When will these night sweats end?Also Toprol

[LindaVA]

Hi Everyone,
Only Post Op day 6 from MV repair, but my nights have been anything but restful. I am literally changing my clothes/sheets 5 times a night from night sweats. I am only on Coumodin and Toprol, no more pain or sleep meds since Post Op Day 3. Anyone else experience this post op?

Also, can't say I'm loving the Toprol. My heart rate has been running high for me (90-110 range) and instead of lowering it, it raises it and makes me feel like crap-- lots of flutters, skipped beats etc about an hour after taking it. My cardiologist said it should be having the opposite effect.

LindaVA
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3/9 MV Repair by Heart Port U Penn Presby

 

[Mary]

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10688&highlight=night+sweats

This is one of the threads that have dealt with night sweats, and there is a post in this thread by Tobagotwo that references an earlier thread that he had started.
I had similar results with Toprol XL when I first started taking it, but my heartrate did decrease with time. You might need your dosage changed, but remember, the higher the dose, the more likely you are to experience side effects.

 

[Traveler]

Seems like extreme night sweats went on until the middle of the third week for me. I'm currently in the middle of week 5 and still wake up with wet sheets and clothes but not drenched. For the first three weeks I had to change night clothes, pillows etc several times a night.

As for toprol - I'm still on it but on a reduced 25 mg once a day. My cardiologist says for life, but we agreed that we would review this in 6 months. Toprol significantly lowers my heart rate (~42 bpm with 50 mg, ~60 with 25 mg). So I have mixed thoughts about it. I think it makes me sleepy and I don't like that.

Good luck figuring it out.

Mark

 

[WayneGM]

I slept pretty good once I got into a comfortable position but I was still on pain meds well beyond day 6 post-op.

Never had to take sleep meds or Toprol.

 

[LindaVA]

Oh boy. Looks like these sweats could drag on a bit from the thread that was provided. Not looking forward to sleeping.
Thanks for the input. Also I'm on 50 Toprol which the dr said to kick down to 25. As I am only taking it for 6 weeks, I'm not going to get too wrapped up in it. I was actually more upset about the sweats!

LindaVA

3/9 MV Repair by Heart Port/ U Penn Presby

 

[hensylee]

when you go to dr for first time, remember the paper you fill out - it always asks if you have night sweats. Seems perhaps the heart somehow can be connected to some night sweats.

I didn't like TOPROL XL either. Dr took me off and put me back on atenolol. Toprol made me cough a whole lot.

 

[Marguerite53]

I did not experience any significant night sweats, but I did have hot flashes/sweats throughout the day. For another reason, I switched from Atenolol to Toprol XL. My sweats stopped!! I also felt immediately like a different person and this was 10 months post surgery. No more flu-like symptoms, no more tiredness.... Due to the timing, it could not have been anything else BUT the change in meds.

I say this to encourage you to ask your doctor to prescribe you a different beta blocker. It really does seem that the difference between atenolol and the toprol are significant due to these and other comments that have been made on this site. Maybe you should try the different one!!

Hang in there!! Marguerite

 

[hensylee]

"I did not experience any significant night sweats, but I did have hot flashes/sweats throughout the day. For another reason, I switched from Atenolol to Toprol XL. My sweats stopped!! I also felt immediately like a different person and this was 10 months post surgery. No more flu-like symptoms, no more tiredness.... Due to the timing, it could not have been anything else BUT the change in meds."

Yes, Marguerite, you did say that. Sorry, I got yours backward. odd how we have different experiences with meds, isn't it.

 

[LindaVA]

Seem to be doing better today. I am probably attributing a lot to medication that is really just normal stuff only post op day 6. I'll give the toprol a little bit more a chance.

As for pain, I had heart port. I have to say, while I was uncomfortable the first 3-4 days, and the rib spreader definitely made me a little numb in the area, I can never really say I had pain, only soreness. I'm definitely not in pain now and can reach and do things with my right arm. I would definitely encourage anyone who can do it minimally invasive to do so.

LindaVA
3/09/07 MV Repair by heart port UPenn Presby

 

[tobagotwo]

The night sweats were disgusting. I soaked everything. It would literally run off me once it got going. I was constantly waking up during the night in cold, wet misery.

I didn't take the pain meds for very long. Just a few days after I got home. I still have a bunch of Tramadol in the cupboard. I don't know why, but it's kind of neat to have them around. Probably long expired by now.

The sweats are generally attributed to your body attempting to flush out the poisons left over from the anesthesia. Hard to say. That's as good a story as any, though.

Bear with it. It will pass.

Best wishes,

 

[ruth]

Hmmm, night sweats? That's a new one to me.

I'm a HUGE water drinker during the day, I wonder if that helped flush out my system. Or maybe I'm just different.

