New Member

[Mileena46]

I wanted to say hi to everyone and tell you all how very glad I am that I found this site! I am sorry some of you are going through what I am, but still glad I am not alone.

Had my Mitral Valve replaced on 07/16/09. Doing good. Back at work since last week, but no lifting. I am trying to work half days but beginning to think it might be a while before I could take it all day.

Have had several problems since the surgery. Went into A-Fib after being home a week or so and my heart rate went up to 150, so I ended up back in the hospital where they converted me and sent me back home. So, I have anxiety about that happening again.

Cannot seem to get the blood thinner right! I have a mechanical valve, so thats the story for the rest of my life. I am soooo thankful to the doctors and nurses who treated me and kept me alive. I had a blood clot in the upper atrial when I went in, and they tell me that was dangerous!

Doing good now....though, hope to talk to and get to know some of you or all of you!

Mileena

 

[Mary]

Welcome Mileena!
I'm sure you will find great help and support on the ACT forum for your coumadin management, and someone is usually available for any other problems you might encounter post op.
Glad you joined us.

 

[Danny]

Hi, and welcome..Glad to see you made it through. Im probably looking to have surgery in the near future here. Its nice to have these people here to answer alot of questions and recommend things to you. Good luck!

 

[Christina]

Hi Mileena,

Welcome to this site and I see you've had your surgery already behind you. Great! Your recovery will be about one year so take it easy for the first three months. No heavy lifting during that time because your sternum won't be healed until then.
This is a great site so pull up a chair and get comfy. Someone will come along and give you the answers to your questions. I am celebrating my 9th valversary today and am living proof that there is life after OHS.

Welcome again.
Cheers,

 

[skeptic49]

Welcone to VR! Please post your questions and concerns. Best wishes for a smooth recovery from now on.

Jim

 

[Cooker]

Welcome to the zoo ..... peace out

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome! Please go and read/view all the stickies in the Anticoagulation forum. We literally have hundreds of years of combined Coumadin experience here, so feel free to ask questions. One thing to watch out for (and the reason you need to read the Stickies) is that many in the medical community are still operating off of old, out-dated protocols. We should be able to tell pretty quickly whether your Coumadin management is on target.

Please be careful in what you do. It seems you may have gone back to work a bit early, but if you had your doctor's approval, then just be careful. You are still in the beginning stages of recovery. Your sternum is not healed yet and your heart is still pretty ticked off for being manhandled and messed with. So make sure you are still getting plenty of rest and sleep. Full recovery can take up to a year. The first few months are the most apparent that healing is still going on.


If your INR is still bouncing around - post your INR#'s along with the corresponding weekly dosing that got you that #. For example, your INR is 2.5 and your dose for the week leading up to it was 35 (or 5 mg/day). We may be able to tell if there's something you can do to get it stable.

Glad you found us!

 

[TXWildflower]

Welcome and happy for you that you made it through the first big hurdle. May your recovery be speedy and uneventul.... at least not more events like that you've already had! Don't overdo!

I am in what is known as the waiting room around here, so don't really know what you are going through, but I'm tyring to find out more about what that is ike - so keep us posted.

Rhena

 

[Cris N]

Hi Mileena,
I, too, have a mechanical mitral valve and 2 days after I went home had to return to the hospital with SVT. My heart rate was up to 200. They had a little bit of trouble getting it back to a normal rhythm but after 3 (maybe 4) rounds of adenosine it settled down. I wound up on amiodarone for just under a month. Yes, I was terrified that it would happen again but it didn't.

Actually, it's not all that uncommon for the heart to get p----d off and let its owner know about it. The surgery is pretty traumatic so I guess the ticker is entitled to express displeasure.

While I'm not a medical professional my guts tell me that if you don't have a history of rhythm problems and that if it only happened once, there's a good chance that it was a one-time event. Hope so

As far as the 'thinner' - anticoagulant - several have suggested that you head over to the anticoagulation forum for some help. The advice you'll get there is awesome. (I haven't looked there yet to see if you posted) Don't forget that during your recovery process your dosage will likely go through some drastic changes - as your activity level rises so will your need for more warfarin (at least that's what happens with most people).

