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6 weeks and my first big problem, my heart started to race.

Ainterne
0 Recommendations

I have been recoverting slowly but ok after my triple and then all of a sudden on Wed my heart rate jumped to 160 and wouldn't budge. So it to hospital I went and they got it fixed.....but even after a chemical stress test the best they have given me is a different blood thinner called Coumadin.. They tell me that some patients do have the occasional racing heart problem, but I wonder if anyone has any more info on this subjets. It seems I pick up more from here than I do the doctors sometimes...... Is it dangerous? does it go after time? e.g not happen anymore?

Thanks Phil.

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Asthma Surgery Aspirin Coumadin Pneumonia Plavix Pain Heart attack Crestor Stent Stress

13 replies

yazz

Hi there, I have experienced this since my second bypass....To me the heart goes out of sink........I just go with the flow ....i know what it is and remain calm....It returns to normal......You are correct some tablets do this and of course the heart does for some reason......Talk to your consultant ....... My consultant does not seem to be that bothered at the moment....He said these things tend to clear up in time.....I am 5 weeks post op ( just ) but you should......Still get it checked out.....

Oh....And yes medication can do this.......

I hope you feel better soon....

Yazz......xxx

Ainterne

Thanks Yazz.... I did get some more info....it seems that while I was on Plaviz then this could be a serious problem for me......the reason is that is the top of the heart is beating faster than the bottom then there can be in broad terms, a bottle kneck a the bottom of the heart and clots can form. If they occur then there is a chance that they can cause a stroak etc.... So by moving me onto Coumadine then the blood is made thin enough so that the clots are less likely to form. This apparently is especially important in the first 4 months. It seems that 25% of people will get this racing heart problem and some more prominant than others.
So I know know why they wouldn't let me out of hospital for 3 days....eg. until the blood consistancy was thin enough... I did that this before where my heart rate went to about 140 and then went down after 1/2 hour and I like you, just let it run its course. This time though it was at 160 and wouldn't come down.....so I guess I did panic and took a trip to the ER.

As they say.... Experience is something you get after you needed it.. :-).......

I am curious though....why your second bypass?

Thanks....Phil.

yazz

My problems started last sep 08.....I had a heart attack and had stents inserted in my left ventrical on the outside of the heart......Then the stents failed i carried on having more and more put in.......So then i had a bypass ...... The end of May...just one....the vien was taken from my mamory vien.....By 6 weeks i had sysmptoms back again so had to have more stents....I had another by pass begining of Oct....I was soooooooooo scared......I had the by pass and fingers crossed and positive thinking i have been ok.....There were some complications in the operation and after but i am here....By all accounts my antibodies do not like things in my body which shouldn't be there so they just bomabard what ever it is and causes a blockage or clot......I am certainly a chellenge for the heart specalist team in Bristol.....

Tracey7

Hi Phil - to be honest, I have all sorts of things going on, but because I live and work in Turkey and have to pay each time I visit a hospital (my actual bypass operation was paid for by my insurance company) - I probably don't go back to hospital when I should - you've got me worried now ie your medication being changed, etc. I had my bypass on 21 March and every night when i go to bed, my heart pounds and misses beats or beats fast. Sometimes, i do think shall I get out of bed and get this seen to, but then I will myself to go to sleep and the next morning, i forget about it again until the next night, and so on. I'm on crestor, plavix and baby aspirin .... i'm very out of breath all the time, my scar is still sore and i get a similar pain in the middle of my breast bone as i did before the op ..... scary ... think i need to return to the uk for some more tests.

Tracey7

Can I ask, was your operation horrendous? I watch Holby City and I have to laugh at the number of episodes someone's had a heart op and they are up and about and talking normal etc. I was in sheer agony for about 2 weeks (in hospital) - had to sleep upright in a chair - could go to bed and couldn't cough, etc. Even when I went home after 2 weeks, felt like hell on earth - stooped over, etc etc - was your op as bad or was it that I had a "butcher" over here in Turkey. I think that's why I don't go back to get pains and things checked out as I'm too scared I'll be told it hasn't worked and have to go through it again.. The worst part was just afte the op, when the took the 2 drains out of my lungs - i screamed with the pain ....

