Introduction & Digitek/Digoxin recall

[David'sBride]

I'm new to this board, so hi y'all. I had mitral valve replacement surgery on 7/30/07. I received a bovine valve. I got better for a while and then hit a plateau. I should also mention that in the last year, I met the man of my dreams (who stuck by me through the surgery and post-op even though we had only been seeing each other a few weeks), got engaged, moved out of state, and changed careers so stress is a factor. We're getting married 5/24/08. Still having shortness of breath, chest pain, and fatigue. I'm scared that this is as good as my recovery will get. I don't want to feel this way with my new husband, in a new career, and in a new city. I'm going to a new cardiologist Thursday. Hoping for more info and better medication/treatment.

Does anyone else take digitek/digoxin that has been recalled by the FDA? Scary I take that, Sotalol, and an aspirin everyday. I've been wondering if the medications I take are typical or even the right ones!! I've been doing some research in hopes of being better informed before I see my new doctor.

Thanks for listening! I would really love to hear from you.

 

[Curtsmum]

Just wanted to say welcome, good luck with the new cardiologist, wishing you all the best.

 

[MikeHeim]

Last summer I moved to a different state, got married, and changed jobs within about a six week span (in retrospect, I would not suggest that to anyone). My surgery had been about 18 months prior and had pretty much recovered fully. However, during the spring and for a couple months after things settled down (relatively), I had a lot of issues with SOB and random shooting chest pains that I hadn't had previously since my early months of recovery. About a couple months after my move, things got better - so I will assume stress was what caused my problems. I was also concerned about these "new" symptoms and went to my Cardiologist, who put me through the battery of tests and told me my valve was fine. Hopefully your visit with the new Cardiologist will yield the same results.

Best wishes and welcome to the board.

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the VR community. Glad you found us and decided to post.

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome! You have had and are still having, a lot of changes. But it's also a good idea that you are seeing your new cardiologist. When was your last echo?

 

[David'sBride]

re:my last echo

re:my last echo

Thanks for the response. My last echo was December 07. My valve was still leaking, but cardiologist didn't want to do another angiogram to see how much??? Not sure that was the right thing.

 

[marie]

Welcome and do keep us posted. I too take sotalol for A-Fib however my doctor plans to take me off of it. I was three months post op on the 22nd of April
Earline

 

[Karlynn]

I would recommend your new cardio do another echo. They aren't exact measurements, but they should be able to tell if your valve is leaking any less or more than in December. It's not unusual for any replaced valves to leak some after replacement (be they tissue or mechanical), but most "seal up".

I'd hope they'd want to do a TEE (transesophigeal echo) before they did another angio.

How are you feeling now compared to prior to your surgery? Some people just take longer to recover than others - like me!

 

[Bina]

Hello DB and welcome! Sotalol is a very good med for arrythmias.
My recovery was slow, it took me about 2 yrs to get comfortable with my new valve.

 

[David'sBride]

How I'm feeling 10 months later...

How I'm feeling 10 months later...

TIRED! But that could be all the changes. I can't believe I hadn't even met my fiance at this time last year (we had been chatting but hadn't met in person yet). We're getting married in 2 weeks!

Other than that, I have chest pain and shortness of breath most days. Fatigue every day, but life is pretty crazy right now!

I think I'd rather have another angiogram (which wasn't too bad for me) than a TEE. The thought of something going down my throat is NOT appealing!

Also, I haven't been out of rhythm at all but still take Sotalol and (did) take Digoxin. What other medications are out there, specifically ones that treat leaking and its symptoms?