Palpitations and thumping heart after... - British Heart Fou...

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Palpitations and thumping heart after surgery

road2ruin profile image
6 Replies

Having had an aortic valve replaced six weeks ago, one thing I still notice is that my heart thumps like crazy sometimes. It will calm down, but every so often it is quite disturbing, especially when trying to sleep. I also get a lot of palpitations and missed beats, these too can be quite frustrating at quite times. I am sure they are mainly due to stress or anxiety but would be nice to hear from fellows sufferers how long all this lasted for and were the experiences the same?

Kind regards

R2R

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road2ruin
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6 Replies
aussie63 profile image
aussie63

Hi R2R

I am six months post AVR and I have the same "pounding" feeling. Apparently it is common and one of the (reported) reasons is that the surgeons cut through your pericardium ( a sac that encloses the heart) which has an insulating effect on the sound - so you would be more aware of the beating. I buy this story but I think if you have had heart surgery you are also very aware of your heart! So I think it is a combination of the physical and mental!

You take care!

Best wishes

Con

road2ruin profile image
road2ruin in reply toaussie63

Thanks for that, I will keep an eye on it.

MountainGoat52 profile image
MountainGoat52

I agree with aussie63. Having had heart surgery makes you more aware of your heart. After my triple bypass, my wife used to complain that my heart shook the bed when I went to bed at night. It is now far less of an issue and it certainly seems to be getting better with time. If your symptoms continue, I would suggest speaking to your GP about it.

road2ruin profile image
road2ruin in reply toMountainGoat52

Cheers, will see what they say at my six week check.

I had open heart surgery back in May to remove a tumour six weeks later when I saw the surgeon I told him that I could feel my heart jumping about and he said that is because the fluid around our hearts was drained when they make an incision and that it was common for us to notice it because it’s not cushioned anymore. It is something that you get used to over time.

Wishing you all the best

Elaine ❤️

road2ruin profile image
road2ruin

Thanks for that. Sounds likely.

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