Lifting.....

[Harrybaby666]

Hi Gang,

Once again, I have a question to ask.. Did anyone before they had his/her surgery go to lift something and the chest pains just start right in immediately? I had to take out my air conditioners for the season today (nobody around to help me) and the minute I lifted the first air conditioner out of the window, and put it out on my enclosed porch, the chest pains started right in. I waited for about 3 hours before taking the other one out of my living room window, but again, the minute I lifted it out of the window to take it to the back porch, again the chest pain started right in...I am wondering if this is a sign that things are moving right along? Any answers to this are greatly appreciated...(I will be calling the cardiologist office about this and I hope that I don't get blown off as usual...) Thanks, Harrybaby666

 

[azpam]

sounds like angina. you probably strained your heart muscle by picking up too heavy of a load.angina usually goes away fairly quickly. relax and take it easy with no more lifting and see if it continues without straining. if it continues without doing anything,let the doctor know.

 

[geebee]

Harry,
The only thing we have in common is that I had mitral valve regurge before my first surgery. I was one of the lucky people who had absolutely no symptoms except for shortness of breath. I had no chest pain so I am not sure if chest pain indicates acceleration of the valve problems.
Obviously pain indicates you should not be doing the actions that caused it. You should contact your cardio and advise him of what happened. I would think it is probably not something to fool with.
Good luck,
Gina

 

[Nancy]

Harry-

I know you have some PH, and those with PH should not be lifting anything remotely heavy. It raises the pressures in the pulmonary artery and that is not a good thing for you, not to mention your heart problems. Find a muscle bound neighborhood person to help with those kinds of things.

 

[Harrybaby666]

I know...I shouldn't have done it...

I know...I shouldn't have done it...

Hi Nancy,
I know that I shouldn't have done it...I guess it's that stubborn streak in me that is telling me I should be able to do this at my age (38). When it comes time to put them back in, I will be asking for help, because I didn't feel very well afterwords and ended up going to bed very early !!!! It is really rare for me to go to bed before midnight, but now that I am really not well, it seems to be happening more and more...I will have to fight this stubborn streak and start asking for help....Thanks for your encouragement and ongoing support, and I hope all is well with you, and your hubby and I really hope that you can get done with the chemo and radiation as soon as possible because for personal reasons, I absolutely detest the Radiation process. Thanks again. Harrybaby666

 

[tobagotwo]

One suggestion, Harry, and you may well already be aware:

When lifting objects, don't take in your breath and hold it. Try to continue breathing through the lift. That can significantly reduce some of the internal pressures involved. It can take some practice, as we frequently are in the habit of holding our breath when straining to lift something heavy.

While it might not keep you from experiencing angina, it will lower the strain on your heart, and probably not aggravate your PH as much. This is one of the things I learned when I was waiting for surgery, during the period I was at high risk for so-called "show-shovelling" death.

Also, considering that the pain was immediate, think about whether the chest pain might have been muscular this time, rather than heart-related. The heart usually takes a few beats to generate and react to stress.

There are muscle strains that shockingly mimic heart pain, especially from the intercostals, including the ones that run inside the chest wall. Anyone who has had a rib-clamp attack after surgery knows about that frightening and debillitating pain (that would be when you can't even take a full breath, as your rib cage "locks up" on you in an excruciating and agonizing manner). If it was muscular, you should still have some soreness if you poke the area where the pain seemed to come from.

I'm not suggesting you lift any more air conditioners. I don't know what response the PH might be giving, and how immediate that might be in reacting, but it probably isn't very tolerant of lifting heavy things in general.

Best wishes,

 

[Harrybaby666]

Hi Bob..

Hi Bob..

All I can say really about this is that it doesn't seem to matter what I do or lift, but EVERY time I exhert myself for anything, the chest pains start in, and I do know that I cannot do anymore snow shoveling. It just seems to be that I am able to do less and less as time marches on, and it's actually frightening, because I try and convince the doc's of this and it's like they are not even listening. I will be going in for another echo on November 15th and when I have my followup visit with Dr. Berndt (my cardiologist) I will be stating this all over again, and see what he says. This ought to be good. Thanks for your help and encouragement. Harrybaby666