4 months since surgery

[caterb85]

My husbands avr with assending aorta anuerysm and total block due to surgery had a pacemacker put in, that was 4 months ago he is almost done with rehab back to work fulltime but still feeling very tired. He is on coumanin and an ace inhibitor, calcium channel blocker, topal and zocor. He has been sleeping well but feels tired even when he first gets up. He used to be a morning person and very energenic as soon as he woke up. Has any one else had this? Do you think it is from meds or surgery or something else going on?

 

[Cooker]

He is still very fresh out of the gate....it takes time....nearly a year in some cases to be back or better than before....It can be frustrating I know.....He will get stronger as time goes on....hang in there

 

[caterb85]

cooker

cooker

thanks for the info its good to know that this isn,t anything out of the ordinary. Some days seem worse then others but has been getting through his rehab three mornings a week plus working fulltime.

 

[Ross]

Heck at 6 months I was still feeling like that. It really knocks the sails out of you and takes quite a bit of time to get reset to normal.

 

[WayneGM]

Your husband sounds just like me. I went back to work at week 12 and I was in bed by 8:30 I was so pooped. It was at least a year before I was back into my pre-op routines.

 

[Freddie]

Yep, its been a year for me.
Its only been the last 3 months or so that I feel like my old self again.

 

[Curtsmum]

4 months is not a long time after everything he's been through. Wishing your husband the best of luck with the rest of his recovery.

 

[Smiley2000]

I wish I can get my family and hubby to read the posts on this site! I am almost 4 weeks post-op after Sternotomy (repaired MV) but I still have aches and pains and still feel a bit weak and get out of breath easily.

Everyone around me knows me as this "tuff cookie" that normally recovers so fast after ops, and this time around they expect me to do the same and I get frustrated with myself for taking so long to recover! I have 2 kiddies (Kayla is 2 and Marco is 5) According to my sicknote that I received on discharge I have to go back to work in 3 weeks time! I don't know if I am going to be ready by then! I am going to Cardiologist in 2 weeks and he is not a very compasionate person, but brilliant in his field.

I don't think the people that have not had OHS themselves can really fully understand what we go through.

 

[Gusdog]

Smiley - Four weeks is not a long time, and I'm sorry that the folks around you are not more understanding. I felt a lot better at 7 weeks than at 4 weeks (though that doesn't mean anything; it's different for everyone). Maybe you'll get the chance to ease back into work.

 

[Debbie]

4months

4months

I'm 13 weeks now and at first people would ask how I'm doing and I'd say everyday I get alittle stronger and better, now I say every week I get better and stronger. I don't know how long it will take my body to get back to "" normal" but I do know I'm making forward progress and every day I'm thankful for that!! Take care Debbie

 

[ALCapshaw2]

You mentioned "topal" as one of the medications your husband is taking. If that is Toprol, it does tend to make people feel tired as a side effect, especially at the higher doses.

Rachel (Oaktree) beat me to it.

At 100mg of TOPROL (which some Doc's consider to be the Minimum Theraputic Dose ) many patients feel like something the cat dragged in.

When I was on 100 mg, my Cardio told me to cut the dose in half for 2 weeks to see how I felt and if it still worked... Worked GREAT and Felt WAY Better. Then he told me to half it again for another 2 weeks. Same - Same. Finally he had me stop and shortly thereafter PAC's / PVC's returned. Back to 25 mg.

'AL'

 

[Adrienne]

I also agree. At one point before my surgery when I was in A-Fib, my ex-cardio put me on 100 mg/day of Metoprolol (another beta blocker) and not only did I generally feel like s--t, I literally felt like there was lead in my legs. I am now on 25 mg/day of Metoprolol (just to bring my heartrate down a bit), and I have no side effects at all (other than vivid dreams).