Did your blood pressure lower after surgery?

[LivinMyLife]

I am scheduled for surgery on March 13, Mitral Repair with a possibility of Replacement. My doctor has said that having this surgery does not always lower blood pressure. Can you please share your experiences with me regarding this?

 

[Fundy]

I was usually somewhere around 120/80 before surgery and about 3 months after about 120/60

 

[LivinMyLife]

I was usually somewhere around 120/80 before surgery and about 3 months after about 120/60

That's good to know that at least the diastolic is lower. I always thought the valve caused the high blood pressure but my cardiologist is saying that they are two seperate things. That my blood pressure could still be high even after a valve repair. Sounded strange to me, i thought the blood pressure would naturally go down since the heart is not having to work so hard. I guess I will soon see what happens in my case.

 

[RunMartin]

My blood pressure is certainly less now after surgery (AVR). Before surgery I noticed my blood pressure was steadily rising. It was on average about 140/75 before surgery and is now about 110/65.

 

[Cooker]

It might but I think exercise and diet have more impact.........

 

[Paleowoman]

My doc told me my blood pressure would fall as the stenosis got worse. He said that although the heart is working harder that the higher pressure of the work is just within the heart, i.e. the pressure gradient, and that the blood pressure in the rest of the body, as measured on a blood pressure gauge, gets actually lower as the valve (in my case bicuspid valve) gets more stenotic. I would guess that's why syncope and dizziness become symptoms as the stenosis gets worse ?

 

[hook]

I was about 115/70 going in and about 95/60 after. It slowly went up as I healed and I am back at 115/70

I think it depends on which valve, and any other variables need to be considered.

 

[Rebecca]

I am four and half months out from having my aortic valve replance. I still have to take blood pressure meds but not as many as before surgery.

 

[LivinMyLife]

My mitral valve is the culprit here, so hopefully my blood pressure goes down afterward. Of course, with all the exercise and change in diet it should naturally go down. I was not looking forward to getting my trophy scar and still paying the bill for all the blood pressure meds. :eek2:

 

[epstns]

It may depend upon the specific cause for your hypertension. I had aortic stenosis and high blood pressure. After valve replacement, I'm still on meds for the pressure - just different ones.

 

[neil]

yep am maybe one of the unlucky ones but mine went up lol, but with meds its now under control

 

[epstns]

Better living through chemistry? :eek2:

 

[yotphix]

Another aortic replacement, so not specifically relevant to you perhaps. For the sake of the discussion though, my BP went from 145-150 over 50-60 just prior to surgery, to a consistent 120 over 80 now. The recovery was not quite as gradual as the degradation had been but it took more than a year to get where it is now.

 

[robertlw]

Aortic valve Jan 31st 2012 Blood pressure was 170 over 115 before surgery. 120 over 75 right after. Now its creeping back up especially the top number 170 over 80 most days. They have cut out 4 of my pills after surgery but still take Bystolic, amlodipine. They may have to add HCT or Diovan or something else that I was on before. Have some fluid retention about 8 pounds worth.

 

[Fundy]

I don't have first hand experience with fluid retention, but my hospital roomate who was 2 months post op was readmitted for a week because of it. He said he knew he should have seen someone about it a month before. He said he was very close to having to be tapped. Which he was told was very painful during the freezing required.

You might want to have your fluid retention checked out before getting to that point.

 

[Eva]

It might but I think exercise and diet have more impact.........

In my case, I did not have BP issue before surgery. Due to the surgery drama, as in most cases, BP rises temporarily. So, I was put on Lisinopril which I had to stop after a couple of months as it lowered my BP to lower than 90/60 and I started feeling dizzy. My normal BP is now around 110/65 or less, which is lower than my normal before surger which was 120/70 for many years until 3 months before my surgery.

I totally agree with Cooker. I had to give up salt only to lower the workload on my heart, since salt retains fluid in the blood and thus the heart will have harder work!

If you happen to love salty food, lowering its consumption will help a lot.

 

[LivinMyLife]

I gave up salt several years ago, but along with the fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain my blood pressure has skyrocketed and even after several medications added it is still pretty high. I am just hoping one of the side affects of the surgery will be lowered blood pressure. Thanks for all the input. I guess I'll find out on the other side for sure!

 

[Ovie]

I was fortunate to have very good BP before and so far, after also. So nothing really changed for me.

 

[Eva]

I gave up salt several years ago, but along with the fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain my blood pressure has skyrocketed and even after several medications added it is still pretty high. I am just hoping one of the side affects of the surgery will be lowered blood pressure. Thanks for all the input. I guess I'll find out on the other side for sure!

There you go...keep this good attitude of "just wait and see", and try to relax to strengthen your body, mental nd emotional state. Wondering about something unpredictable wil only add anxiety to the anxiety over the surgery. And who knows. You may be happily surprised

 

[Jason]

My BP going in was 145/90 or so without a blood pressure med. Immediately following surgery I was taken off of the mes and have been pretty steady at around 115/65 now. I was very happy to see that!