LATE HEADED 5 months post operation

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extraordinary

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
143
Location
Kuwait
I'vee been feeling for the last Month now specially more than before a weird feeling in my head it's feels light headed and sometimes strange kinda feeling but it feels bad and i feel like it could lead to passing out or dropping dead but nothing happened so far just the light headed with the feeling of something bad that it will lead to it … my INR AND EVERY BLOOD test turned out to be ok so what could it be ? any one knows what I'm talking about or been through it ?
HELP
* I've had aorotic valve replacment on April now on ON-X VALVE *
 
Hi extraordinary,

I'm not sure I have the same thing, I am 13 weeks post AVR with a bioprosthetic, and have been experiencing 'dizzy/light headed' spells. Having seen both my re-hab nurse and spoken to my GP, they think it might be positional vertigo, which may rectify itself in a couple of months and if not I could be referred to a 'dizzy clinic' where there is a procedure which can help. Apparently it is not uncommon, or at least that is what they have told me and although annoying is nothing to worry about unless it interferes with your life and ability to do what you need/want to !

That is probably no help at all, but your not alone and I am sure someone much wiser than I will have a more useful response.

With best zipper wishes,

Red
 
I had a similar problem at about the 2 month mark. They adjusted my blood pressure problem and it went away. I would discuss do as EPSTNS suggested and check your BP. Call your cario and tell their nurse.
 
I'm actually due for a mechanical valve surgery and I have these lightheaded spells often, but I'm guessing it's because I have a leaky valve and as a result I'm not getting as much blood through my body as I'm supposed to be getting. Makes me wonder if I'll have it after the surgery as well.
 
Two things I think of. First are you on any Beta blockers and has that dose changed. I'm on Metoprolol and for the first few months it made me feel like that. When weaning off it you can have the same problem as well. Secondly, don't just check BP when standing or sitting. Check it first lying down, then sitting, then sitting. If there are major changes each time, that can cause dizziness. It's called Orthostatic BP. One way to deal with it is to take a moment when going from each position to let the body adjust. ie... When going from laying down to standing, sit on edge of bed for a minute or so and same when from sitting to standing. By all mean, also check with Dr. just to make sure nothing else going on. GOOD LUCK!
 
Aggie85;n847173 said:
Two things I think of. First are you on any Beta blockers and has that dose changed. I'm on Metoprolol and for the first few months it made me feel like that. When weaning off it you can have the same problem as well. Secondly, don't just check BP when standing or sitting. Check it first lying down, then sitting, then sitting. If there are major changes each time, that can cause dizziness. It's called Orthostatic BP. One way to deal with it is to take a moment when going from each position to let the body adjust. ie... When going from laying down to standing, sit on edge of bed for a minute or so and same when from sitting to standing. By all mean, also check with Dr. just to make sure nothing else going on. GOOD LUCK!

no I'm not on beta blocker, and my blood pressure is fine i just don't know what's wrong… I'll try to pay the DR a visit .. even though last time i had this dizziness episode and went to the DR.S THEY FOUND IT MY BLOOD PRESSURE WAS OK and didn't had an explanation for why this is happening to me
 
From the Mayo Clinic website:
About half the time, doctors can't find a specific cause for BPPV. When a cause can be determined, BPPV is often associated with a minor to severe blow to your head. Less common causes of BPPV include disorders that damage your inner ear or, rarely, damage that occurs during ear surgery or during prolonged positioning on your back. BPPV also has been associated with migraines.
 
Very interesting. I have had similar problems. I had OHS surgery in April like extraO. I had a heart attack then emergency OHS for double bypass, and On-X valve.

Post surgery I was put on warfarin and atenolol. Despite my cardiologist's recommendation, I refused to go on a statin, however I finally gave in in June when a cholesterol test came back too high and my GP felt it was necessary.

