Anyone on this site with mechanical valve. not taking metrolpolol or any BP pres?

[timmyup7]

It's been about 4 months since my surgery...mechanical st jude valve implanted.
Is there anyone on this site with a mechanical valve? not taking metoprolol or any pres for BP?
If so, any success stories? How to get off metoprolol? How long did it take etc.?
My blood pressure is averaging about 142 - 79 pulse. Right now since I'm relaxed at my desk BP 130's.
I'm very worried. It's so high. I don't expect to live very long. With it always so high.
I have been eating better..walking..etc...

 

[catwoman]

I am almost 8 years post-op (egads! My how time flies when you're having fun!!). I have a St. Jude mechanical, too.
I don't take any BP or cholesterol meds (other than niacin).
I did take a BP med for 1 month post-op. My surgeon changed my RX about 2 weeks post-op; I know one of the meds was metoprolol, but I don't remember if it was the 1st or 2nd RX. Whatever RX it was, I just stopped taking it at 1 month post-op.
Pre-op, my BP was 140/90, due to the deteriorating MV.
My BP is usually about 110/70.

Did you take BP meds pre-op? What did your BP average then? Have you put on any weight post-op? Some people do just that, and extra weight can elevate the BP.
What does your cardio say about your BP and your concerns? Perhaps he/she needs to change the BP med, find something that might work better for you.
The exercise should help reduce your BP -- and take weight off, too.

Wish I could offer more helpful suggestions. I'm sure someone else will come along and do so.

Good luck!

 

[bdryer]

Good day

Easy, wowa their, your BP is Fine! Listen up. As your aortic valve was narrowing, the LH ventricle was hypertrophying and developing a high BP. The heart did this to keep you alive. Pre surgery you probably had close to a normal BP reading yet the BP in the LH ventricle was high. When the blood from the LH ventricle was pushed past the narrowed aortic valve, the velocity increased and the pressure decreased. It's basic physics. Hence the BP read normal. Post surgery you have a new aortic valve that is opening around 2cms. Now the BP measured at your arm is the same as what is produced in the LH ventricle. Why, because the blood flow is unrestricted. Hence velocity and pressure will be close to the same across the aortic valve. The good news is that the LH ventricle will atrophy and the pressure will decrease as the heart remodels.

Be patient, the remodeling takes about one year. Your diastolic is text book. A systolic of 130 is high normal. Your fine!

 

[epstns]

Timmy - I would agree with the others. First - your heart is still "remodeling" after surgery. I guess it is a lot like a home remodeling project - have you ever been able to finish one of those quickly? From what I've read, it takes our hearts up to a year after surgery to complete any remodeling it can do. This can result in higher blood pressure now and lower later.

Also as the others have said, your BP readings are nowhere near a panic point. You are in the range described as "high-normal" or "pre-hypertensive." I don't think much damage would be done at your pressure levels. Mine was averaging 150/100 for quite a while before it was treated, although I demanded medication to reduce it to a normal range of about 110/76 for the last 5 years or so prior to surgery.

While I have a tissue valve, so I can't answer for any differences related to a mechanical valve (although I doubt there are many in the case of BP), I am still taking metoprolol (100 mg/day) at 13 weeks post-op. This was not controlling my BP to our satisfaction so we added a small dose of HCTZ (a potassium-sparing diuretic). The combo of these two does the job, but I am still hoping to be able to reduce or delete the metoprolol at some point. I would be willing to trade another type of BP med to get rid of the limiting effect of the beta blocker.

 

[scott.eitman]

I have an On-X valve.

I stopped taking Metoprolol at 5.5 weeks. I was put back on it at 5 months and am back off at 9 months. It caused me so much grief that I just had to get off it. My Cardio was OK with that and took me off it slowly.

My BP pre-op was 130/80, post-op on BB, it was 120/70. It is now back to the pre-op level.

Stay well and keep you head up, you have a little more time to work in getting fully recovered. I suggest discussing your concerns with your Cardio.

 

[pekster11]

if you have had a graft for a dilated ascending aorta (aswell as a mechanical aortic valve implanted) do you have to take medication to keep your blood pressure low for life ?
As was wondering this, as the risk of other aortic aneurysms developing would be reduced with lower blood pressure ?

 

[timmyup7]

Thanks guys. This morning when I woke up my BP 125/75. That's not to bad.
Procedure performed: Emergent repair of ascending aortic dissection with aortic root. Replacement using 29 mm st jude mechanical valve Dacron conduit, reimplantation of coronary arteries and hemiarch repair of aorta with 26 mm Dacron graft with right atrial to right femoral artery cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

 

[normofthenorth]

pekster11, I'm not ignoring you, but I don't know the answer to your Q.

Timmy, if it's any comfort, I've read a lot about mech valves vs. tissue valves, and I've never seen anything that links high BP or the need for BB or other meds especially to MECH valves. I got a tissue (pig) valve, and was on Metoprolol almost continuously (and Warfarin continuously) for 3 months post-op. Then off both drugs. My HR was way high at first despite the BB, and has trended down gradually, without much of a "bump" when the Metoprolol was withdrawn.

And I'm not sure it's finished figuring out where it's going to settle down, either! When I was a teenager or so, I learned that fit athletes have lower resting HRs than sedentary people, so I started measuring mine, first thing in the morning. This was back in the day of bio-feedback, TM, etc., so I also tried to "will" my HR lower. I could pretty consistently get it down to 58-60 without holding my breath. Recently, I've been monitoring my HR a couple of times a day, and usually monitoring my BP and my HR early in the day. While lying down, as in my youth (though now it's usually AFTER I get up to take a wiz ). Recently, I've gotten readings of 52, 50, and even 48!! My BP's a bit on the low side, but it has been all my life.

I'm not sure if I should be happy that I'm finally a bigger success at this low-HR "contest" than I've ever been before, or worried that my HR is too low, or that it's too erratic. Mostly, I feel like I'm just watching it find its way to my "new normal", as I gradually regain more-or-less my pre-op, pre-symptoms activity level. This thing does take a while to settle down completely, and many of us are also monitoring it and "worrying it" more than we did before.

BTW, I'm not sure I totally understand when you say "My blood pressure is averaging about 142 - 79 pulse". Is that a 79 pulse rate, and 142-over-something BP numbers? BP usually has 2 numbers (systolic "over" diastolic), and pulse is a 3rd #.