Problems at Night

[jag004]

Is it just me, or does it seem as if Afib , arrhythmias, and other post surgical heart issues occur at night ?

Tonight is my 5th sleeping overnight after surgery, and I know that the Afib is coming sooner or later.

 

[tommyboy14]

@jag004 At this point after surgery, your body is still adjusting a lot to your new valve. I also had afib at night the third night after surgery. All of a sudden there was 5 doctors and nurses in my room. Within 2 minutes I was diagnosed with Afib and then within 5 I was being injected with amidiorone or some other drug that calmed it right down. I was then given a 6 week course of amidiorone. Afib hasnt come back since. That was 2 years ago a week ago.

Also, your system will be on lots of meds at this stage which may themselves cause issues. The hospital I was at kept insisting that I needed intra venous pain medication. I said it makes me feel sick. They then tried three different anti sickness meds and three different intravenous pain meds. It made me hallucinate like I was really high. I couldnt sleep because of it because I kept seeing strange things.

I dont feel a lot of pain in any case, so after lots of begging I managed to convince them to just give me paracetamol for the pain.

Long story short, you are still early in your journey and there is a pretty good chance you will make a full afib free recovery.

 

[tommyboy14]

By the way, it is the middle of the night now in Philly, so I can see that you arent sleeping. Sorry about that.

It will get a lot better once you leave hospital.

 

[pellicle]

Is it just me, or does it seem as if Afib , arrhythmias, and other post surgical heart issues occur at night ?

not sure, but definately sleeping in hospital in my post op recovery wasn't my best "sleeping times" ...

sounds like you're having a bumpy landing ... it varies. I personally felt like my heart beat rocked me while lying in bed (even sitting).

Best Wishes

 

[Rebecca]

Thank you for letting us know. I had my second aorta tissue replacement in March and have had trouble with afilb. After Easter went back into hospital for two nights and had cardio inversion. Last week brought the kardia. I can't feel when I am in afilb.

 

[Chuck C]

Afib is very common after valve surgery. I went into afib one night in ICU and it certainly disrupted my sleep. But, in general, sleep was really challenging in the hospital, with or without afib. Your heart has just been through a very traumatic event and there are some bumps in the road until it adjusts to the new situation with your new valve and heals from the surgery. My afib came back before I left the hospital but was gone for good by the 6th day after surgery. For the vast majority of us the afib resolves relatively soon after surgery.