Not a good day

[sood]

So last night got a little stressed and started feeling a bit mild chest discomfort close to my sternum. But it wasn't my sternum. Felt it a little less this morning and then it went away. Had a Starbucks mocha after lunch. Later in the afternoon started feeling pain on my left side under my arm by my ribs just below my heart. Pretty dull pain.
Then this evening I went to the gym and got on the treadmill, barely on it for a couple minutes and I felt my heart beating out of my chest every few beats. I was otherwise fine. I stopped and came back home. I'm blaming caffeine for most of these issues, it was only my 2nd caffeinated beverage post op.

Anyone experience anything similar, I'm almost 7 weeks post op. My heartbeat appears to be regular right now. I'm trying to stay calm. If this issue persists I will definitely be calling my cardio.

 

[sood]

Check that based on watching my oximeter and feeling my pulse on this finger I'm experiencing irregular heartbeats. Is this afib? They said I was at risk of that for six weeks post op and its been almost seven.

 

[sood]

I should also say that my heart rate is in the low 70s bpm currently.

 

[canon4me]

sood, sorry to hear you've had a problem. What concerns me is you described a "dull" pain. Do you think you need to get an enzyme test at your ER to rule out that you had a small MI?

 

[canon4me]

I just think its nothing to mess with. If you've already got an irregular heart rate attributed to this event, maybe you need to get it checked out now instead of later and then you can put it behind you.

 

[socalhome]

our surgeon and cardiologist told us to call if we ever had any hesitation or question...day or night. a phone call and reassurance from the "pros" could help you sleep, or they may suggest a quick visit to ER to check everything out. It might well be the caffeine but it is nice to hear someone reassuring confirm it

 

[sood]

I feel fine but still have an irregular heartbeat. I called the cardiologists office and was transferred to the doctor on call at the hospital and he recommended I call the cardio's office in the morning to get an EKG. He said if my irregular heartbeat goes away by the morning to just call and setup a regular appointment. He thought that it was related to the caffeine putting me into Afib.

 

[Agian]

Caffeine caused arrhythmia in a friend of mine, and she had no cardiac history.

 

[epstns]

Caffeine and licorice can mess with your heart rhythm and rate, but I also think it best to talk with the docs about your particular situation. At 7 weeks out, it is possible that if you exercise you may cause some strange rhythms, but you really don't want to live that way for long. I would discuss it with the doc - maybe they need to adjust or add meds. Since surgery I have been taking metoprolol (beta blocker) to help keep my heart rhythm under control. Over time we have reduced the dosage, but initially I needed a fairly high amount to ensure control of my heart rate.

 

[sood]

Looks like things are back to normal for my heart rhythm. I shouldn't have had that starbucks yesterday. I did have a caffeinated soda (my first post surgery) on Sunday and was fine, but after researching that only had 35 mg of caffeine. The drink I got from starbucks had 175 mg of caffeine in it. Had I known that beforehand I wouldn't have come close to it. I spoke to the nurse today at my cardio's office and she also thought it was related to the caffeine. A couple nights ago when I felt some slight discomfort I also downed a box of raisinets, chocolate has a small amount of caffeine.

I feel fine and will feel reassured after I get back on the treadmill tomorrow morning. I'll be staying away from caffeine for a lot longer. Thanks for your replies!

 

[kimcdougc]

Sood, I drank a small cup of regular coffee, 3 weeks post surgery, smarty pants me, and my heart rate became erratic and all the way up to 166 the rest of the day I couldn't walk etc. The next day I was fine. I have drank several cokes and been ok with that. So, for me it was the caffeine. Glad to hear you are back to normal!

 

[AZ Don]

Caffeine, alcohol, and even chocolate can all cause afib. It sounds like that's what you had, except that your pulse was low and you had pain. When I have afib, my pulse measures 140-150. It's not painful but it feels like my heart is jumping around - definitely annoying. In anycase, always good to get in touch with the Dr's on something like this. Guess I'll have to go without caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate a little longer than I planned. I was thinking 2 months, maybe I'll wait 3.

 

[canon4me]

I drink nothing but decaffinated green tea, but even decaffinated contains some caffeine. A helpful trick I learned from Dr. Andrew Weil was to steep a bag of tea for about one minute, throw it out and then re-steep another cup using the same bag and that pretty much takes care of it. Very dark chocolate generally speaking contains more caffeine than milk chocolate, so you have to be careful with that as well.

 

[AmyR]

Hello, Good to know you are feeling better.

I had these weird episodes at pre op itself. I being a very aggressive player and at the gym never had trouble until i started my favo black coffee. Lol I still remember a cup of coffee and a little gym used to cause my heart to be at a horrible 180 bpm and made me feel i was running across the world without moving my legs. I quit my black coffee and things got a lotttt better i still had a few episodes of my crazy heart rate but that was because of my leaky valve which could not provide enough blood that i required. And yes i was in the ER once for it cause it wouldn reduce but the docs said it wasn AFIb but just a confused heart thanks to the caffeine and activity. Take care and keep ticking.

 

[epstns]

I switched to decaffeinated beverages a couple of years before my valve surgery, so caffeine was not a factor in my post-op afib. Now that I've been without caffeine for so long, I can sure feel it when I am accidentally served something with caffeine. Vroooom!

 

[sood]

I still feel a little sore under my left arm but I'm not worried about it. In the past when I've had issues with taking stimulants accidentally I felt the same way for a couple days. For example I once took some flu remedy that had stimulants in it. Ended up in the ER because of chest pain, this was a couple years prior to surgery. I went to the gym today and got on the treadmill and was back to my pre-irregular rhythm self. I'll continue my caffeine less diet indefinitely for now, and revisit the occasional beverage in a few months.