pulse, sleeping and alot more

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xtremlee

Hi all
I had surgery 12 days ago and I find that I sleep really good on some nights but then on others I will sleep 10 mins and wake up like Im short of breath or maybe stoped breathing for just a min. I had 2 episodes of this in 8 days. If i stay awake and wait it out then I sleep pretty good. I went to bed at 11 but couldnt sleep eventhough I was sleepy stayed awake until 3 then sleep till 9am. I still have chest discomfort like a heavy weight on my chest but with the pain meds it seems to knock the edge off the pain but dosnt get rid of all of it. I also noticed that my heart rate has jumped 10 beats per min from 80 to 90 after being released from Hosp. I also still run a low grade fever at night. I also want to take a nap after walking but feel that is being a bit lazy. I hope this is a normal healing process. :D
 
Lee,
I don't have the medical experience of many on this forum and hopefully, they will come along shortly and speak to your concerns with some knowledge behind them. I can tell you that if I were experiencing 1) shortness of breath like I may have stopped breathing for a moment 2) continued chest pain 12 days out that felt like pressure or weight and 3)continued low grade fever at night, I wouldn't hesitate to call my cardio's office and ask the nurse her thoughts on the matter. If I have a concern regarding symptoms, especially after OHS, I feel it is quite within reason to check it out with a professional. Hope this all resolves shortly and you continue to improve.
Sue
 
Lee, my mom was feeling similar symptoms about the same amount of time after surgery and apparently it was due to fluid accumulation. They drained it and she felt a whole lot better. I don't know if this is the same but it is worth asking about. She let it go and didn't ask the cardio about it and found it increasingly difficult as each day went by to lay down even at an incline. By the time she called the cardio she couldn't even recline back in the recliner. She was on the diuretics at the time but it still wasn't enough to eliminate the normal fluid response that is seen with the disruption of the tissues. As soon as they drained it the pressure, SOB, and other stuff was alleviated.
Lori
 
Lee, the only symptom I can address from personal experience is the elevated heart rate.

My heart rate was in the 70's-low 80's prior to surgery, and about a week after I got home it started shooting up. It is now settled in the 90's and even 100's. According to my cardio, your heart is manipulated so much during this type of surgery that elevated heart rates afterwards are not unusual at all. He said I shouldn't be concerned about it unless it zipped up into the 150's or got irregular, but I am in normal sinus mode. He did say that if I still had an elevated rate in two-three months to have it checked out. However, you might want to be checked for anemia. My PCP was concerned I might be anemic -- he says that a fast heart rate is sometimes a symptom of anemia, and that anemia is not uncommon after OHS. (Although when he sent me for tests it turns out I don't have anemia.)

However, I definitely think you should have that fever checked out right now. My instructions after surgery were that if I had a fever I was to report it to the doctor's office RIGHT AWAY.

SOB and chest pain after the surgery don't sound terribly abnormal at all so soon after the operation -- but as long as you are contacting the doctor about the fever, of course you should report the entire list of symptoms.
 
Ok as soon as I got offline to call the Drs office called me.
I asked about the fever-normal she said
I asked about the sleep thing. She said its normal and alot of people complain about that but it will stop.
I asked about the chest pressure- Its normal for a guy my size the breast bone is healing.
I asked about the pain meds and she said unfortunatly this is not pain free.
Ok I can deal with that.
She said if I think Im retaining fluids to go ahead and restart my lassix.
I can handle all this as long as its not abnormal stuff and you dont know unless you ask. Thanks for this board and all who respond.
Hi Sue. :)
 
Lee

Lee

Try taking some Tylenol PM...before you go to bed..Helped me..You may feel drousy when you wake up..but, hey, you are not going to work :D :D :D Remember to take the pain meds before your time is up..Maybe 15 minutes before. I had a foam wedge pillow from Wal-mart..The kind you prop up to read in bed...Sleeping up-right is better than flat. And try to walk around as much as possible.Bonnie
 
Before you take TylenolPM, check to make sure it does NOT have pseudoephedrine in it.

I think it does and that stuff will make your heart race and there's other components that don't sit too well with other heart meds you may be on.

Check with your doctor first.


My heart rate jumped some as I got home (two months after surgery) then came down as I started cardiac rehab. It's come back up a bit since but it still has "light days" where it's in the low to mid-eighties. It never gets above 95 when I'm at rest and it's normal most of the time.