So, welcome, you've come to a very good place.

 

[Freddie]

Welcome Mileena, words are not enough to explain how great this site really is and the people who are involved, they are beyond FANTASTIC.

I too have a mitral mechanical valve, only I found this site 3 months after surgery, but since then they have all helped me in getting in range with my INR.......my doctor just couldn't "get it".
Any how, Welcome and feel free to ask anything that's on your mind.

 

[Matski]

Hi Mileena and welcome...strange coming from me since I'm newer than you Wanted to give you my 2cents though. The coumadin will take a bit of getting used to, took me probably 3 months to get it under control when I started that therapy 30 years ago...yeah 30. I received my first mechanical valve in 1979 @ age 8. Heh, imagine my parents horror trying to stop an 8 year old kid who was into all contact sports and ending that cold turkey. As you can imagine that didn't happen...luckily since I was on the coumadin I couldn't get spanked anymore (i bruised like peach the first couple of years) so needless to say I spent a lot of time in my room. All joking aside, a few pointers I've learned over the years for regulating my INR.

1. reduce your green vegetable intake. green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K which will counteract the blood thinner and make your INR harder to regulate. how I miss spinach!
2. beware taking certain antibiotics. I'm allergic to penecillin and sulfs drugs so I end up taking erythromyacin drugs. Serious interactions with those type of meds...ended up in the hospital a few times when my INR spiked and I had a few internal bleeding incidents...not pleasant.
3. Alcohol consumption. I found out in high school (as did my parents) that consuming large amounts of alcohol will raise your INR. (KIDS DONT DO THIS AT HOME!) I learned how to self adjust my coumadin intake when there was a big party going on.
4. Your Dr. should have mentioned not to use aspirin as its also a blood thinner.
5. I've argued with my cardiologists over the years even though they say its not a factor but my INR usually fluctuates in the spring and fall. Changes from hot to cold weather (or vice versa) seem to affect my INR.
6 Your Dr.'s should tell you but always ask about drug interactions. I saw a change when I started Vitorin a few years ago and also recently when I started Carvedilol.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Matt

 

[Cozycat]

Mileena, welcome to the place to be if you've had any type of valve surgery. The people on here are so good at calming and clarifying. Got a question, ask and somebody has an answer or will help you find one. Frightened, confused, etc....they take you in their virtual arms and rock you like you were their child. And since you're on Coumadin, the anti-coagulation forum is a great place to spend time. And the number one thing I learned from almost everybody right away was to dose your diet; don't adjust your diet to your dosage.

Welcome and hope you can join us often.

Midge

 

[Ross]

1. reduce your green vegetable intake. green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K which will counteract the blood thinner and make your INR harder to regulate. how I miss spinach!

Sorry, but WRONG. Eat your vegetables, including the dark leafy greens. Dose the diet you eat, don't diet the dose of the drug. You can have Spinach or anything else. It can all be adjusted for. Diet plays a very small role in INR management.

3. Alcohol consumption. I found out in high school (as did my parents) that consuming large amounts of alcohol will raise your INR. (KIDS DONT DO THIS AT HOME!) I learned how to self adjust my coumadin intake when there was a big party going on.

Alcohol, depending upon the person "May" raise your INR and in some, it does nothing or even lowers it. It's unpredictable until you've done it.
4. Your Dr. should have mentioned not to use aspirin as its also a blood thinner.

Nearly all of us are on a Aspirin regimen here. It works on the platelets differently then Coumadin does. This is NOT a no no.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Matt

Matt, no offense, but around here, it's not a blood thinner, it's an anticoagulant. Thinner sounds like water to people. Your blood does not turn to water nor run like it, it merely inhibits it's ability to clot as fast. Do not fall for the fallacy of not eating the dark green vegetables. It's proven time and time again to be nonsense.

 

[hensylee]

nice to meet you and glad to have you as a VR member. yes, you found the right place. Welcome.

 

[Pat]

I'am a new member.

I'am a new member.

I wanted to say hi to everyone and tell you all how very glad I am that I found this site! I am sorry some of you are going through what I am, but still glad I am not alone.

