lgurevitch
Member
Hello Friends,
I am 3 weeks post op. I had my aortic valve and root replaced. Things were going really well for me but about a week ago I started feeling irregular beats. It wasn't all the time, mostly in the afternoon and at night and more when I was laying down.
After feeling this for a few days I decided to go see my cardiologist (last Friday). He did an echo, ekg and blood work, all checked out OK (but I wasn't feeling the palpatations at that time). He put me on a 48 hour monitor for the weekend. I noted when I felt the palps and racing heartbeat and wore the monotor until Sunday around noon.
Sunday afternoon I was shopping with my kids and husband and started feeling like I was going to pass out. As the afternoon wore on I started feeling worse and worse. I finally took my BP and it was very high (I usually run low) and my heart rate was also very high. Called my cardiologist and he said I should go to the Emergency Room.
By the time my husband got me to the ER I was in bad shape, felt like I was going to pass out, heart rate was very high and I was also hyperventalting. They took me right away and started me on oxygen and an IV. Did an ekg and said I was in A-fib. They gave me 5 mg toporol via iv but that didn't work. They were about to shock me but right before that I converted back into normal sinus rythum.
In addition to being in A-fib, I am also having something called "bigeminy" which is basically a regular beat followed by a "premature" beat.
They admitted me to the hospital for the night for observation and to try to figure out how to treat all this.
So basically, they increased my toporol dosage from 25 mg to 50 and also put me on coumadin. I'm hoping the A-fib does not come back and I will only be on Coumadin for a short time (a few months perhaps). I will follow-up with my cardologist on Thursday to get my INR level checked and see how he wants to proceed. The hospital docs already spoke with my cardiologist to fill him in.
I'm sure there are others out there who developed A-fib post surgery. This was my 2nd surgery (had the same surgery 1 year ago). Last time I had other complications but not A-fib. The whole thing was very scary and Coumadin is very overwhelming at first.
I'll check back in after I see my cardiologist on Thursday.
Liz G
I am 3 weeks post op. I had my aortic valve and root replaced. Things were going really well for me but about a week ago I started feeling irregular beats. It wasn't all the time, mostly in the afternoon and at night and more when I was laying down.
After feeling this for a few days I decided to go see my cardiologist (last Friday). He did an echo, ekg and blood work, all checked out OK (but I wasn't feeling the palpatations at that time). He put me on a 48 hour monitor for the weekend. I noted when I felt the palps and racing heartbeat and wore the monotor until Sunday around noon.
Sunday afternoon I was shopping with my kids and husband and started feeling like I was going to pass out. As the afternoon wore on I started feeling worse and worse. I finally took my BP and it was very high (I usually run low) and my heart rate was also very high. Called my cardiologist and he said I should go to the Emergency Room.
By the time my husband got me to the ER I was in bad shape, felt like I was going to pass out, heart rate was very high and I was also hyperventalting. They took me right away and started me on oxygen and an IV. Did an ekg and said I was in A-fib. They gave me 5 mg toporol via iv but that didn't work. They were about to shock me but right before that I converted back into normal sinus rythum.
In addition to being in A-fib, I am also having something called "bigeminy" which is basically a regular beat followed by a "premature" beat.
They admitted me to the hospital for the night for observation and to try to figure out how to treat all this.
So basically, they increased my toporol dosage from 25 mg to 50 and also put me on coumadin. I'm hoping the A-fib does not come back and I will only be on Coumadin for a short time (a few months perhaps). I will follow-up with my cardologist on Thursday to get my INR level checked and see how he wants to proceed. The hospital docs already spoke with my cardiologist to fill him in.
I'm sure there are others out there who developed A-fib post surgery. This was my 2nd surgery (had the same surgery 1 year ago). Last time I had other complications but not A-fib. The whole thing was very scary and Coumadin is very overwhelming at first.
I'll check back in after I see my cardiologist on Thursday.
Liz G
