Fatigue

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S

SDS

Hi,
I am new to Valvereplacement as Al Lodwick of Warfain Institue of America recommended that I should join to get in contact with other members who were having the same problems that I am.

I am 58 and was born with a Bicuspid heart valve and had it replaced and now have a metal aortic heart valve and take 5mg of Coudamin per day.
Prior to the operation I was perfectly healthy and had no symptoms. Bicuspid was discovered by accident during an Echocardiogram check up.
Before operation I ran 2 miles each morning on treadmill, played tennis, water skied, hiked a lot and did everything at 100 miles an hour.

Operation went very well due to my physical fitness and not being sick but since operation I have had nothing but trouble.
Pericarditis,( back to hospital ) Pneumonia ( back to hospital ) Pleurisy ( back to hospital ), second bout of Pneumonia and Fatigue to name a few.

I still use treadmill every morning and do a fast walk for 2 miles. During the day I stay active.

I have not been able to recover to anywhere near my previous health and suffer quite badly from Fatigue. By about 2pm I start to feel very tired and end up having to have a sleep for about 2 hours every day.
I have had many blood tests and they are all normal.

Al Lodwick was aware of this Fatigue and my Doctor and Cardiologist are aware of this Fatigue and they put it down to the known side effect of Coumadin.

I would like to know are there others out there who suffer from the same Fatigue problem ?
 
Hi Cooker,
The manufacturers of Coumadin, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company do state in their Product Disclosure that it causes “ fatigue, malaise and lethargy ”.
Likewise the FDA also publish the same info.

I guess its like every drug - Everyone's Different and Warfarin effects different people in different ways

......SDS
 
hopefully there will get it sorted for you,,like sds said i was told about the side effects it can cause,BUT for many people it doesnt have any,you takes your choice,am sure there will sort it out for you,
 
You didn't say how long ago you had the op. Fatigue for the first couple months wouldn't be unusual, but after that you should be back to your old self.
 
Some members (especially we more "elderly" types) report that we continue to improve our Exercise Tolerance for up to a YEAR or more after surgery. When was your surgery?

Have you read the posts / stories of our more active members? We have several Marathon Runners and Bicyclists in our group.

What kind of Valve did you receive (manufacturer / model)?

Mechanical Valves have leaflets made of Pyrolytic Carbon (NOT Metal). Older designs are known to cause some damage to the Red Blood Cells which can be measured in a blood test for Hemolysis. Have your Doctors checked this parameter?

'AL Capshaw'
 
SDS:

Your profile doesn't say when you had your AVR.

How many echoes have you had since then? Have you had a TEE in addition to echoes?

Any regurge around a valve can cause fatigue. I have regurge at my MV, and it does cause me fatigue at times. In addition to my annual echoes, I had a TEE in 2007 to get a clearer view of the regurge and had a repeat 2 weeks ago.
 
ALCapshaw2 said:
Some members (especially we more "elderly" types) report that we continue to improve our Exercise Tolerance for up to a YEAR or more after surgery. When was your surgery?
Click to expand...

I experienced fatigue for a while after surgery, and I was 38 at the time. I started back at the gym about 3 months out, but very slowly. I'd say by 6 or 7 months I was truly active again, but even last summer I had trouble with intense cardio. I couldn't really swim laps anymore (used to swim before) but this summer I am swimming again. My cardio encouraged me to keep pushing myself slowly. I had two surgeries pretty close together which was an issue. But I remember 5 months out volunteering at my daughter's school and feeling exhausted after just and hour or two and having to nap. Also am wondering how far out you are.
 
Operation went very well due to my physical fitness
Click to expand...

My surgery didn't go very well and I was in excellent condition for a 56 year old. I had jogged or walked daily for 23 years right up to before surgery.

I'm now 74 and have no fatigue problem. I still fast walk every day for 3 miles.

Maybe I missed it but I didn't read how long it's been since you had surgery? It did take a full year to get back to where I was before surgery. I had plenty fatigue the first year.
 
