just seems since all the heart problems started I have up and down trends. I guess thats true for everybody though. I feel so darn good for awhile and then out of nowhere I get tired and so fatigued I feel I can barely move around. On those days I try to rest and then when I feel better I try to exercise. Could this be heart related? My cardiologist tells me its normal to have good days and bad days and thats the bodies way of slowing you down for awhile and giving the heart a chance to rest and not work so hard. Does anybody else have this problem?

Alicia

 

[Nancy]

Hi Alicia-

It is quite normal to have good and bad days. Joe has then too, even when his labs are OK. It's just the nature of the beast I guess. Let your body rest when it wants to.

He had an excellent cardiology appointment yesterday, today he's a little tired.

Best wishes,

 

[Granbonny]

Hi Alicia

Hi Alicia

Remember .you have had two surgeries this year. Hard on the bods. Plus, the heat and humid air we have had this summer. I think you are still feeling the effects from your recent surgery. Cool weather has arrived in North Ga. I have more of a spring in my steps when I am out walking. Hope you are not trying to do too much housework, cooking, ect. (Housework makes you ugly) Also, you mentioned losing a lot of weight. Hope you are not starving yourself. I'm trying to lose weight now and notice a lack of energy.Stomach thinks my mouth has gone on a vacation. Try to always eat a good breakfast to get you started for the day. Take care. bonnie

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi alicia!
sounds like how you're feeling is normal. i remember that joey's bad days became less and his good days became more as he recovered. he was very impatient though and was often frustrated at the bad days.
please just try and rest and give it time.
wishing you more good days real soon.
be well, sylvia

 

[alicia]

Hi Bonnie and Sylvia,

Im ready for that cool weather Bonnie. Send some my way please LOL. Hows the grandkids? Sylvia, Hows Joey doing? Is your father better now? Wasnt he real sick awhile back?

Looking back at the year Ive had so far it does make sense that my body poops out at times. Im not getting any younger either.
Im at a standstill on the weight loss. I dont starve myself, I love food too much LOL.

Take care....
Alicia

 

[Karlynn]

Hi all,
I'm 12 years post op (almost). I was so physically debilitated for such a long time before my valve replacement, that it took me 2 years before I reached a level of energy that I was pleased with. Even now a days I sometimes wear out faster than others and all my tests are coming back great.

One thing I had to talk to myself sternly about was giving myself permission to go with the flow. On days I have energy, I do lots of things. On the days now and then when I feel tired (most likely a response to my busy hectic life, like most everyone has) I give myself permission to be a couch potato. If that feeling continues on longer than I think is normal, then it's time to contact the Dr.

We are such a busy society. Do you remember when no stores were open on Sunday and businesses shut down at 5 on weekdays? Now here we all are, benefiting from progress in health care - and sometimes it's all we can do to keep up the pace as our society requires us to be busier people.

Time for a rest now!
Karlynn

 

[Phil]

Alicia,

I just had my 4 year anniversary and accepted a couple of years ago that I'm just not as good as I used to be. My Cardo say's it's just the way it is, lots of good days and some bad days. So enjoy the good days and take it easy on the bad ones.

Phil

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Alicia,

Hope you get to felling better soon.

In my case...felt just dandy before surgery. Could not beleive what they were telling me. Had the surgery (2) of them in a year. Felt like heck for close to twelve months afterwards. Never thought it would stop, but it did. All of the exercise and walking I hear everyone speaking of so soon after surgery did not happen for months! Too weak.

Have been feeling wonderful most of the time for the past 4 years. Yes, we all do have our days. Recently, seems it has nothing to do with my heart

Hang in there....it will get better!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello Alicia,

Good days and bad days are par for the course as everyone has said. Try to look at things on a week to week basis and the trend should be positive if all is well. Keep your spirits up and get away from a constant diet of cardiology. 'Laughter is good medicine' so buy or rent some funny movies.

It might be a good idea to weigh yourself daily, say in the morning in your sleepwear or underwear (no heavy clothes or shoes). Any time your weight 'shoots up' by 3 lbs in a day or 5 lbs over several days, is a good indicator that you are retaining fluid. If that is the case, your Doctor may want to prescribe a diuretic to help control your fluid level. Another test for fluid retention is to press your leg on the shin bone near your ankle. If you see a 'dent' that remains visible after you remove your finger, you are retaining fluid. Your doctor or his nurse can show you how / where to do this.

