New Member With Question

[Rush20]

Hello to all. I'm a new member who has been lurking over the past week reading all your wonderful stories and advise after discovering this wonderful corner of the internet.

I am a 40-year old male who had AVR on 8/29/03. To make a long story short - I will update the My Story Section - I had no symptoms, heart disease, etc. prior to my diagnosis. I was born with a BAV and was unaware until a routine physical this past June when a loud heart murmur was discovered. After a series of stress tests, echos and a final angiogram (sp?), it was discovered that I had a severely leaking AV and surgery was scheduled within one week to replace it. As a result, I didn't have much time to think about options, valve types etc. and pretty much followed the advise of my cardiologist and surgeon.

Post surgery I was informed that I had been in heart failure since Fall 2002. They believe a dental procedure I had in November 02' caused bacteria to enter my bloodstream causing the valve to fail and regurgitate blood back into my heart. The valve was failing to close and actually had holes in it causing the regurgitation.

The good news is that I was lucky to have an experienced surgeon who performed a minimally invasive procedure to replace the valve. I was out of the hospital in three days and just finished my Phase II rehab session (12 weeks).

My question...Has anyone else experienced missed beats or throat flutters post surgery? If so, did they go away after a certain amount of time? The first time it happened (about 2 weeks post-surgery), I was really scared as it never happened before. It happened a few more times during high stress moments (work, traffic, commute, etc.) and not necessarily associated with physical activity. After wearing a cardio halter monitor on two separate occassions, my cardiologist prescribed 25 mg. calcium blocker which has recently been replaced by 25 mg. beta blocker. I haven't had any recurring episodes over the past 6 weeks and I'm curious as to how long they plan to keep me on this medication. I understand it slows the heart beat and helps regulate the rhythm, however I would rather adjust lifestyle than medicate and with the coumadin issue, the less pills, the better.

I appreciate any advise. God Bless You All!

 

[Ross]

Hi Allen and welcome to our little home.

I had those throat things for awhile after mine. I think it came and went till about 6 months out. I know it bothered me enough to tell my Cardio about it and he had a CATSCAN done just to be on the safe side.

The missed beats etc- those should all smooth out relatively soon. If you get 6 months out and still have these problems, it might be worth checking into them. It's probably nothing, but after what you've been through, why not be safe?

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome Allen, from a fellow Chicago suburbanite.

As Ross said, it's not uncommon for you to have arrhythmias after surgery. It's the heart letting you know that it didn't like being man-handled. Some of us continue to have arrhythmia and are medicated for it. I am one of those. But I had much worse arrhythmia before my valve replacement.

It's always good to keep your cardio informed of anything that comes up that's different.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Allan,

Echo Karlynn, welcome to another Chicago suburbanite! My PAC's. Premature atrial contractions came on at 3 weeks. I am five years post op and mostly remain in a normal sinus rythum unless I am tried or stressed. They placed me on a beta blocker to help with migraines and this cleared up most of my arrythmia. Hope I was of some assistance.

Once again, welcome. If we be of any further assistance. Ask away!

BTW, would you mind sharing where you had your surgery and who follows you?

My surgery took place out of state and hopefully will not find a need to have one locally...always nice to have a few good references if needed! Thax.

 

[Nancy]

Hi Allen-

Welcome to the site. My husband is the patient and he's had 3 valve surgeries. I also feel you should call the doc and get his/her take on your arrhythmia. Think of your medications as a good thing. They really can make a lot of difference.

My husband has advanced heart problems and takes, at the moment, about 15 different meds, some more than once a day, plus an injection 3 times per week. He's also on Coumadin.

So, you do what you have to do to keep things working right.

Let us know what your doc has to say about things.

best wishes.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Welcome to our World Allan,

Look through the Post Surgery Forum or do a search for the words "arrhythmia, PAC, PVC" and you will find more information than you could or would desire. All are fairly common for the first several months following OHS and are 'usually considered benign'. To be on the safe side, make sure your cardiologist is aware of them. My Card suggested coming to the office for an EKG if / when they occurred, assuming it was during the day. If you go to the ER, you WILL get a FULL CARDIAC Workup including the enxyme test (to check for a heart attack) and the mandatory THREE HOUR observation. It's a bummer but if you are really concerned, that's where you need to go at night. Sorry about that.