Hi and welcome. Warfarin has never made me tired I don't think. Are there any other maladies that you may have that are causing this fatigue? Are there any other meds you are on of which fatigue is a side effect?
 
SDS,

You do not mention when you had the surgery. And as others said before, it takes a while to go back to 'normal'. I improved very quickly after my surgery, but after two months I was struck with fatigue and I was worried, which now I think due to have overdone it after surgery. It took me four months to rebuild my stamina and energy again and I do treadmill now about one hour everyday or other day and I have been increasing the pace and the inclination gradually.

So, if you had your surgery recently, you need to be patient, especially that you had pneumonia twice; and recovering from pneumonia takes a while too. Continue exercising your lungs with walking and the spidometer, if you have one at home.

Keep us posted. Good luck. :)
 
Fatigue

Hi,

Thanks everyone for your responses and questions

I had the operation in November 2005

I had Pericarditis in April 2006

I had Pneumonia and Pleurisy in September 2007

I had Pneumonia in May 2008

The Pericarditis caused me to collapse and black out at home. My wife found me when she returned home, I woke up in hospital and I was critically ill. My recovery wiped out the remainder of 2006
The first bout of Pneumonia and Pleurisy were very bad and again I was critically ill and it took months to recover and basically wiped out the remainder of 2007
The second bout of Pneumonia was not so bad because we were prepared for it and so got medication early and prevented it from getting too bad but it still wiped out the remainder of 2008

Re Al Capshaw questions ?

Valve is a ATS Medical Inc ? Minneapolis USA - Aortic AP Model 501DA24 24mm Pyrolytic Carbon Orifice
I do not know whether the Doctors have checked Hemolysis so I will have to ask them

Re Catwoman questions ?

I have had 4 Echos and LVEF?s since operation - basically now get them done annually
I do have bleed back around the valve apparently where the stitches failed to hold to the wall

Re Colleen S questions -

I have no other maladies
My only other medication is Zanidip for blood pressure and it does not have fatigue as a side effect. In fact the Cardiologist and Doctor changed me to Zanidip as they thought that the previous tablets may have caused the fatigue but the fatigue has remained the same so its not the blood pressure tablets.

Look forward to your responses.
 
SDS said:
I do have bleed back around the valve apparently where the stitches failed to hold to the wall
Click to expand...

Do your Echocardiogram reports list Aortic Insufficiency or Aortic Regurgitation and if so did they give it a rating?

Did anyone speculate on the Reason your "Stitches failed to hold to the wall".

This does not speak well of your surgeon.
It suggests that either he did a Poor Job of Stitching,
or failed to recognize poor tissue and did not know
how to deal with it effectively.

You may want to ask an ATS representative (or your surgeon) about the 'usual' level of Hemolysis with that valve and how it compares with other valves, including tissue valves (also including your original native valve).
 
Fatigue

Replies to,

Al Capshaw
I do not have the Echo reports so I will have to find out about Aortic Insufficiency/Regurtation
No reasons given for failed stitches

Olefin

Yes I get a Flu injection and a Pneumonia injection before each Winter
 
I just posted elsewhere about the emphasis in my hospital on respiration--using the sprirometer faithfully, and going through an inhalation therapy regime while hospitalized. Post-surgical pneumonia is unfortunately quite common and can be deadly.

What does your pulmonologist say about your difficulties, SDS? I wonder if your fatigue is more closely related to the pneumonia and pleurisy than to the valve and warfarin.
 
Hi Big Owl,

Thanks for your reply.

For the first 4 months after the surgery I was quite tired and assumed that this was all part of the operation and normal recovery.
I then contracted Pericarditis quite badly and it took quite a few months to get over.
All through the period from the operation to about 1 year later I was very fatigued but assumed that it was to do with the operation and then the Pericarditis.
However I was fatigued before I contracted Pneumonoia and Pleurisy.

The general opinion is that the fatigue is a side effect either from the operation or from the Warfarin.
My GP contacted the manufacturers and they told her that Coumadin does cause " fatigue, malaise and lethargy "

The reason that I made this post was to see if others had had the same fatigue problem and what they had been able to do to get over it.
 
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