I get slight arrhythmias when I don't get enough sleep, thaqt happens more often than I'd like, the lack of sleep thing I mean. =)


Be real careful with anything that has pseudoephedrine in it. That stuff's killed heart healthy people and the FDA is working out how to regulate it more now which will be real tough because it's in almost ALL cold remedies.

I guess you can also use the stuff to make methamphetamines so a lot of drug stores are keeping it behind the pharmacy counter now.

Same with Coricidin HBP (for people with heart desease or high blood pressure) which is one of only two cold remedies (the other being Robitussin DM) that my cardiologist will allow me to take.
 
I cant take any tylenol because loritab 7.5/500 has 500 mg of tylenol so I would overdose the tylenol.
 
Hi Lee, Are you weighing yourself every AM? I was told If I gain 3 lbs in 1 day that would indicate fluid retention. Check your ankles, are they swollen.
I have been sleeping ok, go to bed at 11:pm and up at 5:30am. If I try to stay in bed more than that, I get very stiff. I use the recliner during the day and take 1 or 2 short naps- 1/2 to 1 hour per day. I take extra strength tylenol at bedtime.
Kathy H
 
i do weigh every morning and i am within 1 pound every day. I just am very sore on the breast bone I walk but I dont see any relief insight. I am getting a treadmill today so I can keep up with how far Im walking. I think my sleep problem is still from the amiadrone or the anatehsia. I sleep from 12 to 4 and then from 6 to 9 today. Amiadrone can stay in your system for up to 6 months. Sorry bad grammer.
 
I'm having sleeping problems too. I go to bed at midnite and sleep until noon. I kid you not. I'm worried about possible depression, but I feel great while I'm up...I am walking 2mi a day...I'm eating well...my b/p is 125/80 with pulse in the low 70's. I can and have gotten up early if I need to for appointments and such, just find it odd that most have problems sleeping and I can't seem to get enough. Any thoughts?
 
Lee

Lee

You are only 15 days post-op... Sleep 4 hours..get up..walk around, check VR..and go back and lay down. It's not like you have to get up and go to work tomorrow. :eek: :eek: :eek: Get in your recliner early, turn on News..You will be so bored with the same old, same old, news. Drop off for a nap. :D :D Be careful on that threadmill. You may end up with more problems. :eek: :eek: Holding your arms out, ect. Best just to walk around house or a short stroll outside....Don't go get depressed because you cannot sleep...Try to make up with short naps several times a day. I bet Ross would love to sleep for 4 hours. Right, Rosso? :D :D :D You have another 4 weeks before things start to fall into place.....Relax, be lazy..Enjoy it. :D This crazy weather..Cold again. Windy..Tried to walk the dog and my head ached from cold...And this is the South? :eek: :eek: :eek: Did you see where Tenn had 8 inches of snow yesterday? :eek: Bonnie
 
Sounds like a good plan to me . Warm weather headed your way it was like 70 here today. Less pain in the last 5 hours than I have had coming home.
 
Lee,

We need to meet in the middle somewhere, like say...8 hours! :D
 
I went to bed at 12 last night woke up every 2 hours but went right back to sleep. That was a good night for me.
 
xtremlee said:
I went to bed at 12 last night woke up every 2 hours but went right back to sleep. That was a good night for me.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you should join fyrfytr and I. We are the same way and are usually on here.
 
I'm a late reader on this post and have a correction (I think) on the Tylenol PM. It doesn't contain pseudoephedrine, but the sleep ingredient is generic Benedryl, which is an antihystamine. It shouldn't raise your heart rate.
 
<< Tylenol PM ... doesn't contain pseudoephedrine, but the sleep ingredient is generic Benedryl, which is an antihystamine. It shouldn't raise your heart rate.>>

However, anyone who has ever been diagnosed with heart failure (as I think some on this board have) should be careful of any OTC containing antihistamine. Even Benedryl.

Benedryl, btw, makes various products with different ingredients so you need to be careful.
 
The hospital gave me benedryl the night before to help me sleep. I took my first nap today from 9:30 to 12:00. So maybe Im coming around.

I know I have got to get some relief from all this soreness in my chest its been 2 weeks and I can move around alot more I still have a tightness in my chest when I stand up real tall or sit up real straight. Did they wire me together to tight?
 
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