Medication Reaction

[cinconinos]

I am 3 and 1/2 weeks out from having my mitral and aortic valves replaced. I received mechanical valves. I came home from the hospital just over a week ago. I came home with a boatload of medication. Every day I am extremely nauseous and often vomit throughout the morning. I have stumped my doctors. I was given Zofran and Promethazine and they don't work at all. My nurse wonders if I'm allergic to Warfarin. Has anyone else dealt with this?

 

[pellicle]

Sorry you are having a tough time :-(

I would suspect other things you are on before the one in 10 million that you are allergic to warfarin. I love the way nurses pretend to be specialists. So far as I have ever read the only cases have proven to be allergy reaction to the colours used in the dye in the tablets.

The case was solved by changing to a different combination of pills to get the same dose and avoid that colour.

It could also be a reaction to the opiates from surgery or even a GI infection.

Must be very difficult vomiting in that situation.

:-(

Best Wishes

 

[Zoltania]

Are you taking the drugs with food (at least those that are supposed to be taken with food)? I found that the potassium supplement nauseated me if I didn't take it with food. One of the opiate painkillers I got in the hospital nauseated me too, though the oxycodone that I was sent home with didn't bother my stomach.

 

[McCbon]

I agree with Pellicle based on a discussion I had with my surgeon. Since I am allergic to a lot of antibiotics and other things, I was worried about a reaction to warfarin and didn't want to find out after I had a mech valve. I asked the surgeon if I should be tested ahead of time and he said that it is extremely rare for someone to have an allergy to that med, and that the cases that have occurred could be attributed to other things. I hope you feel better soon. Pain meds can mess with your gut at both ends. Aside from the narcotics s/e of nausea, if things slow down enough in your gut then that can cause vomiting too. McCbon

 

[harrietW]

Hi cinconinos
I noticed this is your first post if the info is correct. So firstly welcome to the site. Secondly l cannot help you as l have no idea about what you might be alergic to or if it's the warfrin. These ladies are pretty knowledgeable as their experience would allow them to speak to your question.
I am however interested in your experience with a double Valve replacement as l am in the waiting room for the same. Rheumatic heart disease withadded interstitial lung disease compliction. Both mechanical valve replacement hopefully in Dec end of or early Jan. I have pre administration Dec 8th I am in precardic rehab to build some stamina and bring down the odds or risk factor a bit.
So l am sorry you are experiencing nausea. And hopefully otherwise are recovering well. I would love to hear your story.
Thx Harriet

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Cinconinos - can you list all the medications you are on ? Do you have the Patient Leaflets for those ? And then also look at the medicines guides for health professionals (online) which go into side effects and any dangerous or allergic effects in detail. See which ones have nausea and vomiting as a side effect, particularly too if they have effects in combination with other medication. I don't think that nausea or vomiting are usually classed as "allergic" - they are side effects which are awful and sometimes a reason to stop or change medications.

I had to stop the pain meds I was on due to their side effects. I was still getting abdominal problems even after stopping the pain meds and eventually had to see a gastroenterologist - he said that the combined effects of the anaesthesia, the actual surgery itself, pain, and analgesics all combined to lead to gastro problems.

Hope you find a solution quickly.

 

[almost_hectic]

This sounds awful! I hope you get this resolved, and soon!! I can't imagine

 

[cinconinos]

Thank you all for some good advice! I am not sure what is causing the nausea, I just want it to stop. For more clarification, after the surgery I was prescribed: warafin, coreg, bumetanide, tramadol, & lisinopril. When the symptoms showed up they took away the visibility. I stopped taking the tramadol about 5 days ago. My surgeon's office is sending me to a G.I. today so hopefully I'll get some relief. I'm tired of feeling so sick, if I didn't have the nausea I would feel almost human.

 

[Paleowoman]

Good they're sending you to a GI ! They can check if there's a 'stricture' - I know my endo was really concerned about that post AVR - barium meal showed I didn't.

Btw, I was prescribed tramadol three weeks ago for mouth/jaw pain - I didn't tell the GP that I'd had problems with it and other meds after heart surgery. For the first few days on the tramadol I was okay, bit spaced out, but then I felt really sick and dizzy, also blood glucose levels rose (I'm diabetic). I decided to stop taking the tramadol. The feeling sick persisted for nearly two weeks longer ! I think tramadol is poison ! (at least for some people).

PS - just realised re the word "sick" - I'm in the UK and the word "sick" in Brit English means to vomit or to feel nauseous. In American English I believe "sick" means ill. So when I say I felt sick I mean I felt like I was going to vomit.

 

[cinconinos]

The G.I. has prescribed another anti-nausea medication. Hopefully this will help. She didn't want to order any test yet since I'm only 4 weeks out. I'll keep you updated...

 

[pellicle]

Thanks mate, I am not qualified or experienced to make any suggestions more than I have on the cause. I wish it gets better soon and hope to hear a positive post from you soon

 

[cinconinos]

The medicine given to me by the G.I. is called metoclopramide. I have been on it for about 24 hours now and I think it might be working. I am keeping down liquids and definitely feeling almost no nausea. I'm crossing my fingers!!

 

[Northernlights]

Very glad you are feeling better. Vomiting and feeling nauseous is so awful. Like Paleogirl I had a lot of nausea too with tramadol, but my husband had no problems at all with it, and was never nauseous, whereas I vomited non-stop, so I do sympathise. I still have some mild nausea at times, which I agree is likely to be a drug side-effect rather than allergy (I'm not on warfarin or a diuretic, but I am on a highish beta-blocker and ace inhibitor) and do find metoclopramide helpful. I hope it's sorted now, but if you have ongoing problems it might be worth checking whether the bumetanide is making you dehydrated or affecting your potassium, as this can cause nausea. It's a very strong diuretic.

 

[Paleowoman]

Great that something is helping you cinconinos. Shows that people here sometimes need to see a gastrodoc post surgery as GP's and nurses don't always have the expertise after this kind of surgery with the 'injury' and cocktail of medications.