In the first week of August I started to develop "dizziness" that was "positional". However it was unlike any BPPV or "vertigo" I had ever experienced before. I had a lot of experience with vertigo/dizziness and BPPV in my twenties and early 30's but this was nothing like those. This recent dizziness had very little if any visual component, whereas vertigo for me in the past was always accompanied by everything spinning around on a vertical plain in front of my eyes. This recent dizziness was accompanied by pressure/pain in my head, which I never had before, and I didn't see things spinning much at all, it just felt like I was rotating around, had no balance, felt faint, etc.

In the past with BPPV, or more serious vertigo attacks that I had (where they said I had a "virus"), it always came on suddenly, that is I would wake up one morning and it would be there, in full blown intensity, and for boughts diagnosed as BPPV it would last a couple weeks or months, then one day be completely gone like magic. But with this recent crap, it grew in intensity & symptoms slowly - when I first started having it it was ONLY when I would lie down, and not happen EVERY time. Then it started happening not only when I lied down, but also when I sat up. Again, not doing this ALL the time just SOME of the time. Then it progressed that I would feel dizzy after already being stable lying down if I rolled onto one side.

Originally my cardiologist, without so much as examining me in any way, not taking my BP while lying vs. sitting or anything else to establish if it was a blood pressure related thing, said it was the Atenolol and had me cut the dose in half. This had no effect whatsoever, and in fact the extent of my problem simply worsened, in that it reached the point that it would happen to me ALL the time when I lied down, ALL the time when I sat up, ALL the time if I rolled over etc. I was even feeling weak/dizzy just walking around if I should tilt my head backwards or forwards to look up or down. This was in about the second week of August.

At the time I was going to physical therapy for a shoulder problem, and would get very dizzy as I lied down/sat up on their table, and in further discussions with them, I asked that they measure my BP when lying, then sitting up, then lying etc, and we saw not much of a difference - my problem did not appear to be BP related.

I then saw my GP doc, and he diagnosed it as "BPPV". He performed the "epley maneuver" on me to supposedly try to combat BPPV (move deposits out of various inner ear canals). This did not help at all. I saw him the next week and he did the maneuver again, and this time what he did actually invoked the worst attack of dizziness I had experienced yet, I thought I was going to fly off his exam table and he had to grab a hold of me to keep me from falling, which he felt was not normal and didn't make sense for me to react so violently. However there was no additional followup on this....(I have learned so much the past 6 months about how ignorant, unknowing, uncaring, contradictory, full of b.s. doctors are and will not even begin to try to go into that point anymore.....)....so I gave up and hoped the dizziness would eventually go away.

In the next 2 months though I have been experiencing multiple other issues which after research have led me to conclude that the statin I was taking was causing all sorts of problems - including possibly the dizziness. In response to one of complaints (muscle weakness & pain) my GP suggested I cut the statin dose in half which I did, but after 3 weeks I was still having problems so I stopped taking the statin completely. This was about a month or so ago....and since then my dizziness has gradually subsided - I can lie down, sit up, roll over, and not feel anything dizzy related now about say 95% of the time. I can't say for sure, but it is very possible my dizziness is linked to the statin I was on. That drug can cause all sorts of muscular, nervous system, you name it, types of damage, WHICH THEY DO NOT TELL YOU ABOUT.

ExtraO, by any chance, are you on a statin?
 
slipkid;n849931 said:
Very interesting. I have had similar problems. I had OHS surgery in April like extraO. I had a heart attack then emergency OHS for double bypass, and On-X valve.

Post surgery I was put on warfarin and atenolol. Despite my cardiologist's recommendation, I refused to go on a statin, however I finally gave in in June when a cholesterol test came back too high and my GP felt it was necessary.

In the first week of August I started to develop "dizziness" that was "positional". However it was unlike any BPPV or "vertigo" I had ever experienced before. I had a lot of experience with vertigo/dizziness and BPPV in my twenties and early 30's but this was nothing like those. This recent dizziness had very little if any visual component, whereas vertigo for me in the past was always accompanied by everything spinning around on a vertical plain in front of my eyes. This recent dizziness was accompanied by pressure/pain in my head, which I never had before, and I didn't see things spinning much at all, it just felt like I was rotating around, had no balance, felt faint, etc.

