I haven't stopped my beta blocker. Sorry for being unclear. What I meant was that my heart rate doesn't seem to be affected by the BB; in other words, it's high regardless. After my surgery, the hospital was refusing to release me because of a high heart rate. They had me on 100mg of metropolol and I was still at around 110-130 resting. I asked for Atenelol and that immediately brought me down to the mid-80's. Since being home (almost 4 weeks post-op), my heart rate has been around 75-100 with Atenelol (50mg/day). For the last 2 days, I've been at about 90-110 bpm. Was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this and what their experience was like.
I vaguely remember a few posts regarding post op patients that had fluctuating heart rates for a few months, which eventually figured themselves out.
A Beta Blocker can be prescribed for several reasons, to control the heart rate if it is fast, or to control Blood pressure (if it is high) or to prevent the onset of afib etc.
A fast heart rate can be due to a disorder of rate of the heart or a disorder of electrical conduction in the heart. The treatment can depend on what the rhythm is eg Afib, or a sinus tachcardia, sinus bradycardia, heart block etc or even ventricular tachycardia or an Supra Ventricular Tachycardia or WPW conduction, etc etc. It is important for the cardiologist or yur doctor to observe your ECG, and in light of your history and ECG and other medications etc, they will them prescribe your antiarrhythmia medication or Blood pressure medication (or both)....it can be very tricky to get it right. You r dose of Beta Blocker is at the "low End" of what might be typcail for some people, so there may be some opportunity for your doctor to carefully increase your dose to slow the heart, BUT...this must only be done by your doctor while he monitors other vital signs such as blood pressure etc. Remember your heart has been "manhandled", it may have a new valve and it is still getting used to that being in place, and it was stopped while you were on bypass, and so it can take time for pressure and nervous control of the heart to "reset"...and some folk can have "paroxysmal" tachycardias (sudden onset fast heart rates and suddenly normalising heart rates) or they can permanently have a dysrhythmia, such as aFib....so, its hard to say exactly what is happening for you, and it depends on what your Blood Pressure is doing while your heart is beating fast as to how that should be treated and what medication should be used to achive that. If your heart rate is fast, and yuor BP is ok or high, then a Beta Blocker may be ok to slow the heart rate (as it may also normalise or lower the BP as well)....but your BP can go too low or you can have other side effects, such as a wheeze and shortness of breath, so Beta Blocker should ideally be "dosed" correctly why you are in hospital, increasing the dose until the heart rate is ok without dropping your BP too low....and so on....one clue as to what your heart rhythm might be, is to feel your pulse and if your pulse is "irregular" (ie nopt beating regularly like a clock) it is likely (but not always) that it is atrial fibrillation with a fast ventricular response. Remember that Afib is the most common arrhythmia, and many, many people, particularly those who are elderly, can have afib chronically and live quite happily with it...albiet with an increased risk of a blood clot forming in the fibrillating (quivvering) atrias, and thus a risk of a stroke if that blood clot travels to teh brain, hence the often need some form of appropriate anticoagulation, eg warfarin.
I have always had a perfectly normal BP and Heart rate, yet my surgeon wants to ensure that my heart doesn't go fast at any stage and he wants my BP at the "low end" of normal (Systolic between say 100-120)...so I take 40mg sotolol daily (in the morning on an empty stomach) so that my heart rate stays ok during the day when I am active, and I also take an ACE inhibitor to keep my Systolic Blood Pressure around 100mmHg, which helps keep the load off my heart while the valve and aorta heals....and this is planned for the first three months after surgery only, and if all is ok, and if I don't develop Afib, and my BP stays ok and if my heart rate is ok, we plan to slowly cease the Beta blocker and the ace inhibitor (and also the warfarin) at about the three month mark post surgery...I have never even taken a head ache tablet before my surgery so I am looking forward to getting off as many tablets as soon possible, but in the mean time I have set my phone alarm to ensure that I take my tablets at the same time each day and never, ever miss a dose or change a dose without speaking to my cardiologist or surgeon.
In summary, then, everyone usually has a period of altered heart rate after surgery, some people need a pacemanker as their heart rate goes too slow, and some need heart rate control, it depends on what your ECG rhythm is and what your BP is and what your surgeon/cardiologist want your rate and BP to be as to what your specific management should be...keep having regular checkups to monitor all these vital signs...your heart rate sounds like it isa little fast and its worth talking to your doctor or surgeon about that....and also remeber, if you have no lightheadedness, no chest pain or shortness of breath, etc, then it might just be all ok for you...and maybe you need some time for everything to heal and settle down....best wishes
