Heart beating in my ears, getting tired of it.

[coryp]

Hello,

I am 7 weeks out of vr replacement and Aneurysm repair (hemi-arch).

That dreadful heart beat sensation and shake in the neck and ears had left me after 4 weeks post op, but now over the last 2 weeks the STRONG and loud heart beat only way I can describe it (becasue it is not the same feeling as right after surgery) has now become a regularity. It started little by little mostly when I was laying down especially on my sides, but has increased in duration and become more constant as the days go by, as I write this email sitting in my office chair I have the beating in my ears and can see my corrodeds in my neck going in and out when I look in the mirror. When it is real quiet my wife can hear the sound if she puts her head near my chest.

Funny thing is my heartrate is normal 64-69. I am going to see the surgeon tomorrow as my incision is still a bit red and a little blood squirted out the other day when I squeezed it so he wants to be sure everything is ok. My Internist thinks that these are harmless palpitations?? Beleive me it is not harmless but cumbersome when trying to sleep and every position you move into causes you to feel and hear the heart beating.

Anyone with similar issues to report or any advice? I wonder if this could be caused by infection? I do not think that I am infected because I have no symtoms except the redness and the little bit of drainage.


HEY I THOUGHT I GOT A TISSUE VALVE!!! MAYBE THEY PUT IN A ST JUDES BY ACCIDENT!!!

 

[gadgetman]

I had a simular experience about 7 weeks post. I went in one morning to shave, etc. and looked in the mirror. Imagine my surprise to see the vein in my left throat doing a great dance. It looked really strange. I didn't feel anything and my blood pressure was OK. It went away after a while. I saw my Cardio shortly afterwards and he said that was normal and probably due to the sudden increase in circulation (he had one of those three million dollar words for it). In other words my heart was working better than it had in years. He said it would go away with time and it did. I still have nights where I am aware of my heartbeat, usually when laying on my side. Sometimes the background noise of the TV or radio will help. Other nights, I finally give up and return to my recliner. A paradox, why can someone get a good nights sleep in a recliner on your back but not be able to accomplish the same thing laying on your back in the bed?????????

Hopefully things will improve with time but don't be reluctant to let your Cardio know. Mine finally gave me some pills (for some reason doesn't like Tylenol PM) to help me sleep. They help some.

May God Bless,

Danny

 

[geebee]

A paradox, why can someone get a good nights sleep in a recliner on your back but not be able to accomplish the same thing laying on your back in the bed????????

I often fall asleep in my recliner and then decide to go to bed. Lo and behold, once I get to bed, I can't go back to sleep.

There must be some explanation somewhere.

 

[mmarshall]

hey cory...i had the same thing when i would lay down on my couch or if i was laying on my back and had a pillow next to one of my ears...its got annoying but it was nothing like what you are describing. my cardio put me on a beta blocker...coreg..and it seems like it has gone away in the last week or so. i am on the beta blocker because my cardio wants to slow the heart rate down and what not to try to get my heart muscle back to normal...or as close as it can get...my left ventricle was at 81mm before surgery. so im sure the med has helped out some. i did ask my cardio about the heart beating thing and he told me that it is normal....the heart muscle is use to working over time with the bicuspid valve...so it is still working in that same manner even though you have a new working valve. i was told that it will take time for the heart to realize that and pump the way it is suppose to. but definitely ask your surgeon/cardio about it. you never know with these things....mine was a consistant heart beat...just make sure it is not afib or irregular heart beat with the heavy beat.

 

[cgv]

cgv

cgv

Is your pulse irregular? I have had a similiar experience, but it is due to PVCs. I had a tissue valve as well with no other heart issues or symptoms prior to surgery. I am now 9 weeks post-op. I noticed an irregular heartbeat and the thumping and head moving a few days after I returned home from the hospital. My surgeon put me on coumadin as a precaution due to the irregular heartbeats. I later had a holter test which indicated the PVCs and no a-fib, so I was taken off the coumadin. I was still on lisinopryl and lopressor and my BP and pulse were quite low. I had several discussions with my cardio and nurse practictioners regarding the lopressor. It seemed counterintuitive to me how a medication that slows your pulse could help solve a problem that was due to the left ventricle prematurely trying to pulse at a normal rate.

I had gotten up to walking about two hours a day and then decided to try an aerobics class at the gym (at a much slower pace than preop of course). That was about three weeks ago. That night I couldn't sleep at all. My head was bouncing around like a jumping bean. This continued for several more days and I started getting short of breath to the point where I couldn't walk across the room without getting winded. I saw my surgeon on that Thursday and he immediately ordered an catscan (to rule out a blood clot) and an echo. It turns out I had considerable fluid buildup and went in on saturday (7/16) for drainage. They drained a liter of fluid and I spent the night at the hospital with the tube in, then home the next day. The surgeon said he couldn't get all of the fluid out (got about 4/5) but expected the remaining should be absorbed over time. He took me off the lisinopryl and lopressor and put me on indocin ( anti-inflammatory).