In the past with BPPV, or more serious vertigo attacks that I had (where they said I had a "virus"), it always came on suddenly, that is I would wake up one morning and it would be there, in full blown intensity, and for boughts diagnosed as BPPV it would last a couple weeks or months, then one day be completely gone like magic. But with this recent crap, it grew in intensity & symptoms slowly - when I first started having it it was ONLY when I would lie down, and not happen EVERY time. Then it started happening not only when I lied down, but also when I sat up. Again, not doing this ALL the time just SOME of the time. Then it progressed that I would feel dizzy after already being stable lying down if I rolled onto one side.

Originally my cardiologist, without so much as examining me in any way, not taking my BP while lying vs. sitting or anything else to establish if it was a blood pressure related thing, said it was the Atenolol and had me cut the dose in half. This had no effect whatsoever, and in fact the extent of my problem simply worsened, in that it reached the point that it would happen to me ALL the time when I lied down, ALL the time when I sat up, ALL the time if I rolled over etc. I was even feeling weak/dizzy just walking around if I should tilt my head backwards or forwards to look up or down. This was in about the second week of August.

At the time I was going to physical therapy for a shoulder problem, and would get very dizzy as I lied down/sat up on their table, and in further discussions with them, I asked that they measure my BP when lying, then sitting up, then lying etc, and we saw not much of a difference - my problem did not appear to be BP related.

I then saw my GP doc, and he diagnosed it as "BPPV". He performed the "epley maneuver" on me to supposedly try to combat BPPV (move deposits out of various inner ear canals). This did not help at all. I saw him the next week and he did the maneuver again, and this time what he did actually invoked the worst attack of dizziness I had experienced yet, I thought I was going to fly off his exam table and he had to grab a hold of me to keep me from falling, which he felt was not normal and didn't make sense for me to react so violently. However there was no additional followup on this....(I have learned so much the past 6 months about how ignorant, unknowing, uncaring, contradictory, full of b.s. doctors are and will not even begin to try to go into that point anymore.....)....so I gave up and hoped the dizziness would eventually go away.

In the next 2 months though I have been experiencing multiple other issues which after research have led me to conclude that the statin I was taking was causing all sorts of problems - including possibly the dizziness. In response to one of complaints (muscle weakness & pain) my GP suggested I cut the statin dose in half which I did, but after 3 weeks I was still having problems so I stopped taking the statin completely. This was about a month or so ago....and since then my dizziness has gradually subsided - I can lie down, sit up, roll over, and not feel anything dizzy related now about say 95% of the time. I can't say for sure, but it is very possible my dizziness is linked to the statin I was on. That drug can cause all sorts of muscular, nervous system, you name it, types of damage, WHICH THEY DO NOT TELL YOU ABOUT.

ExtraO, by any chance, are you on a statin?

No , i wasn't on them... now after few Months after the dizziness if much better and happens rarely so i guess it's just takes time for you body to recover after surgery
 
I've had problems right along with dizzy feelings. Since I was put on beta blockers (toporol) before surgery I've had them. I know they serve a purpose but asked my cardio if he could lower the dose as soon as he thought it was safe. He did and the dizzy feelings have greatly diminished. I still get them slightly at 10 weeks post op and need to be clear headed while driving as I've gone back to work. Not sure if anyone on here has been totally taken off them or at least cut down to like 25mg per day but I'm hoping to be as med free as is safe. I'm on 75mg twice a day of toporol, down to 200mg of amiodereone once a day. Both can cause dizziness so I'm hoping it gets better yet. It happens shortly after morning meds. I had very little trouble with my valve replacement surgery, INR never changes a bit and had almost no pain but the screwy head is just sucky to live with knowing it's coming every morning.
 
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