Question on Medications

[twoboysdad]

Hello all, Long time no talk! guess you can say everything is just fine!

I have been VERY busy at work the past year since my surgery, Havent been able to stop by as often as i like by but Michelle keeps me up on things!

Anyway, Saw an episode of Grey's Anatomy the other night. A patient on there had a porcine valve replacement just a few months earlier and now it was in need of being replaced. They were trying to figure out why it had deteriorated in such a short time. They asked questions about any medications she had taken. The only one i can think of was one for migranes i think.

Anyway, that got me thinking. Is there any OTC medications that a person with a Porcine Valve should NOT be taking, or would cause the valve to deteriorate? Or is this just TV?

I thought not only would I like to know since i have a porcine valve but others here might benifit from knowing as well. Please reply with all you know. I guess while we are on the topic, if you know of any foods or anything to avoid that would harm the valve, post that too!

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Gemma]

Jeff, I have no idea but I do know medical dramas are not always reliable medical references!

In the UK we've got a show called "Holby City" - I hardly ever watch it because it just annoys me so much! But I've seen 3 heart patients - 2 teenagers in separate episodes had open heart surgery - one was out of bed 30 minutes later rooting through her bag and taking an overdose, the second managed to sneak out of his ward and run (literally!) off with his newborn baby sister, again about half an hour after surgery. Then last night's episode had a patient who was allergic to heparin being told he couldn't be operated on because they needed to use heparin for the op (and there's me thinking - oh, he's got HIT like Katie does, surely they can give him that argobantran stuff!!!). I switched channels at that point to watch a show about two bikers/cooks going to the Isle of Man for the TT races. Much more informative!

I think a lot of times they just shove some medical sounding jargon in and hope nobody watching knows if it's true or not. Some migraine remedies aren't recommended for people with arrhythmias or taking beta blockers (Jim asked his cardio if he could take anything last August) but I'd hope that doctors would know if anything you could be taking would make your valve wear out.

Glad to hear you're doing so well .

Gemma.

 

[twoboysdad]

Thanks Gemma,

Yeah i know those shows are all bull crap but it made me think, Should i be concerned about anything?

So i though where else should i ask, well VR of course!!

Thanks so much!!

Jeff

 

[Gemma]

Actually I just did a search for migraine remedies and came up with a huge list of documents - one talked about triptans and ergots which are apparently the most common migraine treatments (incidentally Jim still just takes paracetemol which apparently isn't considered to be a remedy at all!) and a lot of them aren't supposed to be given to people with ischemic heart disease, or vascular problems, and can cause various things like tachycardia and arrhythmias, but none of them specifically mentioned replacement valves of any type.

 

[twoboysdad]

Thanks Gemma!!

 

[hpuehler]

Hormones?

Hormones?

I watched that episode and I believe the cause for her elevated mood was a hormone disorder. Just a guess, but the hormones could effect the valve I would think. Don't know what hormone they were talking about.

Just speculating.

Heather

 

[twoboysdad]

Yeah, She had some sort of tumor that was effecting a hormone.

I guess the question isnt so much about the show but In General, Are there drugs or anything else for that matter that should be avoided after having AVR with Porcine valve?

Thanks for your help Heather!


Jeff

 

[Barbara Stewart]

Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy

I love Grey's Anatomy, but I spent a week in a teaching hospital for my surgery and it was nothing like like the show. FIrst where are the nurses? My docs did very little, but the nurses were the ones who did the most work.
I'd never use TV as a source for medical information.
Also, none of the docs were as good looking as the ones on the show.
Barbara

 

[PamO]

I'm with Barb - if Patrick Dempsey was my doctor - I'd make sure to hurt myself bad all the time just to see him!

 

[twoboysdad]

OK i must not have explained what i was looking for. I understan that its just a TV show. What i want to know is, IRL are there over the counter medications that should be avoided because they could effect the workability or life span of a porcine valve.

lol, thanks for helping, its hard not to get sidetracked with the tv show!