Painful Weather

[ChouDoufu]

the weather changed recently. i think monsoon season may be coming soon.
humidity has increased to 90%-ish, air is thick and humid and hazy. couple
of days ago a 'cold front' moved in. by cold i mean upper 70's (F).

there's been a threat of rain, and i've felt a strange sensation at the top
rib at the top of my scar, like there's a little garden gnome in my chest
tickling my upper ribs with a feather. no pain, just weird.

last night light rain started around 10pm, got heavier around midnight.
at 2am i woke up with an awful pain. was sleeping on my side, and the
feeling was just like a couple weeks post op, like my bones had just started
to knit back together. deep breathing too painful.

i've been running and biking long distances, up to several sets a day of
100 situps and 30 pushups, can sometimes do one pullup. had just taken
a couple days off, yesterday morning did a short easy 2-hour bike ride.
so obviously nothing strained. definitely a weather thing.

wound up taking one of my leftover tramadols, followed by a hot shower.
this helped and could get back to sleep. this morning, still a little sore,
but nothing like last night.

and finally we come to the questions:

1. has anyone had a similar weather-related experience?

2. if so, is this going to be a lifetime thing?

3. any recommendations? i could go live in a desert, that would be cool.
............well, hot really, but you know what i mean.

 

[Bina]

My sinuses are always a good indicator of weather related pressure changes....but I haven't noticed anything in my sternum. Of course, high humidity generally makes me feel kind of crappy anyway.
We had rain last night, and humidity today that was much too high for this time of year.....so, I stayed indoors.
Note to self: Nag hubby to install the window a/c in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Jkm7]

After my first OHS, I often had pain with change of weather...both rain and snow. Humidity and high heat as well as frigid cold in New England winters.

Four years after my first surgery, I was meeting with my surgeon discussing my second OHS and I told him how I suffered with weather changes and that for four years, I had been sore. He listened carefully and said he would see what he could do to try and make it better for me this time.

He succeeded. I am now 14 months post op and am very much more comfortable. My cardio had said I could consider surgery to remove wires if I wished but I said No, I didnt' want any more surgery. But seeing as I needed the valve replacement, it's a blessing my surgeon was able to close me differently or whatever he did to make it better for me.

I sometimes now have twinges or soreness but nothing like in the past. Previous to my second OHS, it was out of the question I could ever lay on my stomach. Now I can.

 

[Ross]

If you cannot inspire fully, you better go get checked. It's sounding more like fluid or pneumonia to me.

 

[ChouDoufu]

didn't mean that i couldn't inhale fully, just that it was really painful.

rained until noon, weather cleared, pain went away. now nothing but a
dull ache, like i was straining against my muscles to prevent the pain.

will see how it is in the morning, then decide on either a 10km run or a
75 mile bicycle ride. i maybe just wild acrobatic sex. decisions, decisions....

i've added this to my log (the sternum pain, not the sex) to keep track of
weather-related discomfort.

 

[Tbone]

The higher the humidity the harder it is to catch your breath. Humidity affects most of us in different but similar ways. For me it is hard & it feels like the lower part of my lungs are not expanding all the way. I know this is not the case, but what are you going to do.

I do have to agree with Ross that you should get this checked just in case.

Good luck to you

 

[ChouDoufu]

Humidity affects most of us in different but similar ways.....I do have to agree with Ross that you should get this checked just in case.

okay, i was going to go on a long bike ride today, or maybe out to the dam
where they're having the fake water splashing festival. six bucks gets you
entry, a plastic basin with which to splash water, and an 'island shirt,' a
really tacky, tawdry even, hawaiian shirt i wouldn't be seen back from the
dead in. instead spent the day at or near the hospital.

had a long chat with the doctor before noon, and he pretty much had me
repeat my three-month checkup minus the blood work. so got to redo
echo, x-ray and ekg. had time to pay for all the tests (US$40) and take
an x-ray before the three-hour noon naptime. after naptime got the ekg
and echo done.

consulting with the doctor, nothing out of the ordinary was found. he thinks
i'm still recovering from surgery - at four months - and since the sternum
was cut in half then duct taped back together, i will probably be sensitive
to weather changes for a while. he says can continue with the running
and cycling, but might want to cut back or eliminate pushups for the time
being. also got a scrip for a mild painkiller - "Mei Luo Xi Kang" pills. Never
heard of it, had to research, just the oral approximation of Meloxicam.

the good news is i got the echo tech to give me an estimate of effective
valve area. he came up with EVA 2.2 cm2, PG 15mmHg, and EF 69%.

i just hope i get over this whatever it is. if it's truly weather-related and
humidity-defendant, then i'm in trouble with monsoon season coming.

but.....i've been considering a change in scenery. may be time to move
again. i'm thinking of thailand. will have to research and see what the
weather's like.

 

[Bina]

Deletion of push ups might be a good consideration for a while, anyway.

 

[ChouDoufu]

Deletion of push ups might be a good consideration for a while, anyway.

you're gonna piss off the girlfriend!!!

anyway, whatever the problem was, it went away with the change in
weather. it's currently a sunny 30 degrees celcius. a little cold for my
taste, buy manageable.

just got back from the track, ran one mile in 7:00. afterwards did some
hang-ups...just sorta hang on the pullup bars, and only pull a teensy bit.
enough to put slight pressure on the sternum, just a little tickle.

this means a 6:30 mile or 14:00 2-mile is achievable. am planning on a
half-marathon in december, goal is 1:45:00 (8 minutes/mile).
why not, i thinks, just did a 10k in 52 minutes.....that's a 1/4-marathon!!
i'm guessing i could manage a half-marathon this weekend, but would be
closer to two hours (10 minutes/mile).

what do you think? run a half-marathon at four months? i wanna!!!

 

[Bina]

Chou, you are a nut.
When the temps here hit the thirties, I don't leave home; gimme a/c and a bucket of frozen yogurt....I can't imagine running.

 

[Tbone]

Well I'm glad to hear you got a good report. Keep up the good work.

I would stay out of Thailand they are trying, or have overthrown the government.