Ainterne

Yes, I didn't lie down for 3.5 weeks, my scar has just healed, but I have been on plenty of pain killers.

I know what you mean about the tubes... I didn't like that at all, mainly because I didn't know what to expect.

You are going to feel internal pains all over the place, you are going to feel tired and when that feeling comes
it comes real fast. I used to work 36 hours on the trot before.....then up until recently could only do
2/3 hours and then need to sleep for a while. Now I have worked my way back up to 6 hours of work before the
tiredness comes. You are going to feel pains where you didn't have them before etc...and it takes time for them to go away.

One of the pains is going to be just behind the breastbone on the left where they use one of the
artery.....the whole chest are is not going to feel normal for a long time. I had a jaw surgery a couple of years ago where
they cut my jaw off and then re-attatched it. For 2 years it felt strange...some nerve damage etc...
I think that instead of things getting back to normal, I learned in my mind to get used to the different sensations etc, and I think it's all normal again.

That's what I think will happen with some of the twinges, pain etc with the heart surgery. I, you will get used to it and in time it will feel so normal you will think nothing of it.

I have been on Coumadin since my little episode a couple of weeks ago where my heart started racing.
While they have got me on Coumadin and have been working hard to get my INR (how thin the blood is) to 2. So they put me on Levenox as well (that cost me $400 per week here in the US and that's my co-pay).... The reason as I said before it to stop strokes from clots if my heart is running at highter rate for an extended period (more than an hour)..
You have about 1 to 1.5 hours to get to hospital if your heart is racing before you have a serious chance of clotting.


While I get my blood INR checked every two days the real thing they look at is the EKG and to see my AFIB results. Strangely after the stay in hospital for the second time, my sinus rhythm has been perfect, and it hadn't been before.

If you are out of breath I would seriously suggest you have an xray to see if your lungs are clear. I started getting pain
in my lungs when I coughed about the time I had the heart racing problem. It turned out that I had pneumonia. ' So a bunch of anti-biotic sorted that out. I don't think you should find it hard to breath at all because of the surgery, especially as your surgery was more than 7 months ago.

From what you have written though, I would certainly recommend that you get the extra tests you are looking for..... my surgeon told me that it takes a good year to recover but that I would see huge improvements by about 6 months - it doesn't sound like you have made huge improvements and it might be a good idea to return to the UK for tests if that is an option for you.

Think about it though....if it didn't work then you need to get it fixed...! worrying about it will do no good whatsoever. You will probably find it did work, but you have something else wrong that can be fixed really easily and you are putting yourself through hell worrying for nothing.

Thanks...Phil.

yazz

Hi Tracey, i would agree with Aintre just to get your self checked out...with the breathless and chest pain......especially if it was there prior the operation.....I dont want to scar you but the truth is best policy ......You will most probably be fine. However i had to have another bypass and the first thing i said was that i had the old pain prior to the operation......and breathless.......I did have a blockage in the bypass and had to have a stent put in but unfortunatley that did not work so another bypass 4 months after the first one......As i say i don't want to scar you but get it checked out. As Aintre said can you come to the UK?......I hope every thing goes ok for you....keep us up to date by posting a journal then we can see how you are.....Best wishes ....T/C Yazz

Tracey7

Thanks Phil. Do you know, reading all the comments on this site, I realise how much I have neglected myself and how others have neglected me. I had my operation in Turkey in a fabulous private hospital that cost my insurance company £34,000 - but, after being released after 2 weeks and then spending 6 weeks home in my apartment in Turkey, I've never seen a doctor since. I wasn't given any diet plans; never had my blood tested, not had an ecg or x-rays - absolutely nothing. I've just got on with things, gone back to 12 hour days at work. I will try and get myself some checks done. THink I've been too blaze about things.

Ainterne

Wow....my my...yes you have been ignored.... seriously...

I am telling you now you need to get some tests. You need and EKG and and Xray like yesterday..... You need blood tests etc.. I haven't got a cardiologist yet but I am still seeing my doctor in U of M at Ann Arbor Michigan.

