Hi everyone...!

[LisaK]

Hi all, I'm new here I just found it and I'm glad I did!
I had my aortic valve replaced May 2009 due to AR caused by having a rare form of vasculitis. I now take Warfarin daily to keep me anticoagulated and have to go for regular checks on my INR. I see there are lots of people who have this on here and i'm happy to have found you all! My valve is a st judes mechanical valve. Can I ask how people feel about the clicking, it's been over a year now and i still hear it constantly! I have to take sleeping pills at night to get off to sleep. Also recently I have suffered with alot of ectopic beats which I have had looked into and they seem to be not dangerous. I'm so aware of them, has any one else had these. They may be stress related?!?
Any way enough for now, I'm going to read through old posts.
Hope everyone is well,
Lisa x
Does anyone know how i can put my picture on here?

 

[pat45750]

Just wanted to welcome you. I can't help with your questions since I am waiting for my AVR surgery on Aug 9. I am reading and learning. I am sure you will get some answers soon. The folks here are great. Pat

 

[ARGreenMN]

Ross can help with getting your pic on here. There are some settings you have to change, but I can't remember what they are. I'm sure he'll be along soon to help.

Welcome to the site. It's been a life-saver for many of us! Great place to get questions answered (although there are times you get conflicting advice, it's good to hear all sides). Also a great place to get support and realize you're 'normal' (i.e. others are having the same issue, whatever the issue is).

I have a St. Jude Regent Mechanical. I hear the ticking all the time too. Doesn't really bother me, except when I'm having irregular beats (makes them more obvious). I don't have trouble falling asleep (at least not due to the ticking). One thing I'm finding (I'm 8 weeks post-op) is my irregular beats get worse when I'm over-tired and/or dehydrated. Never realized how important it was to drink lots of water (long-time pop drinker). I've also noticed stress can trigger them - again, seems to be worse when I'm tired or dehydrated. Let us know if other questions!

 

[Cooker]

Welcome Lisa ... I also have a St Jude and at 4 years, 4 months post op I hardly ever notice / hear my valve unless I'm very tired ... fatigue, stress and dehydration make more noticeable to me also ... glad you found us....

 

[heartman77]

Hi Lisa...i have a St Jude Masters HP valve which is now 3 weeks a part of me.....I also can hear mine but surprisingly...being a very light sleeper....it doesn't keep me awake...Ive been falling asleep within 5 minutes ever since i came home from the hospital on June 12th......I have been sleeping on a reclining sofa but do find that if i change my position a little and place my "HEART BEAR" over my chest it helps....but i can honestly say i guess to me the clicking is a reassuring sound. If i DID NOT hear it I would worry. Im glad you found this site which is filled with caring friendly people....Best wishes for the BEST health.............Heartfelt hugs.......Michael

 

[AgilityDog]

Hi Lisa, Welcome Aboard.
I have a St. Jude's in the mitral position, and I'm fixing to get an On-x in the aortic position.
I heard my St. Jude's a lot the first few months, maybe a year, but now there are very few times I hear it. Even if yours continues to be loud, eventually your brain should tune it out, like a clock you hear all the time.

 

[TXGal]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to the boards! I also have a St. Jude's Mechanical valve (Mitral) & I'm on Coumadin.. I used to hear the clicking all of the time, probably a year or so before I eventually didn't notice the clicking anymore (now going on 10 yrs). Through the years I've had the abnormal palpitations about once a year and each time they are non-harmful PVCs as well... They do seem to occur around stressful times. Now when they occur I'm not as alarmed as I used to be, but always get myself checked immediately with an echo or holter monitor to be safe.

I just posted my pic again since the settings changed a few months ago with the new revamp. Here's a link that helped me post my pic: http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?35191-Why-isn-t-my-avatar-showing

Glad you found this board.. it's great and full of wonderful, helpful people!

Kristen

 

[LisaK]

Thank you all for your replies. It's great to hear from you all. Nice to know there are people out there who feel the same as me. The irregular beats are very scary at present and although i'm told they do no harm it doesn't make them any easier to handle.I'm hoping they go away soon Hope every one is well!
Lisa x

 

[ARGreenMN]

Crap, I think you guys jinxed me lol, I just had some more irregular beats last night again, and I think I went into mini-afib for a while. I was walking up a bunch of hills after the fireworks, and was stressed out cause I thought I'd lost my car, so maybe it was the stress? Or maybe I was dehydrated?

TXGal, it sounds like you're an old pro at this, so help me out here... When you say stress causes it, do you mean physical stress (like walking up hills) or emotional stress, or both? Have you ever noticed being dehydrated causes them? I'm trying to figure out what causes them the most so I can avoid those things if I can. I'm also getting a little less anxious about them when they happen now, but still - not cool! Oh, and were you ever on something like Amiodarone to keep the beats regular? If so, did the irregular beats get worse when you went off it?

