43 Hours Post Op - Tachycardia/ Awareness of Heart Beat- Need Help/ Advice

[pgammo]

Hello all,
This is Peter's wife posting on his behalf. My husband had a BAV replacement (On-X) on Monday. His surgery was from 8:30-1. As of now, he is still hospitalized and it looks like he will be here until at least Saturday.
He has been experiencing tachycardia as well as a bothersome awareness of his heart beat and rhythms. His rhythms are normal, but his heart is beating hard and fast. His metropolol doses have been raised each day (and will be doubled tonight to 50mg) yet they cannot seem to get his heart rate under 110. His resting heart rate has been anywhere from 110-140 with it raising anytime he attempts to get out of bed, stands, walks, etc.
Did anyone else experience anything like this? If so, how long did these symptoms last and what was done to treat them?

Thank you all in advance,
Gaby (The Wife) =]

 

[fgarran]

I took metoprolol 50mg for 1.5 months

I took metoprolol 50mg for 1.5 months

Hello all,
This is Peter's wife posting on his behalf. My husband had a BAV replacement (On-X) on Monday. His surgery was from 8:30-1. As of now, he is still hospitalized and it looks like he will be here until at least Saturday.
He has been experiencing tachycardia as well as a bothersome awareness of his heart beat and rhythms. His rhythms are normal, but his heart is beating hard and fast. His metropolol doses have been raised each day (and will be doubled tonight to 50mg) yet they cannot seem to get his heart rate under 110. His resting heart rate has been anywhere from 110-140 with it raising anytime he attempts to get out of bed, stands, walks, etc.
Did anyone else experience anything like this? If so, how long did these symptoms last and what was done to treat them?

Thank you all in advance,
Gaby (The Wife) =]

Hi Gaby. In fact I had my heart rate a around 110 taking metoprolol 50mg for a couple of weeks. After that time it decreased to around 90 and I kept on taking 50mg for a month and half. I've heard about cases with a 100mg dosis twice a day, so there might be still room for stabilization with metoprolol increase.
I also remember feeling my head move for every heartbeat on the days that followed operation. My doctor said it happens frequently. Now (2 months later, I don't feel it anymore).
Hope Peter recovers soon!

Felipe.

 

[yotphix]

Hi Gaby,

I think we all feel some version of those things, to varying degrees. Sounds like your hubby is feeling it worse than I did, but I definitely had an elevated resting heart rate, and I also remember my head bobbing from the force of the blood pressure in the days just post surgery. It is uncomfortable, and a little unnerving, but take comfort in the fact that you are on a cardiac ward, with telemetry monitoring.
For what it's worth, I had a resting heart rate over 100 (after coming off of bisoprolol a few weeks earlier) five months after my surgery. It now lives down in the 60-65 range. I definitely remember the 'hammering' sensation too, for at least a couple of months, though tapering off the whole time.
Congratulations on the successful surgery. And best of luck with the recovery. Get strong, stay healthy!

 

[Julian]

Oh God did I experience this. Everyone is different. As said hundreds of times before on this forum, "the heart doesn't like to be messed with". Share this with Peter for me. When I was in the hospital the first 2 days I was just trying to keep my sanity. The next 5 days I was dealing with a heart rate around 90 to 100 on average and then it would spike to 120 to 160 for several minutes to half an hour, then all of a sudden it would thump hard back to a more tolerable 90 beats a minute. My heart was thumping so hard it would shake my whole body. It was a very uncomfortable experience. Very worrying. I asked several cardiologists making the rounds and they just shrugged. Turns out I needed a pacemaker and that truly did help with most of my rhythm issues.

Here I am 10 months post op and most of the things that plagued me the first 3 days to 3 months post op have seem to disappear or become background noise in my life. I still get little "hiccups" now and again but nothing compared to what I experienced in the hospital.

Do I think Peter needs a pacemaker?...NO, do I think Peter's heart is still swollen and generally irritated because of surgery?... YES. Swelling after a procedure like this is very common but usually resolves within 3-5 days. The swelling of the surgically repaired area can cause arrhythmia issues but will generally get better as the swelling goes down.

Again everyone is different. Some people start feeling very well a few days to a few months after the surgery and some take 3 years to feel better. Odds are Peter will probably be somewhere in between. There is a long road to recovery ahead, but it isn't all bad. I'm ten months post op and truly in the past FEW DAYS I have noticed I have felt more "normal". I hit a plateau after about 5 months post op, didn't notice any real improvement in energy or mood. Now just within the past few days it seems as though I reached another level in my recovery, I can only imagine on how I will feel a year from now :thumbup:

Day at a time Peter, day at a time...

 

[Ovie]

Though I don't believe mine was that high, i was in the same boat to an extent. It's a process, I'm at almost 5 months and still have some issues. I hated the head moving when my heart was beating so hard. I felt like a bobble head. Hope your husband starts to get things managed and on to feeling better with his recovery, sorry I don't have any real information to give.

 

[neil]

cant really add to whats been said above,all have said what i would have,hopefully it will calm down, the heart cert gets cheesed off being mucked about with,

 

[epstns]

Gaby - The others have pretty much covered the basics. I had all kinds of heart rhythm issues post op and now, 15 months post-op, I still take 50 mg metoprolol daily - reduced from 100. As long as things don't get really out of control, they will be able to adjust dosages and get it all back together. That's what they do every day, so trust in your team.