Had my Mitral Valve replaced on 07/16/09. Doing good. Back at work since last week, but no lifting. I am trying to work half days but beginning to think it might be a while before I could take it all day.

Have had several problems since the surgery. Went into A-Fib after being home a week or so and my heart rate went up to 150, so I ended up back in the hospital where they converted me and sent me back home. So, I have anxiety about that happening again.

Cannot seem to get the blood thinner right! I have a mechanical valve, so thats the story for the rest of my life. I am soooo thankful to the doctors and nurses who treated me and kept me alive. I had a blood clot in the upper atrial when I went in, and they tell me that was dangerous!

Doing good now....though, hope to talk to and get to know some of you or all of you!

Mileena

I'm going in next Thursday to have my Aortic valve replaced. I still don't know which type to go with. I have heard horror stories about taking blood thinners for the rest of my life but i also have heard that the tissue valves don't last as long as a mechanical one. I'm 53 and want to continue to play sports. Any suggestions would be great.
Pat

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hi Mileena and welcome...strange coming from me since I'm newer than you Wanted to give you my 2cents though. The coumadin will take a bit of getting used to, took me probably 3 months to get it under control when I started that therapy 30 years ago...yeah 30. I received my first mechanical valve in 1979 @ age 8. Heh, imagine my parents horror trying to stop an 8 year old kid who was into all contact sports and ending that cold turkey. As you can imagine that didn't happen...luckily since I was on the coumadin I couldn't get spanked anymore (i bruised like peach the first couple of years) so needless to say I spent a lot of time in my room. All joking aside, a few pointers I've learned over the years for regulating my INR.

1. reduce your green vegetable intake. green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K which will counteract the blood thinner and make your INR harder to regulate. how I miss spinach!
2. beware taking certain antibiotics. I'm allergic to penecillin and sulfs drugs so I end up taking erythromyacin drugs. Serious interactions with those type of meds...ended up in the hospital a few times when my INR spiked and I had a few internal bleeding incidents...not pleasant.
3. Alcohol consumption. I found out in high school (as did my parents) that consuming large amounts of alcohol will raise your INR. (KIDS DONT DO THIS AT HOME!) I learned how to self adjust my coumadin intake when there was a big party going on.
4. Your Dr. should have mentioned not to use aspirin as its also a blood thinner.
5. I've argued with my cardiologists over the years even though they say its not a factor but my INR usually fluctuates in the spring and fall. Changes from hot to cold weather (or vice versa) seem to affect my INR.
6 Your Dr.'s should tell you but always ask about drug interactions. I saw a change when I started Vitorin a few years ago and also recently when I started Carvedilol.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Matt

Matt -

Your Coumadin Recommendations are about 30 years OUT OF DATE.

It has been PROVEN that consuming a *Consistent* level of Vitamin K leads to a more STABLE INR.

Think of walking into a Dark Room, then turning on a light. BIG Difference. That is analogous to consuming NO vitamin K and then (unintentionally) injesting some.

Now consider being in a room with a 50 Watt light turned on. Then switch to 100 Watt. SMALL Difference. That is analogous to consuming consistent level of vitamin K and then injesting an extra amount (such as eating a spinich salad - I LOVE 'em!)

MANY Heart patients who are on Coumadin also take a Low Dose Aspirin (81mg) DAILY. Some of us chew a full aspirin if/when we experience 'occular migraines' or other possible signs of clots / TIA's / stroke symptoms (with approval from our Cardiologists).

YEP, several members also report 'Seasonal Changes'.
The CRNP's at my Coumadin Clinic are aware that *some* people have this kind of response and some do not.

Reponsible Coumadin Clinics monitor patients more frequently when they begin and end antibiotic treatment.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Welcome to our world Mileena!

Many patients experience A-Fib following OHS (usually intermittently) for up to several weeks.

Many have found that SOTALOL (the generic form of BetaPace) does a good job of controlling / preventing A-Fib events. The manufacturer recommends that it be started IN HOSPITAL for a few days, "just in case" your body reacts with a dangerous arrhythmia while it 'adjusts'.

