A-Fib Question

[SCCWS]

I had AVR surgery on 9/5 and received a tissue valve. I am 63. I had 2 episodes of A-Fib while in the hospital. One lasted 2 hours and 1-12 minutes. The hospital adjusted one of my medications because of it. The surgeon told me that A-Fib is very common after heart surgery. When I went to my Cardioloist last week, he detected I was in a-Fib during the visit. He added another medication and started me on warfarin. My question to those who developed A-Fib post surgery. How long did it take to get it under control? I went into this surgery in great shape with no signs of shortness of breath or dizziness. I could have waited till next summer, but felt I should go while I felt so good. Now I am getting frustrated that evern though the valve replacement went really easy, I now have a new problem.

 

[carverelli]

I had AVR surgery on 9/5 and received a tissue valve. I am 63. I had 2 episodes of A-Fib while in the hospital. One lasted 2 hours and 1-12 minutes. The hospital adjusted one of my medications because of it. The surgeon told me that A-Fib is very common after heart surgery. When I went to my Cardioloist last week, he detected I was in a-Fib during the visit. He added another medication and started me on warfarin. My question to those who developed A-Fib post surgery. How long did it take to get it under control? I went into this surgery in great shape with no signs of shortness of breath or dizziness. I could have waited till next summer, but felt I should go while I felt so good. Now I am getting frustrated that evern though the valve replacement went really easy, I now have a new problem.

As it was explained to me, "your heart has been cut, poked, and handled. It didnt like it very much. There will be disruptions in the electrical activity in the heart as it heals and recovers."

I suspect the coumadin is temporary to protect you from stroke when in a-fib. The blood has a tendency to clot in the heart when its not pumping right. Thinning it out(anti-coaugulation) will lessen the chance of stroke to a great degree.

My avr was aug 30, about 4 weeks ago, and I'm a week since my last a-fib episode. My surgeon told me it was more of a nuisance than a problem, especially since I was already on coumadin for my mechanical valve. My 7 days in the hospital after my surgery, I was in and out of afib 3-4 times, so now its less frequent.

My cardiologist has taken over my heart related meds from the surgeon and the amiodorone I was on has run out. That crap made my veins hard from the IV in the hospital. now my cardiologist has me on lisinopril and carvedilol. My bp is a little higher(130/95) than he wants it and my resting hr is around 90. The meds should lower that down as well.

Your a-fib episodes are not a surprise to your doctors and they should diminish to a great degree as your heart heals from the trauma of OHS. I would ask about the coumadin after 2-3 months of no more a-fib episodes. I'm thinking thats one reason you went tissue valve so you didnt have to take that crap.

I'll trade a pill every day with monthly monitoring to another surgery or two though. I dont want to do this again, as fun as it was the first time!!

 

[SCCWS]

Very informative. My Cardio used the exact same description, a nusiance more than a problem. I am confused how they/you know when they occur. I have no clue they are happening. Luckily I was in A-Fib while in his office and he detected it. Do you use a pulse test periodically to know they are not still occurring?

 

[carverelli]

Very informative. My Cardio used the exact same description, a nusiance more than a problem. I am confused how they/you know when they occur. I have no clue they are happening. Luckily I was in A-Fib while in his office and he detected it. Do you use a pulse test periodically to know they are not still occurring?

I have a mechanical valve, and I hear it clicking. Also my afib comes with a cold sweat.

 

[chuck barton]

I am about 9 years your senior and went into surgery having jogged 3 miles the previous day at a decent pace. I still work out alot and fast walk and am trying to build up a better jogging stride by stretching my pace on an elliptical

After the surgery, AVR Nov 2011, I started to get A-fib or A-flutter every time I exercised even a little bit. It never converted on its own and I went into the emergency room about 6 times and usually had to stay all night. I lost my confidence to exercise, knowing I would be in the ER.

I was mainly on amioderone to control the heart rate. I wanted to get an ablation to control the A-fib, but the cardiologist who would do this, wanted to put me on tikosyn and take me off amioderone which was problematic because certain hospital would not administer tikosyn. Finally I talked to the surgeon who had done the AVR who told them to just get the ablation done. They did the ablation the day before Thanksgiving, but never changed the medication.

I’m now off all the drugs, and have had no incident of A-fib since. After a couple of months from the ablation, the cardiologist who did it told me to exercise without any restrictions. I do at least 3 miles fast walking or jogging 4 times a week, and lift weights almost every day. I did go into cardiac rehab for a month or so just to regain my confidence, but their idea of exercise was really too mild

Hope you are able to get your life back soon.

 

[epstns]

I was your age (63) when I had my valve replaced. For about the first month after surgery I had occasional bouts of afib. I was taking amiodarone, metoprolol and warfarin at that time. Since I have a pacemaker, it kept date/time stamps of when the afib occurred. The last recorded incident of afib was March 27, 2011 -- just a month after my surgery. Since then I've been in normal sinus rhythm, and have been able to stop the warfarin and amiodarone. I'm back in the gym 5 days a week, using an exercise bicycle and jogging, as well as weight training. I'm not going to be an olympic athlete any more, but life is good.

As in so many other cases, your situation will be unique to you. Your afib may stop naturally like mine, you may need medication to control it, you may need an ablation or other treatment. The best advice I can give you is to keep a watch on it but unless it presents obstacles to your daily life, don't get too worried about it this soon after surgery.

 

[SCCWS]

Thanks for the quick response. Since I am only a month from surgery, hopefully it will leave as quickly as it came. My BP tester also gives Pulse readings and I have not had a high one since the Dr visit, but obviously testing my BP twice a day is only giving an extremely brief glimse of my pulse. The times I have been actually in A-Fib, twice in hospital and twice in DR office, I have had no indications at all.