 

[Rachel]

Hi Gaby,

I also posted on another thread for Peter - although I don't know what my resting heart rate was in the hospital, my heart at times would beat so hard that it would shake my entire chest. It was scary, but the nurses didn't seem to think it was a problem.

I think it does take a while for things to get back to normal, or near normal. I'm 10.5 months out from my surgery and I feel a whole lot better than I did even 4 months ago (I do feel that I'm back to normal now).

As others have said - the heart doesn't like to be messed with! Healing does take a little time.

Thinking about both of you,
Rachel

 

[Lily]

Hello all,
This is Peter's wife posting on his behalf. My husband had a BAV replacement (On-X) on Monday. His surgery was from 8:30-1. As of now, he is still hospitalized and it looks like he will be here until at least Saturday.
He has been experiencing tachycardia as well as a bothersome awareness of his heart beat and rhythms. His rhythms are normal, but his heart is beating hard and fast. His metropolol doses have been raised each day (and will be doubled tonight to 50mg) yet they cannot seem to get his heart rate under 110. His resting heart rate has been anywhere from 110-140 with it raising anytime he attempts to get out of bed, stands, walks, etc.
Did anyone else experience anything like this? If so, how long did these symptoms last and what was done to treat them?

Thank you all in advance,
Gaby (The Wife) =]

Hi Gaby - What kind of tachycardia is it? There can be many different rhythm issues, from various causes, and probably as many different medications they can try. Maybe what he's going through isn't uncommon.

I, one of many here, had some post-op A-fib/A-flutter and my beats per minute were caught at 198 and it made me breathless, really knocked the wind out of me at times. There are different kinds of things the doctors can and may try. Digoxen didn't seem to work for me so I was put back into the hospital and put on Sotalol and I was also given magnesium IVs. That kicked it for me and I only had to take it for several weeks.

Hopefully Peter will be feeling much better very soon. Meanwhile, be sure and get your rest also.

 

[pgammo]

Hi Gaby,

I also posted on another thread for Peter -

I saw that, thank you so much Rachel.
-Gaby

 

[pgammo]

Hi Gaby - What kind of tachycardia is it? There can be many different rhythm issues, from various causes, and probably as many different medications they can try. Maybe what he's going through isn't uncommon.

I, one of many here, had some post-op A-fib/A-flutter and my beats per minute were caught at 198 and it made me breathless, really knocked the wind out of me at times. There are different kinds of things the doctors can and may try. Digoxen didn't seem to work for me so I was put back into the hospital and put on Sotalol and I was also given magnesium IVs. That kicked it for me and I only had to take it for several weeks.

Hopefully Peter will be feeling much better very soon. Meanwhile, be sure and get your rest also.

The tachycardia is just a fast HR... all of his rhythms are perfect. He has no a-fib or any other issue... it is just faster than they want to let him go home with. And, yes, I am trying to get as much rest as possible... we are due with baby 3 next month! I will be 35 weeks on Sunday... so I am tired too!

 

[pgammo]

I posted this on Peter's surgery thread, but wanted to update here as well...

I posted this on Peter's surgery thread, but wanted to update here as well...

Hello everyone,
This is Gaby again. Today seems to be a little better (this is post-op day 4... it feels like day 7!). He has not needed any pain meds or muscle relaxers since 1am, and those were given as a preventative measure. His heart rate, however, is still high. On the new dose of 50mg Metropolol he is still staying around 110 resting. If it were not for this, we would be released today, but as it stands, we are shooting for tomorrow assuming they can lower it a bit. It seems to have stabilized and it not climbing anymore, so I am not really sure how low they want it before they will consider releasing him. Before surgery his resting HR was frequently in the 110s-120s resting. We went to the ER several times for this and he was always released as they said it was not high enough to be worrisome. I understand that this is a little different since he is post-op, and he is currently on beta blockers, which he was not pre-op, but from the comments here, it seems this is not something too abnormal. =/ Anyway, we are praying that his heart rate will continue to slow, that his ultrasound is normal and healthy, and that we will be home to our two toddlers tomorrow... we miss them so much and cannot wait to be back in our normal environment. Thank you all for all of your support and encouragement!

 

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update Gaby, I know how it feels to just want to get back home!!!

Stressful time with the initial delay of surgery, Peter's higher heart rate, and you expecting!

Both you and Peter will continue to be in my prayers.

 

[Roberta]

Hi Gaby,
Please tell Peter to hang in there re: the high heart rate.
I had a high heart rate post-op and was hovering between 100-125 beats per minute. It would go up as soon as I stood up or went to the bathroom. I think my 'heart was annoyed with the surgery'. I was finally able to go off of the metropolol once it came down. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but it did gradually go down. I, too was very aware of a forceful and strong heartbeat which annoyed me. That too has subsided after awhile.

 

[sam04]

Gaby, my heart beats out of my chest most nights and I don't know why; you can see my pulse points bouncing and feel it and see it in my abdomen. I've not said anything to anyone as it passes but it is frightening. Sometimes I get all clammy at the same time but no pain. I've got bad circulation anyway so I don't think of what things may be. I once tied it down, I thought, to salt and to some extent I was right. I was told that if you have the pig valve as I call it, the body treats it more like a transplant, a foreign body and it just objects for a short time. How true that is I don't know but it does make sense to me oddly enough. Your husband has just had a very intrusive surgery I imagine his body is truly just getting itself sorted out and I hope that he continues to improve each day and gets back to a truly normal life.