It is now 12 days since the last surgery and I am back up to an hour a day walking. I still get the PVCs and some minor head movement when laying down, but it is no where near as severe and doesn't last very long. I am now only taking 81mg of aspirin a day - no beta blockers or ace inhibitors. I do take a xanax (.5mg) about two hours before I go to bed, but I had been doing this for a while preop due to anxiety when trying to fall asleeep. My BP and pulse are back to a normal range and the PVCs ( hopefully) are on their way out.
Supposedly PVCs are benign, but they can make you crazy. They turned out to be the worst part of the whole VR experience.

 

[tobagotwo]

Although your heart is having an easier time pushing the blood, it may still be pumping in hyperdynamic mode for a while. While the heart rate may be fine, the actual pump motion itself may be more energetic than it needs to be to do the job.

In short, it sometimes takes a while for the heart to develop a calmer, gentler self, where the pumping is more relaxed and less noticeable. Aso, if the heart chambers are reducing in size, the heart has to continually readjust its rhythm to the new conformations, and that is not an entirely smooth process. It will produce some palpitations and some hammer-heart episodes.

Check your post-surgery echo, which you will likely have in the next few weeks for reductions in left ventricle sizes,and possibly atrial sizes as well. That will help tell how your heart is adjusting.

 

[Kahunaz]

Me To!!

Me To!!

I am 5-6 months out...and I to have the heart beating in my ears from time to time....Stupis as it sounds...I had the wax cleaned from my ears and the problem is almost gone....Go Figure...

That's the least of my problems...I still have the open wound in my backside..and still have the dropfoot and can't walk well...Boo-Hoo!!

Carmen

 

[William]

I'm almost post 8 months and I can hear the beat at times. Mostly when I lay in certain positions. I sleep with a fan going for the "white noise" effect. I wish my heart rate was in the 60s, it's more like in the 90s. Before OHS it was in the high 50s and 60s, but now it's much higher and the doc's don't seem to concerned as long as it's not in the 120s and above. I was told the heart will calm down after some time and it has been awhile. Will

 

[coryp]

hey cory...i had the same thing when i would lay down on my couch or if i was laying on my back and had a pillow next to one of my ears...its got annoying but it was nothing like what you are describing. my cardio put me on a beta blocker...coreg..and it seems like it has gone away in the last week or so. i am on the beta blocker because my cardio wants to slow the heart rate down and what not to try to get my heart muscle back to normal...or as close as it can get...my left ventricle was at 81mm before surgery. so im sure the med has helped out some. i did ask my cardio about the heart beating thing and he told me that it is normal....the heart muscle is use to working over time with the bicuspid valve...so it is still working in that same manner even though you have a new working valve. i was told that it will take time for the heart to realize that and pump the way it is suppose to. but definitely ask your surgeon/cardio about it. you never know with these things....mine was a consistant heart beat...just make sure it is not afib or irregular heart beat with the heavy beat.

Thanks but mine is really loud, could anyone in the house hear it? My wife could hear it this AM. mY PULSE IS NORMAL 64-69BPM. Does not seem irregular in anyway.

thank you

 

[coryp]

I had a simular experience about 7 weeks post. I went in one morning to shave, etc. and looked in the mirror. Imagine my surprise to see the vein in my left throat doing a great dance. It looked really strange. I didn't feel anything and my blood pressure was OK. It went away after a while. I saw my Cardio shortly afterwards and he said that was normal and probably due to the sudden increase in circulation (he had one of those three million dollar words for it). In other words my heart was working better than it had in years. He said it would go away with time and it did. I still have nights where I am aware of my heartbeat, usually when laying on my side. Sometimes the background noise of the TV or radio will help. Other nights, I finally give up and return to my recliner. A paradox, why can someone get a good nights sleep in a recliner on your back but not be able to accomplish the same thing laying on your back in the bed?????????

Hopefully things will improve with time but don't be reluctant to let your Cardio know. Mine finally gave me some pills (for some reason doesn't like Tylenol PM) to help me sleep. They help some.

May God Bless,

Danny

You sound very similar to me, bp ok and more noisy when pressing the chest wall like laying on my side. Can anyone hear it?%
It really does not bother me to go to sleep, but I have been waking up in the am early 4-5am and it makes it more difficult to go back to sleep becasue I can feel and hear it.

