Symptoms in the few months before your surgery?

[drivetopless]

So, I would like to hear what symptoms, if any, you experienced in the few months prior to your AVR? I don't know if mine are in my head (I take other meds that could cause these symptoms) or caused by the ol' ticker or caused by anxiety. Symptoms: "burning" or heat in center if chest. becoming breathless/woozy when I sleep on my left side, blurry vision, feeling a little woozy sometimes. My symptoms seem to be more noticable when I'm resting rather than when I exercise. Before you yell at me to get to the doctor, I saw the cardiologist today and had an ultrasound today. Surgery to be scheduled within 3 months, he said I was not to wait until the fall. Just curious if my symptoms are similar to yours.

 

[Eva]

My symptoms were increased fatigue and lethargy, and mostly shortness of breath, which became noticeable with time even while sitting on the sofa resting. Before I was told I needed surgery, I thought they were just sighs!!! I also had to force myself to dress up or go grocery shopping which I thought I was getting lazy or bored!

 

[Luana]

I'm pretty much like Eva. I had severe fatigue for about 2 years, and the months before surgery I was getting really SOB very easily. Sometimes I would feel light-headed, which I think maybe you could also say is woozy?

Luana

 

[DebbyA]

My main symptom was fatigue, especially the months before surgery. I was tired all the time, woke up tired, tired of being tired. I could push and have a hard day, but then took a couple of days to recover. Hills appeared in my neighborhood that I hadn't noticed before. There was a sort of pinching sensation in my chest sometimes. People told me I looked gray. I had a couple of dizzy spells the last few weeks.
All in all, I was ready for that surgery!

 

[Cooker]

I really did not think I had any symptoms ... But about a year (my full recovery time) after surgery I felt better than I had in years ... more energy, better attitude ... I thought my fatigue was just the aging process (49 at time of surgery) but as I look back I have to conclude that my valve was the culprit ... best of luck ...

 

[olefin]

I had no symptoms. I had been diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis ten years earlier. Five weeks before surgery I blacked out while on my daily jog/walk. Month before blacking out I had passed a stress test and echo. I had no other problems before AVR. It took a full year to get back feeling as good as I did before surgery.

Good luck.

 

[Doug]

I was SOB while laying down and trying to keep up with my wife while walking and even trying to tie my shoes. 30 days after the surgery I can finally lay down flat and not feel like I am suffocating and I am starting to walk faster without becoming short of breath.

 

[Mentu]

Hi, DT, a year before surgery, I felt fatigued all the time and began having periods when I was short of breath with even modest exercise. As time pased, the SOB became constant and was noticeable after walking from my bedroom to the kitchen. I also began to feel dizzy more frequently sometimes for an hour or two at a time. During the two months before surgery, I also began experiencing heart palpitations when my heart felt as though it was trying to jump out of my chest. These left me feeling exhausted. Disturbed sleep became routine. Finally, in the month before surgery, I felt sudden shooting pain through my chest several times. Looking back on things, I realize now that the background fatigue had gradually become a part of my life for several years before surgery.

Today my AVR is 4 months past and I am happy to tell you that the fatigue is gone along with the other symptoms. I'm sleeping well and I can walk several miles at a pretty good clip with no shortness of breath. I am beginning to have energy that I have not felt in a long time. Every other day, I have a good cardio vascular workout after which I feel fine...no need to go home for a nap. The shoulders and chest muscles still are not back to normal but with more exercise they should be fine before long. In a few weeks, I plan to be riding again as the weather improves. If all goes well, I am going to ride the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls next August with my Cardiologist and I will leave him in the dust because he has short legs. A lot different from last August when I spent most of every day laying down.

Larry
Tulsa

 

[traveler]

No symptoms prior to surgery other than anxiety over how my life might change after surgery (it didn't change).

 

[drivetopless]

I'm pretty much like Eva. I had severe fatigue for about 2 years, and the months before surgery I was getting really SOB very easily. Sometimes I would feel light-headed, which I think maybe you could also say is woozy?

