More urination after bypass + valve surgery?????

[slipkid]

[This is my first post; feel free to tell me if I am doing anything wrong. Thanks for this GREAT forum btw. I've gotten many things answered, and have learned mucho, just reading posts the last 2-3 days.]

Something strange I've noticed since I came home & am recuperating from both bypass surgery and getting an aortic valve replacement is that post-surgery I have to pee way more than I used to. At first this was a good thing as I was still shedding fluid from my swelled up legs, but my legs have been back to normal now for over a month yet I continue to pee a river like every 2 hours. I am about 6 weeks post-op now.

I discussed this with my GP and he had me tested for diabetes (frequent urination can be a symptom of diabetes), but those tests came back negative. He said that none of the meds I am on could be causing this. I've had other types of blood tests and nothing jumped out to explain this, and at this point the Doc has just let it slide. I'm still wondering though.

Meds I'm on:
Warfarin/Coumadin 5mg
Atenolol/Tenormin 25mg
Atorvastatin/Lipitor 20mg (just started last week)
Prevacid 30mg (PPI for GERD which I had already been on)

Has anyone else experienced this post-op? Any possible explanations? I don't drink many fluids during the day and up until surgery I've always kind of been a reverse camel, sometimes only urinating two or three times a day, as opposed to now which is producing large quantities (for me) like every few hours....

 

[pellicle]

One of the medications in was in is to prevent fluid build up.

I understood that it causes the fluids to go away via the most obvious pathway ....

 

[Mentu]

Hi, your medications seem to be an unlikely source of increased urination but you may be overlooking the elephant. For quite some time before surgery, you were living with dramatically reduced blood flow. Many people who live with untreated aortic stenosis die from organ failure before they can die of valve failure because the organs are simply not getting enough blood. One organ that suffers a lot are the kidneys and reduced blood flow would very likely result in reduced urine production. Now very suddenly, your body has fully normal blood flow. I can only speak based upon my own experience but it took months for my body to stabilize. I remember those first days with the whopping great heart beat and a pulse I could feel with the lightest touch. Over time, the heart beat settled down with the help of a beta blocker. I was given Metoprolol instead of Atenolol but they do the same thing. At about 7 months, I was able to stop taking it because my heart no longer needed it. As your body adjusts to your restored blood flow, I think it is likely that a lot of functions will return to normal although that "normal" will be different because you are different. If your doctors can find no problem, you may just be experiencing the result of a fully functional heart moving blood as it has not done in years. I suspect, things will calm down as your recovery continues. It would be good to hear from you to hear how you notice things changing.

Larry

 

[slipkid]

Thanks Larry.

You may have hit it right on the head. One of my sisters said basically the same thing you did (that perhaps now I have better blood flow and my body is just "working" better and my kidneys are too) but you explained it in a much better way!

Hey, I was on metoprolol like you too; took that for about 4-5 weeks. They switched me to atenolol about a week ago although I am not 100% sure why. I suspect it might be because I was so horribly tired in the afternoons every day while on metoprolol but I'm not sure (it also may be to see if I have less migraines). I do not have high blood pressure and the cardiologist told me he intends to get me off any beta blocker at some point but as I understand it I am on it for the time being to try to insure that my heart does not work too hard yet and is given time to "heal" better after all I've been through. I look forward to the day I am taken off at least one med.

 

[carolinemc]

And also, if you were not tested for diabetes before surgery, might want to get it checked out. I had mine checked eight months after surgery. Surgery can cause it to be activated. And there could be other causes, get it checked out to be on the safe side. Hugs for today.

 

[slipkid]

And also, if you were not tested for diabetes before surgery, might want to get it checked out. I had mine checked eight months after surgery. Surgery can cause it to be activated. And there could be other causes, get it checked out to be on the safe side. Hugs for today.

Thanks, I wasn't checked before surgery but I was checked after surgery since that is when my more frequent & more voluminous (? is that a word?) urination started. All tests (urine & blood) came up negative for DB thankfully.

 

[clay_from_nj]

I too seemed to have gone from being able to "hold it" for 8-12 hours at a time before AVR to going every 2-4 hours after. I also attribute it at least partially to my body's improved ability to move fluids around and out. I have also noticed that I now drink a lot more, probably because I can now easily get rid of the excess.

 

[slipkid]

Nice to know I am not alone in my new bathroom habits. Is definitely a pain when out and about but I don't do much of that yet anyways. I guess from now on when on a long drive I am going to be one of those people who insists on stopping all the time for a bathroom break!