Missed a beat

[Patsman07]

I had a St Jude's mechanical valve& Bentall procedure done in July 2014. Had normal recovery and I am doing very well. My INR has always been in range.

I took up cycling in early 2015 and have been enjoying the exercise. These winter nights I try to spend an hour on the indoor bike 3/4 times a week. I done so last night,
nothing too strenuous, and lay down afterwards beside my daughter to get her asleep. As I lay there I could hear the valve ticking with every heartbeat (as is normal). Without warning
I then failed to hear the tick of the valve and felt pressure in my chest. I sat up quickly and then heard the valve ticking once again, more quickly than before, the 'pressure' went away
as quick as it came.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? I can remember the sound of the valve disappearing for the odd heartbeat in the weeks after surgery but can't remember if it was accompanied by the feeling of pressure. Think when I told the cardio about it he explained that it was a dropped heartbeat and nothing to worry about but I can't be certain its the same sensation.

 

[dick0236]

This happens to everyone (with or without artificial valve) from time to time and is normal.....but as always, if in doubt, call your doc.

 

[Patsman07]

Thanks ****. I don't think the paranoia will ever truly leave! Always need reassurance every few months for some reason!

 

[epstns]

If it happens "every now and then" I would just mention it to your cardio at your next consult. If it becomes frequent, then a call to the cardio's office may be in order. Many of us have transient rhythm issues. I know I do, and since mine were so profound after surgery, I have a pacemaker. At each visit with my electrophysiologist, we discuss any rhythm issues that the pacer records. The reason I am mentioning all this is to share the guideline I have with my EP doc. If the arrhythmias are just a few seconds each, we totally discount them. We wouldn't worry until or unless I went into afib or some similar thing for a period longer than a couple of minutes, or if it happened really often.

The occasional missed or extra beat just makes things "interesting" but has no diagnostic value for me.

 

[Agian]

It's called a PVC. It is normal and happens to everyone. People with mechanical valves just notice it more. It feels momentarily strange. Look it up. Perfectly normal.

 

[Superman]

Concur with others. Irregular rhythm is fairly "normal" for all us "normal" folks with heart issues.

I've been cardio-verted (shocked back into rhythm) twice in ER when my heart could not find it's rhythm again. Typically it's a couple beats or a few seconds at most, then rhythm returns. Still not enough irregularity to warrant a pacemaker. I've worn a 24 hour monitor a couple of times recently without significant issue.

I take a spinning class 3/4 x / week for 45 minutes to an hour as well as walk daily. It has not impacted my ability in this area. According to the bike, I cover over 20 mph for the duration. I'll admit, I don't know how they arrive at that conclusion. Something to do with gear selection and RPM.

 

[almost_hectic]

Concur with others. Irregular rhythm is fairly "normal" for all us "normal" folks with heart issues.

I've been cardio-verted (shocked back into rhythm) twice in ER when my heart could not find it's rhythm again. Typically it's a couple beats or a few seconds at most, then rhythm returns. Still not enough irregularity to warrant a pacemaker. I've worn a 24 hour monitor a couple of times recently without significant issue.

Yup same here. Been cardio-verted a few times. Or as my cardiologist back then used to call it "buzzed" He always gave me the option. He'd say we can either check you into a hospital bed and try and do this with medication, or we can bring in the cart right now and buzz ya. To which my response was always... "buzz me."

Not nearly as bad as it may sound. Theres was always an anesthesiologist involved in the process. Id go woozy for a couple minutes and wake up and they had already zapped my chest with the paddles. Ive never remembered the experience.