Best wishes for your recovery,

'AL'

 

[HFK]

Hi Alicia, I have also had up's and downs. My aoartic valve is great,but have moc to severe mitral v innsuf. from surgeon error. Will need mitral valve OHS in nent 2 yrs. I can tell you I did not feel realy good for about year. But since my surgery was 3 yrs ago I can honestly say my body has never been the same. I do have days l;ike your describing not to that extent but just feel tired and some times weak. I think with most serios surgies people are definately better ,but never really feel the same. I have lowered my standard abit and have tried to accept it, Their really is nothing I cant do ,but notice when I push myself with too much exercise, my heart rate goes up too high and stays here too long. Seems like everyone kind of feels this way after OHS. HFK

 

[Susan BAV]

Bad days?! Wait!

Bad days?! Wait!

Wow! This is all a bit depressing to me! I was looking forward to receiving a better valve so I would stop having all of these bad days! Just out of curiosity, do most of you have more good days now than you did with your defective valves before? Do most of you feel better over all? Do most of you feel MUCH better over all? I sure hope so! Thanks, ~Susan

 

[Guest]

I'd say I have more good days than bad days since my surgery....

I'm so glad to know that these "good" vs "bad" day symptoms are generally nothing to worry about, as the last few days I haven't felt my best...perhaps a bit overdoing it . Problem is that some of my co-workers can't imagine that if I'm "bad" one day that nothing seriously is wrong.... In other words, they see me having gone through the surgery and think that everything is going to be fine and that I can handle the stress, etc., on a full-time basis again...that is simply not the case.

Tuesday (yesterday), I left work about 11am and went home "sick"....not because I had a fever, but because I just didn't feel like doing anything. Slept for 3 hours that afternoon. Went back to work today, and had a few "glares" for leaving early...one person even said to me that he didn't see why I had to go home...I looked just fine.

And there inlies the problem, we may look just fine...but inside, far from it....even sometimes 8 months post-op .

Well, good news for me, anyway, is that I see my cardiologist tomorrow...so, no work for me tomorrow... . But, I'm a bit nervous about what they may find....ya never know.......

Peace...Always,
Cort S, pig's valve & pacemaker-enhanced 29/swm
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[Georgia]

I'm seven months out and am amazed and delighted at how well I feel and do most of the time. And I've had 2 colds and cellulitis in my leg in the last 3 weeks. Still am better than before surgery.

I seem to do fine at work - have lost the "fogginess" that plagued me toward the end of the day - it just got later and later and suddenly was gone. I've also lost the end of week exhaustion - certainly welcome weekends, tho.

I really anticipate the fall and look forward to continuing my improvement. I was really debilitated prior to surgery, so this has been an eye-opener for me.

 

[HFK]

Hi Susan ,I mostly have good days and my bad days aren,t like I am laying around or anyhing like that. I also have leaky mitral v. and ended up with pacemaker after surgery,so I am sure that plays some role.I did not have any symptoms before surgery my valve was severly stenotic at .5 so I had to have surgery no mattr how I felt! But you feel bad now and I am sure when they do surgery you will definatel feel better.Remember every bodies situation is a little different ,so please don't get depressed . Good luck and keep your chin up.hfk

 

[fyrfytr]

Hey Susan,
When I was having bad days I don't know if they were because of my aortic valve or the aortic aneurysm or a combination of both. But I can tell you since my surgery I have had very good days. The only thing so far that has got me down has been when it is a very hot day, I don't seem to have the energy I have when it is cooler. I am looking forward to fall. Like HFK said, everyone is going to be a little different.
Take Care

Dave
_________________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical
Heart Center of the Rockies

 

[alicia]

Hello Susan,

My good days far outweigh my bad days. Not only have I had 2 OHS but I also have many other heart realted problems. I feel better than I did before surgery and Im able to do more thank before, but some days I just feel so darn tired and fatiged. Im sure you will do much better with the surgery but dont let me get you depressed. Ive had 3 major surgeries within the last 2 years and 2 of them have been OHS. I developed cardiomyopathy and other heart problems (not from the surgery). Ive also had CHF several times within the last year so I guess its no wonder I have some bad days. Best of luck to you.

Alicia

 

[Johnny Stephens]

I feel MUCH MUCH better overall. I didn't actually realize how sick I was, until I got well. The "bad" days aren't that bad in comparison, and I've only had a very few in the 18 months since my surgery (excluding the acute recovery period , ~ 2 months). Like fyrfytr, I seem to have much less tolerance for the heat - a week-long trip to Disneyland in July (100 degrees) was very hard for me, but I made it!