Unfortunately, (TOO) many Doctors put patients on the Sledge Hammer of Anti-Arrhythmics, Amiodarone, as their First Response. They do this because It Works, even though the manufacturer (and FDA) state that Amiodarone should ONLY be used as a LAST RESORT after other approaches prove ineffective. FYI, Amiodarone has a Laundry List of nasty side effects that can result for prolonged use or too high of a dose. (do a Search on VR.com for 'amiodarone' and you will find MANY posts detailing it's effects... or ask your pharmacist for an information sheet)

As others have said, check out the Anti-Coagulation Forum for good advice on management of that issue. It is not uncommon to need to increase your dose as you become more active following surgery. Long term instability is usually a sign of a Manager that does NOT KNOW what they are doing or how the drug really works. There is a LOT of BAD or Out-of-Date 'Information' out there!

'AL Capshaw'

 

[njean]

Hi Mileena and welcome...strange coming from me since I'm newer than you Wanted to give you my 2cents though. The coumadin will take a bit of getting used to, took me probably 3 months to get it under control when I started that therapy 30 years ago...yeah 30. I received my first mechanical valve in 1979 @ age 8. Heh, imagine my parents horror trying to stop an 8 year old kid who was into all contact sports and ending that cold turkey. As you can imagine that didn't happen...luckily since I was on the coumadin I couldn't get spanked anymore (i bruised like peach the first couple of years) so needless to say I spent a lot of time in my room. All joking aside, a few pointers I've learned over the years for regulating my INR.

1. reduce your green vegetable intake. green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K which will counteract the blood thinner and make your INR harder to regulate. how I miss spinach!

2. beware taking certain antibiotics. I'm allergic to penecillin and sulfs drugs so I end up taking erythromyacin drugs. Serious interactions with those type of meds...ended up in the hospital a few times when my INR spiked and I had a few internal bleeding incidents...not pleasant.

3. Alcohol consumption. I found out in high school (as did my parents) that consuming large amounts of alcohol will raise your INR. (KIDS DONT DO THIS AT HOME!) I learned how to self adjust my coumadin intake when there was a big party going on.

4. Your Dr. should have mentioned not to use aspirin as its also a blood thinner.

5. I've argued with my cardiologists over the years even though they say its not a factor but my INR usually fluctuates in the spring and fall. Changes from hot to cold weather (or vice versa) seem to affect my INR.

6 Your Dr.'s should tell you but always ask about drug interactions. I saw a change when I started Vitorin a few years ago and also recently when I started Carvedilol.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Matt

I'm sorry Matt but I will have to make some comments on the highlighted posts:

1.) You should not have to stop eating what you love to eat. If you love spinach, or any other leafy greens, then eat away. The key here is consistency.

4.) Some of us take aspirin along with our coumadin. I take one 81mg of aspirin daily & my coumadin. (I may add that I've been on coumadin for 34 years).

5.) For most patients on anticoagulants, if your activity increases your INR levels will show a drop. I on the other hand, have found that whenever my activity increases like in the summer months when I am most active, I will have to decrease my usual dose. If my activity drops, I have to increase my dose. That's the way it's always worked for me!

 

[njean]

Matt, no offense, but around here, it's not a blood thinner, it's an anticoagulant. Thinner sounds like water to people. Your blood does not turn to water nor run like it, it merely inhibits it's ability to clot as fast. Do not fall for the fallacy of not eating the dark green vegetables. It's proven time and time again to be nonsense.

I didn't realize Ross & Al had already commented on your post already. We're on the ball here!

 

[dick0236]

I'm going in next Thursday to have my Aortic valve replaced. I still don't know which type to go with. I have heard horror stories about taking blood thinners for the rest of my life but i also have heard that the tissue valves don't last as long as a mechanical one. I'm 53 and want to continue to play sports. Any suggestions would be great.
Pat

Welcome Pat. The horror stories concerning Coumadin/Warfarin you hear are not true. It is true that Warfarin will be a drug you will take for the rest of your life, I've taken it for 42+ years....but it nead not affect your life or lifestyle, so long as you take it as prescribed and INR test regularly. It is also true that tissue type valves will not last nearly as long as a mechanical valve, unless some new problem develops. Do your homework and then decide if you want to take a pill a day....or have another heart surgery, or two, down the road.