 

[coryp]

I had a simular experience about 7 weeks post. I went in one morning to shave, etc. and looked in the mirror. Imagine my surprise to see the vein in my left throat doing a great dance. It looked really strange. I didn't feel anything and my blood pressure was OK. It went away after a while. I saw my Cardio shortly afterwards and he said that was normal and probably due to the sudden increase in circulation (he had one of those three million dollar words for it). In other words my heart was working better than it had in years. He said it would go away with time and it did. I still have nights where I am aware of my heartbeat, usually when laying on my side. Sometimes the background noise of the TV or radio will help. Other nights, I finally give up and return to my recliner. A paradox, why can someone get a good nights sleep in a recliner on your back but not be able to accomplish the same thing laying on your back in the bed?????????

Hopefully things will improve with time but don't be reluctant to let your Cardio know. Mine finally gave me some pills (for some reason doesn't like Tylenol PM) to help me sleep. They help some.

May God Bless,

Danny

You sound very similar to me, bp ok and more noisy when pressing the chest wall like laying on my side. Can anyone hear it?%
It really does not bother me to go to sleep, but I have been waking up in the am early 4-5am and it makes it more difficult to go back to sleep becasue I can feel and hear it.

thx

 

[coryp]

Is your pulse irregular? I have had a similiar experience, but it is due to PVCs. I had a tissue valve as well with no other heart issues or symptoms prior to surgery. I am now 9 weeks post-op. I noticed an irregular heartbeat and the thumping and head moving a few days after I returned home from the hospital. My surgeon put me on coumadin as a precaution due to the irregular heartbeats. I later had a holter test which indicated the PVCs and no a-fib, so I was taken off the coumadin. I was still on lisinopryl and lopressor and my BP and pulse were quite low. I had several discussions with my cardio and nurse practictioners regarding the lopressor. It seemed counterintuitive to me how a medication that slows your pulse could help solve a problem that was due to the left ventricle prematurely trying to pulse at a normal rate.

I had gotten up to walking about two hours a day and then decided to try an aerobics class at the gym (at a much slower pace than preop of course). That was about three weeks ago. That night I couldn't sleep at all. My head was bouncing around like a jumping bean. This continued for several more days and I started getting short of breath to the point where I couldn't walk across the room without getting winded. I saw my surgeon on that Thursday and he immediately ordered an catscan (to rule out a blood clot) and an echo. It turns out I had considerable fluid buildup and went in on saturday (7/16) for drainage. They drained a liter of fluid and I spent the night at the hospital with the tube in, then home the next day. The surgeon said he couldn't get all of the fluid out (got about 4/5) but expected the remaining should be absorbed over time. He took me off the lisinopryl and lopressor and put me on indocin ( anti-inflammatory).

It is now 12 days since the last surgery and I am back up to an hour a day walking. I still get the PVCs and some minor head movement when laying down, but it is no where near as severe and doesn't last very long. I am now only taking 81mg of aspirin a day - no beta blockers or ace inhibitors. I do take a xanax (.5mg) about two hours before I go to bed, but I had been doing this for a while preop due to anxiety when trying to fall asleeep. My BP and pulse are back to a normal range and the PVCs ( hopefully) are on their way out.
Supposedly PVCs are benign, but they can make you crazy. They turned out to be the worst part of the whole VR experience.

Sorry to hear about your experience,


I had a similar experience after surgery (the head bouncing and shaking due to the strong beats) but that subsided 4 weeks after surgery and I was clean for 1 week, then these LOUD beats started about 12 days ago and have gotten a little worse (increase in occurance) over that time as well. I walk 5 miles a day in 70 minutes (2 walks) and try to use the stairmaster if I can. I have not found it hard to breathe as you mentioned at all, actually the more I walk the more my pulse decreases. My bp is ok 106/66 and the only meds I take are 50mg Atenolo (x2) 80mg diovan (x1) 20mg zocor (x1).

Could anyone hear your heart beats?

 

[901]

Hello,

I am 7 weeks out of vr replacement and Aneurysm repair (hemi-arch).

That dreadful heart beat sensation and shake in the neck and ears had left me after 4 weeks post op, but now over the last 2 weeks the STRONG and loud heart beat only way I can describe it (becasue it is not the same feeling as right after surgery) has now become a regularity. It started little by little mostly when I was laying down especially on my sides, but has increased in duration and become more constant as the days go by, as I write this email sitting in my office chair I have the beating in my ears and can see my corrodeds in my neck going in and out when I look in the mirror. When it is real quiet my wife can hear the sound if she puts her head near my chest.

Funny thing is my heartrate is normal 64-69. I am going to see the surgeon tomorrow as my incision is still a bit red and a little blood squirted out the other day when I squeezed it so he wants to be sure everything is ok. My Internist thinks that these are harmless palpitations?? Beleive me it is not harmless but cumbersome when trying to sleep and every position you move into causes you to feel and hear the heart beating.

Anyone with similar issues to report or any advice? I wonder if this could be caused by infection? I do not think that I am infected because I have no symtoms except the redness and the little bit of drainage.


