Low stamina

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I love this site!!! YOU got some excellent comments here. The BB's limit your heart rate chemcially, so the effort it takes to get you to 130-150 is HUGE! Also, the idea of trying other exercize elements as riding is getting to you, an excellent idea! Wish I had thought of that when I had this feeling about my running a few years back!
My totally unscientific guess on recovery, based on my friends over at cardiac athletes, is: the younger the patient is at surgery time, the more likely you can get back close to pre op fitness levels....the older, the longer, and maybe never. Also, those who take up running, biking, etc. only after a heart event don't have their history to compare against, so they don't have these issues of recovery.
 
bdryer said:
Hi Scott

Hmmmm, a 20 mile bike ride with your heart rate between 130 and 150? Sounds like you pushed it a little, especially if this was your first real ride of the season. Also BB are a huge influencing factor. If you are on BB the age verses heart rate table does not apply. You must ride with consideration to the intensity table.

I would cut back your distance or intensity and work up. Apply the 10% rule of distance training. At what point of the ride did you feel crappy? Find this out and finish your next ride before you reach this point of exhaustion. Hold this distance until the following week and > the distance 10%. Every week continue to > by 10% until you are riding a magic century.
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I am afraid to honestly answer this. Without mentioning the sprint up a small hill where my buddy and I have always raced and I bonked half way up, I can only tell you that I felt crappy once I got off the bike. OK, so starting over is tough.

As for intensity, I keep this in mind at spin classes. I only do a half hour so that I will not feel crappy. I find spin classes to take more out of me than riding outside.

I gotta tell you that I have really had a tough week. I really learned my lesson over the weekend. I am sore in my chest, especially where the pacemaker wires are rubbing me. (the ones they left in to avoid internal bleeding) I am pretty tired, like I was at about 3 months post-op.
 
tprice54 said:
I love this site!!! YOU got some excellent comments here. The BB's limit your heart rate chemcially, so the effort it takes to get you to 130-150 is HUGE! Also, the idea of trying other exercize elements as riding is getting to you, an excellent idea! Wish I had thought of that when I had this feeling about my running a few years back!
My totally unscientific guess on recovery, based on my friends over at cardiac athletes, is: the younger the patient is at surgery time, the more likely you can get back close to pre op fitness levels....the older, the longer, and maybe never. Also, those who take up running, biking, etc. only after a heart event don't have their history to compare against, so they don't have these issues of recovery.
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Isn't it amazing! That is why I figured this would be a good topic to share.

After reading some of the recent post, I am coming to the conclusion that the BB may be more of a problem that I was giving it credit for. The problem is that the low stamina is not just effecting my workouts, but also my day to day living. It looks like I need to be more patient with the process as well. Heck, I'm not 34 anymore!
 
Scott -

I see that you tried to send a PM to my overloaded mailbox.
You can e-mail me through VR if you like. Please include your screen name in the subject line (or address).

'AL'
 
I did my first race for two months last night. It was only 5K but it was hilly. This thread had really made me think yesterday regarding running to my own capabilities now rather than pre surgery. I took it fairly steadily (did not sprint off at the start) and the hill did not feel that bad - usually I have the horrible feeling of lactic acid in the legs!. The last mile was a gradual down hill which I thought would be easy but ended up being the most difficult because I was pushing too hard. I ended up doing 24 minutes, which is roughly what I have been doing recently. I did not look at my watch as I was running and was pleased with the time because I thought it would have been much slower due to the steady start.
The conclusion is that I do need to concentrate on what I am capable of today, i.e. stick to my new limitation and not what I used to be able to do and not to over do it.
 
At 8 months post-op, after completing a 6 month rehab I was beyond pre-surgery levels, but DEFINITELY NOT back to pre-deterioration levels. It was about a year for me before I was cycling, running and skating as I had been prior to the fairly rapid decline I experienced in the year or so before my surgery. I especially noticed at that time that when I pushed hard, trying to lower my 3 mile run time, or skating upwind for 5 miles straight etc. I would be beat for a week afterward. My recovery from my usual exercise was about normal but anything more intense would set me back. That effect was more pronounced just after surgery and gradually faded until it was gone about 1 year out. I am approaching two years out now, and have fitness approximating what I had ten years ago. Hang in there.
 
Hi Scott

I think we/you may have resolved your problem. No more heart Rate verses age table. Make certain you can comfortably cary on a conversation without getting winded and do enjoy the longer ride. The BB MUST be accounted for.

I was forced to wait almost 6 mts for a surgery that I should have had within 2 weeks from discovery on Oct 14. The surgeon placed me on BB on Dec 9. That really slowed me down as I gave up on the age verses heart rate table, and went with the intensity table. This allowed me to be intelligently active right up to surgery. Saved my sanity, got me outside and is making for a great recovery. Knock on wood!

Work with the BB. They protect your mending heart. Enjoy the freedom of being active and getting out. Who cares if some young thing in tights passes you! Enjoy the view!
 
I have only been about two months post op but I am a college athlete so I understand your urge to get back to the level of endurance before the surgery. I have noticed during my post op period that I have alot of ups and downs. Some days I feel great and almost forget I had the surgery while others I feel tired weak and the occasional palpitation. I think its just part of the whole healing process. Best of luck with your recovery.
 
yotphix said:
At 8 months post-op, after completing a 6 month rehab I was beyond pre-surgery levels, but DEFINITELY NOT back to pre-deterioration levels. It was about a year for me before I was cycling, running and skating as I had been prior to the fairly rapid decline I experienced in the year or so before my surgery. I especially noticed at that time that when I pushed hard, trying to lower my 3 mile run time, or skating upwind for 5 miles straight etc. I would be beat for a week afterward. My recovery from my usual exercise was about normal but anything more intense would set me back. That effect was more pronounced just after surgery and gradually faded until it was gone about 1 year out. I am approaching two years out now, and have fitness approximating what I had ten years ago. Hang in there.
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Thanks. I had heard 12+ months, but not for me! Arg, I guess so. I am still in that post-deterioration level. Not fun but, this is very encouraging.
 
