Heart pounding?

[Ovie]

Before surgery when I laid on my left side, I could always feel my heart beating and it was annoying, after surgery I thought this would change, now I've only been sleeping on my back, but if I'm laying in bed watching TV or whatever, I can just feel my heart pounding through my back, sometimes even like pulsating my head, and it's not always a fast heart beat, sometimes it is, but regardless it's like I'm laying down and someone is just hitting the wall behind me with a sledge hammer. Did anyone else have this problem post-op? I don't think this is something I could ever get use to and I'm praying it's something that goes away in time, but it doesn't make sense to me why it'd be doing it in the first place, what could possibly heal that would stop this? Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated as its become a problem in falli g asleep.

 

[D.C.]

Not sure if mine is the same as yours but was bad at first. I think still the same but brain blocks it most of the time. When I first lay down it is loud but I am kind of used to it. I notice the skip beats when I first lay down. Some times I count them like sheep. Boom asleep.

 

[Ovie]

Yeah, when it first happened I had my headphones on and heard my valve ticking through the speakers, it was pretty cool. But the pounding is no good.

 

[Bill B]

Ovie:

Give it some time. My heart rate was 95 and it was pounding away post-op. Took a couple of weeks to correct. Now, I can still "hear" my heartbeat, but it is not an annoying click and it has faded into the background so I only notice it if I think about it. If it interferes with sleep that much, seek some relief for that. I needed sleeping pills for a week or so.

 

[OldManEmu]

Ovie
It is not unusual to have a high heart rate in the weeks immediately after surgery, after all it has experienced significant trauma with surgery, and this is why most people are put on beta blockers at least temporarily after surgery to slow the heart down and allow it to remodel.
The pounding is also common as the heart take time to become accustomed to pumping without the resistance of stenosis or a leaking valve. Once the heart remodels after a few months the pounding usually abates.

 

[Lionheart]

Ovie,
My heart pounded for a month or two after surgery, but eventually settled down and feels normal now. Our hearts need several months to recover from the trauma of surgery and then a little more time to adapt to the better conditions of the new valve. It's all part of the healing process.
John

 

[Bryan B]

After my first surgery I only experienced this for a short time. I had my 2nd surgery about a year ago and I had my aortic root and ascending aorta replaced and a C-E bovine aortic valve implanted. I have a LOUD pounding heart that is still with me a year later. My normal resting heart rate is about 70 bpm so it has nothing to do with having a fast heart rate. I have my first yearly checkup with my surgeon in which he will be doing a MRI to check my valve and ascending aorta. I personally think that the pounding has to do with the dacron graft and not the valve but we shall see. Originally I was supposed to get a Mosaic porcine valve with attached root but the surgeon said it was too small and went with the C-E bovine valve. I also wonder if this could be part of the cause for the pounding. Mine keeps me up at night and I can hear it 24/7 but have learned to tune it out when I am busy doing something. I take Ambien on the nights I can't sleep because it's pounding so hard. I can take my pulse just by listening to it pounding away. I was hoping it would fade over time but it hasn't, I hope yours does as your heart remodels as mine did after my first surgery.

 

[Eva]

It is not unusual for the heart to be loud!

"Time heals all wounds"! Give it some time to recondition and heal itself from all it went through.

 

[bradvo]

Mine got a little louder later on, thinking a blood pressure monitor would be good for me at the time...I just want to fix stuff, tear it down and put it back together....so different then where I was. Once in a while I have what feels like a elevated heart beat when I lay down for bed, might think this is funny but I use a ear plug , it helps .
Brad

 

[Ovie]

I can hear my valve ticking away like a clock, but that really doesn't bother me, I mean it's strange at first, but when my whole body could be used as a battering ram because it's pounding so hard is the thing that really gets to, makes it impossible to sleep, I'm already having trouble sleeping do to back problems and waking up sore, this 1 thing is going to be the death of me. I just hope it passes over time, all I can do is be patient, which has never been my virtue.

 

[D.C.]

I kind of look at it like the people that live next to the train tracks. Everyone asks them if the train bothers them and they say no never hear them. I think you get used to the sound and pretty soon it is gone. Still there but not noticed.

 

[hetmarie]

Yes, the pounding will get better. I'm almost one year post op and sometimes still feel the pounding like there's something in your chest wanting to get out. It's gotten better over time though and I find changing positions can help.

 

[Bill B]

Ovie: This should fade but it may be one of those things you need to learn to ignore or find a trick that distracts you. At times in my life things have been so downright out of control and stressful that I could not sleep due to intruding thoughts. You've heard the old saw about counting sheep. Well, that wouldn't do anything to distract me from my raging thoughts. So, I did a variation on it that required my full concentration - I counted in odd fractions that had no pattern - like 0.37. I know this sounds stupid, but I counted .37, .74, 1.11, 1.48, 1.85, 2.22... I'd fall alseep within a minuter or two of that. Or do what my wife does and read a book in bed. ANYTHING to distract you from what's bothering you. Simple things can work. Move your focus away from whatever is irritating you.

 

[yotphix]

Mine definitely 'pounded' in the month or two post surgery. My blood pressure wasn't particularly high, but when I was lying down the beats felt shocking and abrupt, more at some times than others. I didn't notice it standing, or walking slowly, but lying down, or walking faster/uphill, or climbing stairs it felt like they had put a rabbit in there in place of my heart and it was trying to kick it's way out. My guess (and it's just a guess) is that the heart used to have to beat very hard to squeeze the blood through the stenotic valve, and to compensate for what would then flow back. Suddenly, the same heart has to 'learn' to be more gentle, because you now have a perfectly functioning valve. That's part of what's called remodeling, and it is probably happening while you lie there.
The next 60 or 90 days will be the fastest, most dramatic part of your recovery, then the following years will be the slower bit, requiring you to stay diligent in your exercise habits, diet etc. You'll have some strange sensations in that first bit, the pounding, the loud clicking, possibly some visual disturbances, some atrial fibrillation, phantom numbness... who knows what else. Most of it will be fading memories by this time next year.

 

[Nancy jane]

Ovie. So glad you're almost Normal
What ever that is !
I promise you each day is better. I'm 3 weeks post op & almost wonder if I had surgery.
Your body will heal itself !!! Enjoy the beautiful side you're now on ! Hugs. Nancy Jane. St Louis.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Ovie, things will get better. I know they will. I am looking forward to your updates every day.

 

[Ovie]

It's defiantly slowed down, and I'd say that's a very worthy theory yot. The pounding has been minimal, now I just hear the ticking which is actually kind of soothing, I just couldn't distract myself when it felt like I was leaning against a subwoofer.

 

[robertlw]

Hello all, I`m a new member from NW Arkansas 50yo. My main open heart surgery was a 6cm aortic anuerism and mechanical aorta valve (to replace bicuspid aorta valve) was 1-31-2012 but a few days after got A-phib irregular heartbeat and 160 beats or more. Was hospitalized another 4 days til they got me on amioradone 400mg a day. The outside wounds are healing great (except for a large egg shaped bump on my left waist) My main problem now is the heavy pounding heartbeat especially when leaning back in a chair or laying down. It helps to lean forward on the edge of a chair or stand up and walk. Sometimes holding the heart pillow on chest tightly will help. Sleeping is a real problem. They have me on Ambien and Vicadin. Only way I can sleep is to take a Vicadin and Ambien at bedtime. I tried to get my wife to hit me in the head with a 2X4 but she declined! She might reconsider if I get as contrary as Fred Sanford or Archie Bunker! Do you folks think this heavy pounding will go away in the future hopefully before I become an Opium addict?