Increase in symptoms as surgery approaches

[Magic8Ball]

Did any of you feel that your symptoms increased as surgery approached?

I've always had the view that i had no symptoms although i've been 'tired' for some time, probably 3+ years which i put down to emigrating to Australia and the riggors of doing this with a newborn baby in tow.

However the surgeon said this was a symptom and was one of the classic symptoms that people never picked up on as they always blamed it on lifes little worries etc.

Since ive been told this i seem to be even more knackered than before, its like i've been fighting the lethargy all this time and i now feel like i'm allowed to be tired as its not just me being lazy.

Last night i fell asleep before 9pm and i mean fell....i wanted to stay awake to watch a tv show and absolutely could not, i fell asleep in front of the tv.

Hopefully its just a brain thing and i'm not actually getting any worse...only got to last another couple of weeks until my 're-bore' and i'll be full of energy and zipping around....

 

[Marguerite53]

Many of us sense that our symptoms increase just prior to surgery. Unless someone comes up with a portable echo (wouldn't that be nice!) I don't think we'll ever actually know!! You can certainly report it to your physician if you feel as if you should. Probably just stress and awareness piling up on you as the hours tick slowly...slowly.....

I became very protective of myself towards the end. Really cautious. It made me feel better to sleep extra and to not do the things that normally stressed me out. My family was happy to oblige me that.

Hang in there!! You're almost there.

Marguerite

 

[tobagotwo]

You also are feeling anxiety about the oncoming surgery. That certainly affects the heart, generates fatigue, and may add in some arrhythmias (PACs and PVCs) as well, especially at night.

If you're sleepy, sleep. Cut yourself some slack. This really is a Big Deal.

Best wishes,

 

[Adrienne]

Portable Echos

Portable Echos

Margaret53, there are now portable echocardiogram machines (invented by a doctor up here in Montreal). However, they are portable for the hospital workers, not so portable we can use them at home!!!

 

[davidfortune]

I agree with tobagotwo - stress/anxiety cause fatigue. Also could be impacted by meds. I switched my Diovan to bedtime cause it was causing me to sleep on the way to work (which was bad since I was driving) and crash hard at about 3:00 everyday.

Since then, and since eating better (no carb loading at lunch) I don't crash during daytime anymore and usually don't crash until later at night.

Diet, exercise, medication, alcohol, stress.... All will impact your fatigue along with heart issues.

Also I think we are more cognizant of "symptoms" than we were before.