Post op confusion/paranoia

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C

chocoholic

Active member
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
38
Location
London
Hi, you might remember me from the pre-op. My mum has just had valve replacement with a single bypass and is in her second day of recovery. She is sitting up in a chair and looking well considering.

Just one thing I am really worrying about. She was totally confused today and thought there was a conspiracy in the hospital. She was convinced there had been an incident they were trying to cover up. A patient had been moved to another hospital and she said they had turned all the lights off and moved everything around. She was asking why her bag was missing and told me under no account should I mention any of this to the staff because it was a big secret. Mobile phones were not working because they were making all the monitoring machines go off. The guy who had talked her into doing some research was forcing her to do exercises this morning and when I first arrived she told me they were taking her for a blood transfusion.

As you can imagine I was very upset to see my mum in such a state. At first I didn't realise she had imagined all this, but of course it came to light that all that had happened was that they had moved a patient to another hospital and she had been upset by this. The research guy was in fact a physiotherapist and I showed her my mobile had been on all the time but the machines were not bleeping. I had to explain to her that her bag was in storage as it was not needed in high dependency unit.

I was just wondering if this is really normal. The nurse and doctor said it was a side effect of taking her off the morphine, and the nurse said she had not slept at night. Im just a bit worried as she is always so logical and when I left her last night (the day of the op) she was so alert.

I was so upset to see her like this, particularly as physically she is making such good progress. do you think it's really the meds?
 
forgot to mention she was also seeing spots in front of her eyes. At first she thought I had a rash and then she thought she had the wrong flavour yoghurt (because she could see seeds on the black cherry and thought it was raspberry) and then I asked her if she saw the spots on the sheets and she said yes. So I told her it's normal to have some visual disturbance the day after the op and she seemed to accept that.
 
She may still be dealing with the drugs... there is a recent thread about this same stuff. If she is only 2 days out, she may still be in the "haze" By the way, im glad she made it to this side. She should be fine. Look for that thread, it explains alot.
 
Sorry, but did you say her age? Paranoia is one of the first signs of confused thinking of the elderly, in my experience. But, as already suggested, this could be just an example of all the drugs associated with this surgery.

Oh, I almost forgot--I have known about three people who had heart surgeries 10-20 years ago who had halucinations in the early days after their surgery. I had no halucinations, however.

I agree. See how she does in the next few days.
 
I had problems with morphine hallucinations, was convinced a helium balloon my dad bought me was a man in checked pajamas in my room, a plant outside my room was wearing boots and doing the can can, and the icu nurses didnt care I couldnt breathe even though my family were trying to tell me that i had oxygen tubes. It's scary but does pass
 
When I first got off the vent, I thought the nurse was trying to hurt me. But that passed and I'm sure it was some goofy paranoia. But when I was about four or five days post-op, I remember being excessively worried about everything; even the news on the hospital television had me frantic with worry. It passed also. I'm positive it was the pain medications causing my situation. Hang in there.

Also, I don't know if this is helpful or not but, one of my sons once suffered a brain injury. During his first days after getting off the vent, he was full of paranoias and such. I was the only one who could soothe him and I did it by agreeing with him, with whatever he was worried about, and telling him I had it all covered and that it was all taken care of, etcetera. Somehow that worked and calmed him.

I didn't have any visual issues but my son saw a lot of animals in his room, for a little while.
 
I had the same delusional behaviour. Lot of paranoia and hallucinations. The docs were sure mine was morphine related. Went away after about 3 days of coming conscious.
Kev
 
i had spots almost like a chest board floating infront of my eyes , also remember having a wierd dream in hospital and i shouted out in the middle of the night which woke me up! also had quite a few involantary intakes of breath which are really strange but all these things i was warned could happen at my pre op meeting and are quite normal,morphine & anasthetics are very powerful drugs which affect us in different ways so i wouldnt worry to much its early days,its worth talking to the nurses they have seen most things and will either get it checked or tell you its quite normal
 
Thanks all for the reassuring posts. I can confirm that today my mum has hugely improved and is now in her own room with no wires and able to go to the toilet on her own and feeling so much better.

She is still seeing the spots and was describing to me the pictures she would see when she closed her eyes. Sometimes flowers or a green field or a black cat or a gold shimmering brooch. However, today she was lucid and calm although she did have some strange stories about her night in the high dependency unit.

