Blood Pressure

[Aussie Chris]

Hi All,

It is just over 3 weeks since surgery and recovery is going well. Just wondering if anyone else has had their blood pressure drop after having had surgery.

Prior to surgery I generally had a BP of 140-150/ 75 and that was with blood pressure medication. I have not been taking any medication other than mild dose asprin and my BP is now 115/75 which is great. No complaints there. Has anyone else notice this happening and if so has it remained lower.

Cheers,


Chris

 

[tobagotwo]

Mine dropped. It was great. I had BP like a 6-year-old for a while. However, it has stabilized over time to the upper part of the normal range, just below the warning path. Unfortunately, as your body unkinks itself, your blood pressure will likely change numerous times before it settles down.

Obviously, should your blood pressure seem dangerously high, or stay high for too long, or if you have extended bouts of unusual heart rhythms, you should go see your doctor or ER immediately...

...BUT...

...most changes of this type are temporary in nature and will straighten themselves out in a few days or weeks. Your heart and circulatory system, as well as their checks and balance systems are going through a lot of sudden changes and readjustments. Even your heart size is changing (called remodelling, as the ventricular hypertrophy reverses).

This is all usually good, but there are often some bumps in the road, such as sudden BP changes and some short-term bouts of arrhythmias (PACs and PVCs). So, work with your doctor to ensure that you don't wind up on long-term BP or antiarrhythmia medications for what is likely to be a short-term problem.

Best wishes,

 

[Debster]

Hi Chris! My mom had super high bp before her mitral valve replacement and it is pretty low now. It did bounce around for awhile after surgery, and she is on quite a few meds now too. Now hers is around 110/60
BTW-it is my dream to someday take my kids to Australia to the Sunshine Coast-I so want to see the Australia Zoo Best of luck to you-Deb

 

[aussigal]

Yep...I had the same thing...for me it lasted about 6 months before my BP crept back up to its usual high. My levels were almost identical to what you are getting. I nearly got to throw the Beta-blockers away except my Cardio likes AVR patients to take a small ammount of BB. My Cardio said it was pretty common for patients to experience a 'honeymoon' period after surgery. Enjoy the low BP while it lasts, if youre really lucky it may stay low.

 

[tobagotwo]

Debster,

Might want to check on whether your mom needs to have her blood pressure medicated quite that low. You point out that she's on a lot of meds. Maybe a little too much. Check with her doctor, especially if your mom has fatigue or other fallout from the BP medicine. Just a thought.

Best wishes,

 

[Debster]

Hey Bob! That is not a bad idea..she has chf and they like her bp on the low side...it is hard to know whether she is fatigued from meds or the chf. Will mention this to her...dr upped her Coreg recently-maybe it is too much. Thanks for the info-this board is so great! Deb

 

[Aussie Chris]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I discussed it with the rehab nurse today and her comments were very positive.

Her explanation for my high blood pressure in the first place was that:-
1. with the mitral valve not working efficiently a proportion of oxygenated blood was being lost back to the lung side of the heart.
2. To compensate for this the heart would need to pump harder to get enough oxygen to the body and because the aortic valve was working properly that extra pressure would be held throughout the body.

Hopefully now with oxygenated blood no longer being lossed back to the lung side of the heart there might be hope of maintaining lower blood pressure.

Just gotta keep that mitral valve in shape now after the nip and tuck.

 

[temp69]

AC:

I had a cardiologist tell me three weeks ago that one goes through a "honeymoon" period after surgery where your blood pressure is down in great zones (100-115/70 or whatever) -- but then it returns to whatever is "normal" for you. If you had work done, chances are your heart is going to be functioning better, so keep your fingers crossed and....breathe. good luck!

 

[hensylee]

interesting. I went for major surgery 3 yrs ago for something not heart related. It was abdominal surgery. My surgeon said my bp was fine, took me off it while in the hospital and I didn't start it back on discharge because I would take a reading daily and it seemed to remain very normal - then I reported in to my gp and he immediately put me back on my bp med.