Sjrlax69 said:
I have only been about two months post op but I am a college athlete so I understand your urge to get back to the level of endurance before the surgery. I have noticed during my post op period that I have alot of ups and downs. Some days I feel great and almost forget I had the surgery while others I feel tired weak and the occasional palpitation. I think its just part of the whole healing process. Best of luck with your recovery.
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Thanks. Best of luck to you as well. At two months, I would say that you have a little ways to go, but with your age (at least I am assuming) you should get there quickly. We do have a lot of healing to do. The downs really help us realize that our bodies are still healing.
 
You sound like you are doing quite well. I am about the same as you post op, mine was July 9, 2010. Being almost 9 months since surgery I am slowly feeling better. I am still nowhere close to pre-op numbers, but seeing slow improvement is good for me. My surgeon said that doing longer training of lower intensity (HR around 120) every day would be most beneficial. I do this a couple times a week, and a couple times a week I do interval type exercises where I get my HR up to 175ish for a few seconds. I'm on no meds and have no restrictions, but my pacemaker won't let my heart go over 180bpm. I was really frustrated with the time it was taking to get back, but now I know it is going to be 1 1/2 or 2 years before I am comfortable and close to where I was pre-op.
 
I overlooked the beta blocker issue. They certainly have a well-deserved reputation for impairing exercise tolerance and causing general lassitude. But I'll just add that isn't always the case, so you'll need to figure that out for yourself. For me, although my metoprolol strikingly reduced my resting heart rate, I can mount a brisk response to exercise and I don't have any sense that is impairing me at all. Still, there are so many good alternatives to them, that you should be able to get effective treatment with something else if you conclude they are the culprit. Good luck.
 
UPDATE: One week completely off of Metoprolol! I rode about 18 miles before work, including a great climb. Now, I am just feeling out of shape rather than hitting a glass ceiling with low stamina.

Thanks to all who gave advice on this.
 
Scott, glad to hear you are feeling better after the beta blockers. After reading this, I am realizing that the beta blockers affect me more than others, as far as heart rate anyway. My pre-surgery resting heart rate was 75-85 bpm, and while exercising with moderate to high intensity I would land in the 135-160 bpm range. Now my resting rate is in the mid-fifties most of the time, and with high intensity exercise I am lucky if I can top 100 bpm. I was thinking this was just how it was for people on beta blockers, but now I am thinking maybe I should give my cardio nurse a call. Maybe it's just that everyone reacts differently, but with everyone talking about heart rates of 130+ while on beta blockers, it makes me wonder.

Again, glad to hear you are just out of shape now, instead of limited in stamina!
 
Scott, glad you have things worked out...every post here is so worthwhile, for everyone who reads them. Good luck in your training!
 
low energy

low energy

This is my first time here. I joined to see how other people feel after surgery. I had my pulmonary valve replaced 5 months ago and have also hit a wall. I did so well after surgery, but now just can’t get past this point of frustration. I will have 1 great day and am down for 2 days after that. I go steady for 7 hours at work, but when I get home there is nothing left in me. I have always had so much energy. I am also tired of everyone telling me how great I look and I should feel more energetic than I do. They are not in my shoes and don’t know what I am feeling inside. My husband has been very understanding, but other family, not so much. How did some of you handle this? I just stay home and avoid social situations as much as possible. Plus, I don’t have the energy to deal with them. I have always had a bad pulmonary valve. I had surgery when I was six to open it up more. I have lived that way for 40 years without major complications. Last fall my cardiologist said it was leaking more and putting too much pressure on my tricuspid valve. I wasn’t surprised, but was disappointed that I had to have surgery again. It is just this energy problem that has me concerned, but it looks like all of you are going through or have gone through the same thing. I just need more patience!!!
 
Hi Scott ....i am 12 months post op next month......i read your post and it rang a bell.......i walk 3 miles every morning.....i am usually done by 9am.....then as the hours pass i get more and more fatigued.....by 4pm im really fading and by 8pm...i am in bed and asleep in 5 minutes.......I do check out fine.....just went for my pacemaker interrogation and all looks great...so not sure why im so tired..I see my Cardio again in July..........I read your later post and saw you were on Metoprolol also....i take 25 mgs daily...1/2 in the am and the other 1/2 at nite....did you conclude that the metoprolol was the main cause??
 
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WI82 said:
This is my first time here. I joined to see how other people feel after surgery. I had my pulmonary valve replaced 5 months ago and have also hit a wall. I did so well after surgery, but now just can’t get past this point of frustration. I will have 1 great day and am down for 2 days after that. I go steady for 7 hours at work, but when I get home there is nothing left in me. I have always had so much energy. I am also tired of everyone telling me how great I look and I should feel more energetic than I do. They are not in my shoes and don’t know what I am feeling inside. My husband has been very understanding, but other family, not so much. How did some of you handle this? I just stay home and avoid social situations as much as possible. Plus, I don’t have the energy to deal with them. I have always had a bad pulmonary valve. I had surgery when I was six to open it up more. I have lived that way for 40 years without major complications. Last fall my cardiologist said it was leaking more and putting too much pressure on my tricuspid valve. I wasn’t surprised, but was disappointed that I had to have surgery again. It is just this energy problem that has me concerned, but it looks like all of you are going through or have gone through the same thing. I just need more patience!!!
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WELCOME to our family where we have walked the walk and now have a forum to talk the talk
 
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