Lily said:
I was the only one who could soothe him and I did it by agreeing with him, with whatever he was worried about, and telling him I had it all covered and that it was all taken care of, etcetera. Somehow that worked and calmed him.
Click to expand...

I took this advice (I think a couple of people posted similar guidance). This worked very well when my mum mentioned that during the night she saw the nurses praying over a patient who was having a crisis. I could tell the effects of the hallucinations are fading when she mentioned that she had seen a rat in the night but then realised it was a nurse's head moving above a bed.

For the first time she was also looking really well and was animated and looking healthier than I'd seen her for a long time. I guess over time the heart condition has sapped her health and now I'm hoping the benefits of recovery will cheer her up and make up for any other post op symptoms.

Thanks again :)
 
Oh does this thread bring back memories! For a few days while I was In ICU, I was convinced that I was being held in a military medical torture facility. I thought they were keeping me for experiments and that my family was in on it. One night I thought I could escape so I got out of bed - tubes, wires, all attached. I was not doing too well at that time so I immediately fell to the floor. A man in a blue "uniform" came in and yelled at me for trying to get out of bed and asked me if I thought it was funny because I was giggling. In a brief moment of lucidity, I thought and said "Hell yes it is funny. I am sitting on the floor, cross legged, in the ICU" I had many other experiences that are now comical. It will pass for your dear mom. Hang in there - you and she will laugh at it in a few months,
 
Chocoholic,

The paranoia should go away as the medications clear out, but also be aware that many patients can become very emotional about little things for a period of time after surgery and some patients can develop depression.

Take care,
John
 
thanks john & faye. I have another thing to worry about after today. My mum now has arrhytmia (prob spelt wrong as have had few glasses of wine with friend who was trying to cheer me up...)

Anyway after yesterday's good day my mum was back in observation because her heartbeat had shot up this morning to 140-150 beats. Her mood has gone right back down and she was unable to urinate on the bed basin and then decided she did not want to drink water so that she would not have to make a fuss when she needed the toilet....

I told the nurses that they must make sure she is hydrated and to make sure she can pass water when she needs to. They reassured me but....

they also reassured us that arrhytmia is normal after heart surgery, but then Im sure they have seen it all. Shes not allowed to move from her bed for 24 hours and she is not happy to have no independence again. :(

I now remember why I hated rollercoasters at the fair....
 
Post Op arrhythmia's are NOT uncommon.
What type of arrhythmia(s) is she having?
Atrial-Fibrilation (A-Fib) is pretty common.

They tend to come and go, sometimes for a few weeks
unless controlled in one way or another.

How are they treating her for them?

Medications? Which one(s)?

'AL Capshaw'
 
Al I think they may be treating her with amiodarone but Im not sure. I know it starts with an A. They also gave her a beta blocker, but not sure which. She also had a drip of some sort which was supposed to get her electrolytes and such back in balance.

Unfortunately I was woken by palpitations myself in the night after my drinks and takeaway. I have a couple of leaky valve benign murmurs (mitral and tricuspid) and Im not supposed to drink....at this rate my lifestyle due to this will end up with me in the same position as my mum.
 
AH Yes, Amiodarone is the Sledge Hammer of anti-arrhythmics. That should do the job. My understanding is that the cells of the body need to be Saturated with the stuff before it becomes fully effective so many Doc's prescribe a "Loading Dose" (typically 400 mg) for ?? days and then drop back to a maintenance dose (typically 200 mg).

There can be some NASTY side effects to the Eyes and Lungs if taken for TOO LONG or in too High of a dose so be sure that her Doc's 'wean' her after an appropriate period of time (up to ?? months).

You can learn about Amiodarone by doing a Search on VR.com, Google, or ask any Pharmacist for the information sheet on that drug.

SOTALOL (generic form of BetaPace) also works well for A-Fib with WAY FEWER side effects. It needs to be started in hospital for a few days 'just in case' any dangerous arrhythmias are triggered as the body adjusts to this medication.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Thanks for that info Al. Very helpful.

I've just spoken to her on the phone and she is doing much better today and able to move around again. They are still monitoring but her pulse is back down to 67. I guess things will be up and down for a while to come so I am trying to get a grip of my emotions and develop a thicker skin.
 
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