Luana

Yes- woozy is feeling loopy/light headed==like you took too much cold medicine. I just like the word.

As Im reading all of this , I realized I also have the occassional palpitations/fluttering--feels like anxiety or a panic attack, not that I've ever had one of those.

Cardiologist just calleda after reviewing my ultrasound results and said my numbers are the same as 2009, which is good, so he said he MIGHT let me wait until fall (which is better for my job situation),but I have to check in every two months with an update on my symptoms.

 

[Mileena46]

I, too had a lot of fatigue, and I knew I didn't feel well but didn't really know how bad I felt. I had lots and lots of dizziness, double vision, and even a couple episodes of rotational vertigo that was quite scary! I had almost constant ear ringing and buzzing, and almost constant movement in my vision. I would be sitting still and the world around me would be shifting just a bit.

I cannot remember when the double vision started for me, it was that long ago. It would happen most often when I was overly tired, or had driven for several hours.

I have not had one dizzy spell or double vision since my surgery. It's been 6 months, and I hope it holds because I hated the dizziness.


Mileena

 

[Danny]

I dont think i really had symptoms, but my valve was fine. I had an anurysm, so i really dont know if you have symptoms from that. The closer i got to my surgery, i had alot of anxiety, and panic attacks which ive never had. Now i really understand when people say that they have had a panic attack it freaks them out....because i thought i was dying everytime i had one.

 

[ottagal]

Prior to surgery, I would say that I experienced fatigue and had to push myself harder to do things whether it was exercise or getting up to go to work; however, I kept doing them.

I also had a few incidients where I would feel a little lightheaded and thought I must be hypoglycemic. However, they were more subtle than overt. I kept questioning whether these were symptoms or not.

 

[drivetopless]

Prior to surgery, I would say that I experienced fatigue and had to push myself harder to do things whether it was exercise or getting up to go to work; however, I kept doing them.

I also had a few incidients where I would feel a little lightheaded and thought I must be hypoglycemic. However, they were more subtle than overt. I kept questioning whether these were symptoms or not.

OMGosh- You just described my symptoms perfectly. I, too, keep questioning if I'm having blood sugar issues because the light headedness is very subtle and easy to ignore. (I'm not diabetic). thanks for sharing.

 

[KAJ]

I would get tired and SOB from cutting the grass or standing in one spot for more than a minute for so.

Karl

 

[Luana]

Just about forgot about one big thing that has almost totally reversed itself: I used to sweat a lot. Not just on a warm day, it was unrelated to temperature at all. I would break a sweat walking down a flight of stairs. It didn't take much in the way of activity to trigger it. Just about any slight physical activity would get me going. I always used to get dressed in front of a fan, and since surgery, have not had to do that. Pushing a cart through the grocery store would have me drenched by the time I got to check-out.
Luana

 

[MarkU]

My symptoms started about six months prior to my surgery and got progressively worse. I was doing a lot of traveling with my job at the time and at first thought I was suffering from jet lag. Many are similar to ones listed above:

- Chronic fatique. I would get exhausted after even minor exertion. At first I could "push" myself, particularly at the gym, but was then totally exhausted afterwards.

- Shortness of breath.

- Fluid in my lungs that kept me from sleeping while lying down.

- I never was light-headed or felt like passing out, but I couldn't stand up for any length of time without feeling exhausted.

- I never had any chest pains.

Mark

 

[BlindFaith]

Looking back, I think I had symptoms 1-2 years prior to knowing I had to have AVR. The last 6 months were more pronounced as I was having SOB, some dizzy spells and overall "out-of-shape"... which attributed it all to being OLD and OUT OF SHAPE !!! Once I learned I had severe stenosis and needed the AVR in the next 2-3 months, I went though more of the same, but frequent panic type attacks.. much more SOB. As it got down to 1 month before surgery, I had changed diet, calmed down and most of the problems slowed down. Of course, I wasn't lifting or running and in any hurry to get anywhere. Never had any chest pain related to the heart.