'AL' (Been there, Done that, too many times)

 

[JimL]

Welcome, Allen, I grew up on the south side of Chicago.

An unstable heart rate after surgery is very common, as has been stated. I went through the Holter monitor routine, and was prescribed Amiodarone, which worked for a while, but has dreadful side effects.

Magnesium works better is an relatively harmless otherwise. We get magnesium in our diet from the same general sources as Vitamin K. Being on coumadin, I tend to avoid the sources of Vitamin K, and thus also the source of magnesium. So I take 500 mg of magnesium each day.

You might want to check into that.

 

[Heather Fisher]

Hi Allen,

Looks like you had your surgery the day before I had mine. I'm jealous of you amd all the people who got cardiac rehab. Sounds like that is going well!

I had the throat flutters for about 20 years before having my valve replaced. Prior to surgery I was on 25 mg of beta blocker a day. After surgery I developed v tac and had the beta blocker raised to 50 mg a day. It has controlled the arrythmias well and I haven't had any problems. As you can see from the other posts it's not uncommon to have irregular heart beats for some time after surgery. I also asked my doctor when I could try reducing the beta blocker, but my blood pressure and pulse are within normal limits on it. She's planning on keeping me on it unless my BP drops significantly. It's still not too bad and not too high of a dose compared to what some others take. For now it sounds like the beta blocker is doing the job for you. Welcome to the site!

Heather

 

[Tom F.]

Hey I am from Chicago subs too !! Anyway, I had funky heartbeats for a time post op. Every time it happened it concerned me, but over time they went away.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Tom....welcome to another local!

 

[Rush20]

Hi Allan,

Echo Karlynn, welcome to another Chicago suburbanite! My PAC's. Premature atrial contractions came on at 3 weeks. I am five years post op and mostly remain in a normal sinus rythum unless I am tried or stressed. They placed me on a beta blocker to help with migraines and this cleared up most of my arrythmia. Hope I was of some assistance.

Once again, welcome. If we be of any further assistance. Ask away!

BTW, would you mind sharing where you had your surgery and who follows you?

My surgery took place out of state and hopefully will not find a need to have one locally...always nice to have a few good references if needed! Thax.

 

[Rush20]

Hmm, I just tried posting a reply with a quote and it didn't work so I guess I need to work on my message board skills.

Anyway, thanks to all who responded and provided their thoughts. I met with my cardiologist and he plans to keep my on my beta blocker - 25mg Toprol XL probably until my year anniversary of my surgery (8/29/04) just to play it safe. The good news is that this appears to be a low dose and the palpitations have stopped going on 8 weeks now. My cardio told me that my heart was a little "angry" over what happended and that my symptoms were common for valve replacement.

In answer to Gina, my surgery was performed at St. James Hospital - Olympia Fields Cardiac campus. My primary surgeon who performed the minimally invasive (2" incision) was Dr. Bradford Blakeman. The assisting surgeon was Dr. James Gramm. Both belong to Cardiac Surgery Assocaties based out of Joliet. That had performed their practice at Loyola University, however grew frustrated with the politics associated with the medical universities and decided to move into the communities. I found both of them to be very honest and open. Dr. Gramm especially helped put me at ease in deciding which valve to choose and what to expect. My wife & family commented on their great bedside manner as well.

My cardiologist is Dr. Devangi Sreekanth based out of the Wellgroup Health Center in Chicago Heights. He is also open with his communication and is patient with my questions and concerns as this is all new to me. My next appointment with him is in March.

 

[Ross]

Hmm, I just tried posting a reply with a quote and it didn't work so I guess I need to work on my message board skills.

Actually no you don't. The reply with quote feature is messed up on this board. It's a 2 step process instead of the normal means. First you have to post the quote, then you have to go back and click edit then add your text and resubmit. Sorry!