recovery from open heart surgery - slow

[Suebedoo]

I had open heart surgery in February but am still feeling tired, nauseous and generally out of sorts on quite a few days of the week. Is this normal?

[Baz51]

Hi yes I had a bypass in April, but not feeling too bad, have you looked at your medication, I am still having issues with Bisoprolol and simvastatin, have a chat with your GP to speak to the cardiac unit

Hope you are well soon

[Marvin123]

I had double bypass in March. Two stents last month and feel knackered most of the time. My sleeping is absolutely dreadful. I feel dizzy a lot of the time , mentally I’m grand! Just feel I need to get sorted . With the Covid stuff I haven’t really had any follow ups. No rehab or anything.

Perhaps a trip to gp is needed . I have a constant runny nose . Not a good look !! I’m sure it’s medication. Anyway that’s it . Just don’t feel like I think I should.

[Baz51 in reply to Marvin123]

Hi Marvin yes I am suffering from a constant runny nose, I have got the GP looking at my medication as in bisoprolol, and coughing at night, which I think is linked to the same tablet

[080311]

Hi, have you spoken to your cardiologist? You don’t say what medication you are on. Feeling nauseous sounds more like medication, I know because of Covid cardio rehab hasn’t been running if you have a cardio nurse I would give them a ring. If not try talking to your GP see if he /she can help. So sorry you are feeling so unwell hope you can get some help soon.

Best wishes Pauline

[Suebedoo]

Thanks all. I am taking bisoprolol and have recently stopped the statin because it was making me throw up. I am interested to hear about runny nose issue because I’ve had that too. I too felt abandoned because of covid.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

This is not right at all. I had a quadruple bypass in June 2018. Things went slowly for many weeks because of the heatwave and I could only go out for short distances early and late. When the heatwave broke and I got going. Because of the weight limit on your arms I got a second belt (imagine some thought l had dodgy trousers 😁), attached the dog's lead together with lead with dog and walked. The main issue was I had to pick up the doggy messes very slowly to avoid dizziness. By month six most things were near normal.

So what am I saying? You are not where you should be and need to speak with your GP/cardiologist urgently. During CovID the BHF have an online resource for rehab. I will try and find the link for you. Good luck!

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to MichaelJH]

Cardiac rehab at home :- bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[Thanksnhs in reply to MichaelJH]

Hi I checked the link but it says you should have an assessment first, at the moment we don't have any re hab or assessments taking place, I really feel I could have done with some guidance on most things, I have excersises the physio gave me in the hospital, I suppose I will just have to make do with them for the moment, my nurse did say they might be starting up again soon, but who knows, char

[Becksagogo]

Sorry to hear you are not recovering as you feel you should. It could well be the medication (Bisoprolol is well known for its side effects). My HF nurse recently upped my Ivabradine and within days I was having bouts of nausea, sickness and auras which were very scary. After a fortnight and a telephone consultation we decided to go back to the original dose and I was back to "normal".

It may well be that you will do better on different medication so I would suggest contacting your HFN or GP to discuss.

Take care and keep well.

[Tillymint1971]

I had a quadruple bypass in February and apart from some limitations on what I can do, I am feeling relatively back to normal. I wouldn’t necessarily blame the medication for your symptoms but certainly likely. I would definitely go to your GP or cardiologist for advice. COVID-19 has meant we are all cut off and not getting that opportunity to check in on a regular basis with a medical professional. Symptoms wise I can exercise for 30 mins in the morning and walk about 3km late afternoon; my sternum is a problem - I can’t bend forward without pain, sleeping on my side means waking up sore and going over bumps in the road in the car is painful. The tissue around the wound is tender to touch as is the scar and this and the scar from my radial artery graft alive with nerve endings for periods at a time; the underside of my thigh is tender to the touch and sitting for any length of time uncomfortable; I get breathless after talking for an hour on work calls and for all I can walk on the flat can’t do steep hills. I do feel nauseous sometimes but I think the effort of doing a normal working day, disrupted sleep and the digestive problems I’m having due to the medication I’m on are probably a factor. I hope you can reach someone who can help. I haven’t been contacted for a 6 month check up so if you haven’t I would try to get in touch with your cardiologist. Take care.

[Thanksnhs in reply to Tillymint1971]

Hi not that I no too much about it, but could something have happened with the wires that join the sternum, I read somewhere they can become loose and cause pain and irritation, I had my surgery five weeks ago and even when still in hospital I could lie on either side, I have no real pain in it at all now, slight ache and a bit of a clicking noise, the scar has no pain or swelling at all, healing well, I can do things like hang washing out and bend down, my legs are still weak I can hardly get back up! 🙄 I am not allowed to drive yet but fine as a passenger, it mabe worth asking for an x ray or scan as it seems a long time to still be in pain, I do suffer from nausea a horrible bitter taste, and disturbed sleep, which I am putting down to all the meds, I have the clinic tomorrow, mabe they can adjust them char

[MountainGoat52]

I agree with MichaelJH in that you should be well on the road to recovery by now. I had a triple bypass in June 2018 and was climbing Scottish hills three months later.

It sounds like you may have issues with your medication, so you need to let your GP know how you are feeling. Getting the medication right for you is important. Maintaining a positive attitude is a key factor in recovery and it must be hard if you are not feeling well.

I hope you can get this problem resolved quickly.

[Chappychap]

You should be further along the road to recovery by now. Personally, I found Cardio Rehab was the big turning point, that was the trigger that led to regular exercise, healthy eating, and weight loss. I appreciate Covid-19 has changed everything, but the on line Cardio Rehab that has already been linked to is a must.

Someone commented that they’d stopped taking their statins.

Please don’t dip in and out of your medication without consulting your GP. The key thing about our heart disease is that it never ever goes away, open heart surgery resets the clock and gives us a second chance to hold heart disease at bay with medication and serious life style changes,. But unless we take the opportunity then heart disease will keep on advancing. tinkering with medication and failing to implement a root and branch review of your life style is unfortunately just a recipe to be back at square one in a year or two.

Good luck!

[LHDLondon]

Like the others I would suggest talking with your cardiologist/nurse/GP and having a look at the meds and the doses. Bisoprolol in particular has been a b<<<er for me. I an now on the absolute minimum dose of that and take that in the evenings. Others meds also had side effects and were swapped or reduced.

I had two open heart surgeries. One in 2016 and a further one in 2017. The forst cardiologist was private and "away with the fairies" and couldn't have been worse, the new one NHS and Private top of the tree, couldn't have been more helpful. Cardiac nurses have always been on the ball and my GP practice has noticeably upped their game as well.

I think with everything, here is a learning curve. I definitely see a marked improvement in the last 3 years.

Your situation sounds like meds need adjusting, the cardiologist needs to be consulted and the cardio nurses/your GP might be the best first port of call if you don't want to disturb the top.

[Suebedoo]

Hi all - saw cardiologist who advised me that everything is going as planned but aspirin appears to be main issue as it looks like it might have damaged the stomach lining. He is rejigging all my medication so hopefully this will work and I will be feeling better soon. Heart is sound which is the main thing