Ruth

 

[Christina]

Sweating and night sweats...

Sweating and night sweats...

Well, during my hospital stay 8/2000 I had to have a fan (thank God they had one) on full blast blowing at me all the time because I felt so hot. It was also very hot during the month of August and the hospital's AC might not have been working very efficiently. But it hasn't gotten a whole lot better since 2000 and I still get so hot. (mostly in my face)
We have central air in our house but I have to have a fan blowing at my face all the time otherwise I can't stand sitting where I am. I have one blowing at me right now otherwise I can't be here. It is a major discomfort and nothing seems to help much. I've been taking Bio-identical hormones (no synthetics here) and I have to admit that it grately improved my swinging moods. I quit taking those some time ago as they too have Estrogen and that causes breast cancer.
If I don't have the ceiling fan on at night (I am freezing my husband out of the bedroom) I don't sleep well and I keep waking up. It disturbes my sleep so I wake up in the morning feeling tired.

 

[carolrai]

I am so glad to know it is not just me!!! I am now about 2 and a half weeks post op and have been having the night sweats for about the last week and a half. Drives me nuts!

 

[Victor C]

I'm in my third week Post AVR and have the same issue i woke up at 2 am like i was in a pool. Today i talked with my surgeon about it and he only said: that will go away...

 

[Oscar61]

Linda,

Yesterday I was 3 weeks post op AVR. I experienced the sweats for about the first week then disappeared. I am also on Toporol, but 100 mg/day. My pulse too was high and all over the place when I first got out of the hospital....no A-Fib though (110-125/min). That lasted about a week and a half to two weeks for me and had me really concerned. "Is this how it's going to be from now on?" For the last 5 days or so my pulse has gotten back down to being pretty "rhythmic" and a more normal 70-85 beats per minute at rest. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is a sign of progression and doesnt jump back.

I think the one thing you'll see here is that a lot of people experience the same things but on sliding scales. Whats two weeks for me is 3 months for someone else....but it does seem as though the concerns you are having (and that I have also had) do seem to pass with time with almost everyone.

Good luck,

Jay

 

[tobagotwo]

If Toprol isn't working for you, maybe adjusting the dosage isn't the answer. Patients are not all alike. There are dozens of alternative drugs, and no reason he can't try a different one that might work better with your system. The fact that Mary's Toprol worked over time may say more about Mary's internal systems recovering over time than the benefits of Toprol.

The night sweats happen to a relatively small pecentage of OHS patients. It seems to be how their bodies push the remaining toxins out of their systems (another way in which patients are different). I can vouch that it wasn't related to water intake in either direction for me.

Best wishes,

 

[LindaVA]

Hi and thanks for the input. Actually, I've adjusted to the Toprol. When I posted I was less than 1 week post op so I think my heartbeat wasn't quite adjusted at that point. I am down to 25mg and all in all about 10 days post op, I am feeling great, in fact going to the movies in about an hour. Feeling great that is, except for the night sweats, still with me! Definitely my biggest post op complaint. Thank god for my mom staying with me-- we're doing a basket of laundry just from the night sweats every day! Definitely not getting the uninterrrupted sleep I envisioned I would be getting. Overall, though, I have to say recovery from heart port is a pretty easy and can't wait to drive in yippee 2 more days!

Linda VA
3/9/07 MV Repair by Heart Port, UPenn Presby

 

[MikeHeim]

I'm a little late getting to this one, but I had night sweats for at least six weeks. I usually only had one episode per night, but I absolutely had to change every bit of clothing, and almost always had to go out and spend the rest of the night on the couch because I had sweat through to the mattress. I still occasionally get them, but they are not nearly as bad.

 

[HeartDawg]

Ah ... Night Sweats!

Ah ... Night Sweats!

Hey! I had those for a few weeks after surgery. I even asked my primary care physician about them ... he didn't connect them to the valve replacement at all! They are gone now. I have been on metoprolol. Actually just got off the stuff a couple days ago, but then my resting heart rate went up 40 b/s, so I'm back on them (Toprolol now).

I have had a history of off and on night sweats, but I haven't had a doctor be able to diagnose any reasons for them.

 

[Philip B]

Toprol XL & the Itch

Toprol XL & the Itch

I'm not scheduled for AVR surgery until March 28, but my cardiologist attempted to put me on Toprol XL to keep me from blowing an aortic anuerysm before they could get me in to fix it. I had a bad reaction to Toprol. It seems I'm allergic to it. My body developed an itchy rash (head to toe) within twenty-four hours of the first 50 mg tablet I took. It took over a week for the itch to go away. My cardio doc and his PA couldn't remember the last time a patient had that kind of reaction to Toprol. I'm having better luck with a different BP med.

-Philip