Trouble taking a deep breath

[Bev]

Six months ago I had my AVR. Shortly after the surgery I was having trouble taking a really deep breath due to a partially collapsed lung. That condition improved, but I still find it's hard to inhale deeply. When I do, I feel so much pressure in my chest around my heart, like my heart is pounding right at the surface. I mentioned it to my cardiologist at an appt. last week, and his comment was that there are changes that I'll have to get used to. Yesterday I was attending a "Stress & Relaxation" class as part of my cardiac rehab. The relaxation part of the class was all about deep breathing, breathing in slowly, holding your breath for 4-5 seconds etc. Doing this for 15 minutes was all but impossible for me because of the constant pounding of my heart when I inhale. Fellow AVR's, can you relate to what I'm saying? is this temporary? ever experienced this pounding??

 

[wcasey5]

Yep! It's like when I take a deep breath, The sound of my valve changes and I can feel it almost in my throat. Of all the strange things that go through your mind, it is noted and I just have to get used to it and enjoy life. I do find it harder to deep breathe in yoga, it is like my chest is tighter, or won't expand or something. BUT, no problems so far in almost 4 years.

 

[Bev]

Thanks wcasey5. Ok, so it's been 4 years for you, and no improvement? I was hoping that it would be less noticeable as time went on, because for things like yoga or any deep breathing relaxation, it really takes the "relaxation" out of the scenario for me. Oh well something else to get used to......
Thanks again for your comment.

 

[Lynlw]

Bev did you just have your valve replaced or part of the Aorta with a graft too? Sometimes the graft can make the pounding worse. Just to be clear, you CAN take in deep breaths, it is just the constants pounding makes it tough on you, is that right? IF you can't take in deep breaths at all (like when the lung was collapsed) I would defintatly be calling your cardiologist.

 

[wcasey5]

I had the graft and I think the lack of expansion doesn't cushon my heart beat as well as the original aorta did

 

[Bev]

Lynn, yes I can take deep breaths in, but like you said, the pounding is tough on me. As far as the aorta and whether or not I had a graft, I'm not positive on the graft. I have copy of my surgerical report and it mentions "an incision was performed extending from the sinotubular junction towards the ascending aorta to allow for excision of the aneurysm and it's plication." Then the report goes on about the aortic valve replacement, and the paragragh finishes with "The aneurysm repair was then completed with multiple pledgeted 4-0 Prolene sutures. " I'm thinking all that means no graft, but Lynn you are much more experienced at this.

 

[Julian]

I get pounding beats when I breath in deeply even slightly sometimes. Sometimes the pounding makes it feel like I cant take a full breath. Almost like if I take a super deep breath something might break or bust! Other times in the day I can take deep breaths with no poumding or light pounding. I dont know why sometimes the pounding is so obvious and other times its a non issue. BTW im 5 1/2 months post.

 

[Bev]

Julian, good to hear from you, and it sounds like you're going through the same thing as me when it comes to deep breathing. The heart pounding is annoying and a little scary, but it might improve over time. My sister had her AVR done over 20 years ago and she said there's no pounding when she breathes deeply. Let's hope it gets better as our hearts adjust to their new valves.

 

[jdlouth]

Bev

I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you find out you had a partially collapsed lung? I'm am four weeks and two days post op and having issues of pain when i take deep breaths. It started yesterday on oth sides but today only on my right side. I was reading your post and was wondering how you figured it out and what they did to fix it if you don't mind sharing?

Thank you
Jennifer

 

[Bev]

Hi Jennifer, I found out about the partially collapsed lung because it was showing up in the chest xray they took before I left the hospital. A few days later, when I visited my family doctor, she didn't like the sound of my lung and sent me for another xray. As a result of that xray she put me on Lasix and antibiotics for about 2 weeks. The condition persisted for a while, but eventually everything went back to normal. It probably took 6-8 weeks and I had to do a lot of deep breathing to help open up the lung. Hope you feel better soon

 

[jdlouth]

Thank you. I'll be calling my cardo on Monday.