HEY I THOUGHT I GOT A TISSUE VALVE!!! MAYBE THEY PUT IN A ST JUDES BY ACCIDENT!%2!!

I have a similar noise in my left ear. But, I already had Tinnitius before surgery where I hear a noise like a Niagra Falls in my left ear all the time. Now, it's a pulsing waterfall! I can count my pulse just by watching a clock and counting the pulses in my left ear, no need for pressing fingers anywhere. The noise has caused a loss of hearing in that ear. I've gotten used to it because I've had it for something like 25 years, It is more noticable when I'm somewhere quiet. Then it%'s like a pounding headache except that there isn't any pain.

 

[CCRN]

The beat goes on.

The beat goes on.

Thanks but mine is really loud, could anyone in the house hear it? My wife could hear it this AM. mY PULSE IS NORMAL 64-69BPM. Does not seem irregular in anyway.

thank you

My husband can hear my heartbeat from a foot away at times. I have a mechanical but there's no click. It's just a very loud "Thump" sound. It has gone away at times and I can bring it back with a deep breath but it doesn't bother me much. You're in good shape and apparently a runner, right? Maybe you just have a really good ejection fraction that's not yet adjusted to the new pathway it suddenly got. I hope they get to the bottom of your wound issue quick. You have enough annoyance to deal with right now without adding another. Best wishes and hope this helps.

RBG

 

[RCB]

Hit the nail on the Head!

Hit the nail on the Head!

Bob nailed it!

Saw a lecture put on by the U. of Seatle in WH by Johnny Stevens' doctor. They descripted it perfectly. They show how the heart can be segmented in to one long
pumping tube, like a snake heart. Mammal's heart have evolved to have a more efficient pumping machine by wrapping itself around itself so they muscle alignment from one chamber, helps the other chamber. This works well when the heart stays in its trianglar shape. However when the heart
has to pump more blood due to a bad valve, the heart become muscle-bound
and the chamber inside become smaller. Thus the heart goes in to a vicious
cycle resulting in enlargement of the heart muscle, which changes the shape
of the heart from a triangle to a sphere. This "remodeling" cause the heart to beat with a voilent banging instead of an efficient "swossh". You tend not to notice the change, because it happens very gradually. Then all of a sudden it becomes pronounced and you become very aware of it. After surgery, in some people, having this new efficiency- the heart really begins
to "bang away" because it hasn't "realize" it is not necessary anymore. Hopefully, as the heart begins to remodel itself back to the old shape, the banging will stop and the easy going "swoosh " will return.
Because I made the mistake of waiting to long for surgery, my heart has not return to its normal size and shape. I also am in A-fib, so even with two
mech. valves, I may not always hear my heart- but I always feel a slight banging away.

Although your heart is having an easier time pushing the blood, it may still be pumping in hyperdynamic mode for a while. While the heart rate may be fine, the actual pump motion itself may be more energetic than it needs to be to do the job.

In short, it sometimes takes a while for the heart to develop a calmer, gentler self, where the pumping is more relaxed and less noticeable. Aso, if the heart chambers are reducing in size, the heart has to continually readjust its rhythm to the new conformations, and that is not an entirely smooth process. It will produce some palpitations and some hammer-heart episodes.

Check your post-surgery echo, which you will likely have in the next few weeks for reductions in left ventricle sizes,and possibly atrial sizes as well. That will help tell how your heart is adjusting.

 

[coryp]

My husband can hear my heartbeat from a foot away at times. I have a mechanical but there's no click. It's just a very loud "Thump" sound. It has gone away at times and I can bring it back with a deep breath but it doesn't bother me much. You're in good shape and apparently a runner, right? Maybe you just have a really good ejection fraction that's not yet adjusted to the new pathway it suddenly got. I hope they get to the bottom of your wound issue quick. You have enough annoyance to deal with right now without adding another. Best wishes and hope this helps.

RBG

I can bring it up with a deep or holding my breathe as well. My shape could be improved beleive me and I would only consider myself a walker in comparison to Bill Cobbit.

tHANK you I hope it is improved ejection fraction that has not caught up with my heart yet

 

[oscarboy]

I'm over 15 years post-op with my St. Jude's mechanical and I have always had a very loud beat that you can hear in a quite room, if you're close to me and I hold my mouth open - even over the phone sometimes. And if I get worked up..it's very loud. I can feel my pulse in my fingertips, resting or active & I can see the pulsating at the side of my neck and at the base of my throat. My whole body moves slightly with my heart beat - always has since the mechanical valve. I have normal BP, have never been in A-Fib, am not on any beta blockers, have normal echos and TEE's, am not SOB when active, though I do have an occasionac PAC. I did not have any of these issues with the tissue valve I had as a child (I've had two valve replacements). This is life for me with my valve, and it just is the way it is. Docs don't consider me out of the ordinary in terms of mechanical valve patients.
Shelly