 

[TXGal]

Hi Andy.. I'm sorry! I sure hope I didn't jinx you! lol

Most of my palpitations have occurred due to emotional stress. Throughout the years if I'm under an extreme amount of stress, I have had some palpitations. At times they can last a week or so, but my cardiologist and I have found that with a small increase in my Toprol, they subside quickly. I tapered off of Toprol about 6 months ago, have had no episodes, but I might have to get back on Toprol temporarily when I have another episode.
My worst episode in the past couple years was last year when I tried Allegra-D per my allergist for migraines. HUGE mistake! I took Allegra-D about 3 days and had palpitations for about 2 weeks! So I don't recommend taking Allegra-D!
Yes, dehydration has been an onset to palpitations and a major drop in my blood pressure from time to time. I take Lanoxin for my arrhythmias and for the most part, it works great..it's very rare I have any type of a-fib. I don't plan on getting off of Lanoxin any time soon.

It looks like you just had surgery 2 months ago today (Congrats!), so it's very common to have palpitations within that first year while your heart is healing. I remember having lots of a-fib the first few months after surgery. I probably caused a lot of it myself because I would get so stressed with any abnormal beat. So my advice is to try to just relax if you start having some abnormal beats.. but if they continue to long, of course contact your dr. Best of luck on your healing process!

 

[ARGreenMN]

Kristin, wow, thanks for the advice on Allegra. I probably would have tried that at some point - if not for my migraines, then for my hay fever. But will steer clear of it now. Glad to hear about the palpitations eventually getting better. That's what the docs keep telling me, and I thought they were gone a few weeks ago. But the last few days, it seems like they're getting worse again... I want to get off this amiodarone due to the possible side effects, esp. if you're on it long-term, so am hoping they totally go away soon. Sounds like stress is another reason to stay away from work a little longer (in addition to enjoying my time off, lol). I'll definitely end up back in the pressure cooker at times when I go back - and it would suck if that triggers a-fib again. I'm concerned about it becoming chronic... I totally hear what you're saying about anxiety escalating the palpitations - I'm pretty sure that's what happened on my two ER visits 2 wks after surgery. Started having irregular beats, freaked out, and they got worse... Lesson for others - try to stay calm if you start having them. They are usually not life-threatening, and the calmer you can stay, the quicker they'll go away and less severe they will become. Lisa, sorry to take over your thread, but as so often happens in here, one thing leads to another, and we go off on tangents, which often times help others (like me learning about Allegra!).

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Andy -

You can also add Caffeine (from Coffee, Tea, Cola Drinks, and even CHOCOLATE :-( ) to your list of possible triggers for arrhythmias.

Sorry About That.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Luana]

Hi Lisa,
Glad you found us. I have a St. Jude mechanical valve, too, and I almost never hear it. Sometimes I hear it when I'm in bed because I sleep on my side, and sometimes I don't hear it at all. I guess there is a lot of variance among us about hearing these valves. When I do hear it, it doesn't bother me; it's no more annoying than hearing the kitty purring.

 

[ARGreenMN]

Thanks for the reminder Al! I knew about those, but need to pay closer attention to them. That might have been a big part of it last night (in addition to walking up the hills in hot/humid weather and getting dehydrated). I forgot I had several diet cokes last night (some with a little naughty mixed in)! I've also been eating a fair amount of chocolate during my time off, without thinking about the impact... I've been doing pretty good staying off the caffeine for the most part, which is a HUGE adjustment for me (diet Pepsi Max addict for last few years). Those are gonna be a couple of tough adjustments for me, but I guess if it means I get to keep living a few more decades it's worth it

 

[Eva]

Welcome aboard, Lisa.

I hear the tickings only when I am overtired and/or stressed. But when I do, surprisingly, it does not bother me!

 

[LisaK]

Thanks again to you all. Can I ask what is a-fib? Is it when your heart feels like a flutter? Cause I've been feeling that alot recently. I do feel stress, emotionally, adds to my irregular beats. As for my ticking, I will get used to it, i'm sure. I should be grateful for it, lol x

 

[ALCapshaw2]

A-Fib is short for Atrial Fibrilation which is an Irregular and/or Rapid Heart Beat.
I describe it as a "Whack-O" heartbeat that has no regular pattern.

Be sure to tell your Cardiologist about your irregular heartbeat.
Atrial Fibrilation carries an increased risk of Clot Formation.
The usual treatment involves taking anti-coagulation medication (Coumadin / Warfarin) to lower the risk of clot formation.
There are several medications that can help control A-Fib. Several of our members have had good success with Sotalol (generic form of BetaPace). Amiodarone is the Sledge Hammer of Anti-Arrhythmic medications but has a long list of undesirable side effects. There is a new (and expensive) Amiodarone-Lite (Multaq) that is reported to have similar benefits with fewer/lesser side effects.

If you don't have a Stethoscope, I recommend buying one.
An inexpensive model is "good enough" to listen to your heartbeat.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[ARGreenMN]

Lisa, there was another recent thread (wish I could remember which one) that talked about the difference between a-fib and just 'normal' irregular beats. Basically, here's my description. 'Normal' irregular beats, at least for me, go something like this. Beat, beat, beat, skip (just a one-time skip). Or sometimes, it'll go into a rhytm like beat, beat, skip, beat, beat, skip for a while. But a-fib is totally different. It's like there's no pattern to it at all - it's all over the place. Like muscle spasms in your heart. So maybe something like be-a-ttt, ski-pp, b-e-a-t, skiip, beat-beat-beat-beat, skip, beat, skip, beee-at, beat-beat-beat.