Tracy, you have to get checked out as soon as possible!!!..... Get back to the UK, stay with someone and then get your self into Emergency and tell them what's been happening. Tell them you are short of breath and tell them everything. That way they will give you the care you need, it wont cost you anything and you will know for sure where you stand......

It really does not mean that there is something seriously wrong but you could be damaging your self in other ways..... ....

I am so shocked by your note...! Get moving...drop what you are doing and go get checked out.....!!!

Phil....

Tracey7

Hi, thanks Phil - I will. I'm actually flying from Turkey to UK on 28 November, then to see a friend of mine in LA on 29, then back to UK for Christmas around 16 December, so will either do what you said - go to Emergency or pay to see a cardiologist privately. I think what has made me a bit too calm about all this is my father had a bypass as well when he was 45 - he is now 67 and has never had a minute's trouble with his - he went back to laying bricks 6 weeks after the op and touch wood, has been as fit as a fiddle since, it wasn't until I started reading these comments and looking at similar sites, that I reaslised (ignorantly) that sometimes bypasses don't work (again, thinking about my father's lasting 22 years - his was mammory graft), so I thought I'd be the same. The only thing I'm hoping in my case, is that they told me that my heart op went really well, but from smoking 60 a day, my lungs were shot to hell and the reason they kept me in for 2 weeks was trying to get my lungs functioning - had to keep blowing up balloons every hour and they still wern't happy when i was discharged. I also have allergy to my dog, but will not think about getting rid of her, but she doesn't help my breathing ... guess I'm a bit of case really ......

Ainterne

I don't get it.....you say you are scared....it's apparent that you have having problems breathing and in pain when that should be long gone, and yet you are not going to see someone immediately....

I used to smoke about the same, luckily for me my lungs are totally clear and I can move more air than the average lung....but still the process has made me quit.....(even though I should keep smoking because I have Crohns in the family and it's kept mine at bay. I have the one condition that smoking helps with..).

You do realize that although the op went really well there are lots of things that need to be followed up on etc.....that's why all these people on the site go for followups etc....... You are really rolling the dice!!!!

I would forget the trips to see friends etc..they will always be there......I would get my self into hospital for peace of mind and to make sure you are safe.....

Take this the right way....but if you were my daughter/or wife etc, and you told me you where going to see friends in the US over going to check yourself out.... I would kick your #$%#$%$#.......and that's only because I care.....

Are you going to tell the airlines that you have problems breathing and you have strange symptoms from a heart surgery? Do you think they will let you fly? MMMmmmm I wonder.....

On a side note, if you are still smoking then you will be reducing your body's ability to heal greatly. If you are not working out somehow to compensate then it's no wonder that you are still in such an early recovery stage...... 6 months to a non smoker is completely different to a smoker.... I hope you can understand that... I am saying that from a smokers perspective...you have to allow for the fact your body is not getting the rich oxygenated blood to recover...

Good luck.... I think you are going to need it.....

Phil..

Tracey7

Hi Phil

I'll go and get some tests done today in the Turkish private hospital I normally go to - I will at least get a chest x-ray and blood tests.

I think you got me wrong - I was a 60 a day smoker up to the night before the op, but I haven't smoked for 8 months now - would never smoke again. But they told me because I had been such a heavy smoker (with asthma, etc) during the op they were more concerned about my lungs than the actual bypass.

Can you tell me what EF means - when I go and get blood tests I know I will need to tell the hospital what to check ie not just he usual markers.

Thanks for caring Phil - hope you are well on the road to recovery.

Ainterne

EF is Ejection Fraction - the rate at which your heart is pumping - you will need an echo (ultrasound) to determine that.

You will need an EKG and the blood test that looks for the markers but the best thing to do is to see a surgeon or cardiologist who can look at your symptoms and decide on the best tests based on you individual history and symptoms.

It is good to hear that you are no longer smoking.

I am good, still sore in places and still have the blood thinners going strong, but I will be fine I am sure....

I am doing more exercise now, I make sure I find time to ride my bike for about an hour a day......

I hope you get so see someone soon, please let us know....... I am thinking and hoping the best for you.

Phil.

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