Mum had quadrupled bypass surgery done just over 3 weeks ago. Mum is only on paracetamols at the moment she came off the Cosine Phosphate due to some of the side effects.
Please can someone shed light on how long after by pass you still experiencing pain? I am assuming it's still early days. The pain is mostly lower back and under the breast area across the chest.
She is also experiencing hot and cold sweats sometimes shivering. Mum is still unable to sleep and is very restless she cannot stay one place longer than 5 mins. Has anyone experienced these symptoms post surgery please?
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You bet. I'm five months post surgery and the pain in my shoulders and upper arms still keeps me awake at night and that's with pain killers. It helps a lot if I prop myself up at night. I don't seem to get sweats any more but in the early months I woke up on more than once occasion drenched. And not being able to sleep was and sometimes still is a big problem albeit a very common one. Recovering from a major operation takes time and there's no way around it, time takes time.
Hiya, thanks for replying. Can I ask what painkillers you are on please? Maybe it's too early for mum to be off the codine but she was having severe dry mouth so had to come off them.
I am really hoping in time some of these symptoms starts to calm down. I am learning each day how much of a long route to recovery this surgery is.
Co-codamol when I go to bed and when I get up and paracetamol during the day if I need them. I try to keep my dose to a minimum as a little pain helps to remind me not to do any heavy lifting. From my experience I think we all take longer to heal as we get older anyway. I sprained my tumb a couple of years ago and for a whole year I thought the pain would never go and then one morning it did. Obviously OHS is a lot more invasive than a sprained thumb so I'm hoping to be fully fit by the summer.
Thanks alot for your speedy reply. This is what I love about this forum. I've learnt so much for being on here for a short period of time.
I love the idea of taking pain killers as little as a gentle reminder if taking things slow. I belive my mum have very little pain threshold. She complains about a little bit of pain even before surgery.
I am going to ask mum GP if its possible to have mum pain killers changed from Codine to Co-codamol as a few people on here mentioned they have used Co-codamol. Maybe the side effects will be less than the codine.
Thank you for your good wishes. I don't know what your mum has been taking but Co-codamol is a mix of codine and paracetamol. When I first started taking them I did suffer a couple of side effects including a dry mouth and constipation but this stopped after a few weeks. Codine is of course addictive.
Still taking the stuff. I was in hospital for seven weeks and the pain in my arms and sholders only kicked in when I started moving around. I'm five months post op now and expect to remain on pain killers for a while yet.
I am so sorry 5 months on and you are not fully recovered. I thought things really start to get better after the 3 months mark.
This makes me thinks 3 weeks on codine and paracetamol is really not alot of time in my mum case. The only reason mum wanted to be off codine its because of its addiction.
Also the docs only been prescribing weekly supplies and said it can't be long term.
I am really sorry to hear of your complications post surgery. Sometimes life throws all sorts of challenges at us. I wish it all work for the better for you soon 🙏
3 weeks isn’t very long since your Mums op, my surgeon explained that when they harvest the artery they tend to Rip it out, so after the op the nerve endings are trying to join back up and they have a few problems! I had the feeling of someone pulling an Elastoplast off for about 6 months. Pain relief I had paracetamol on a regular basis told to take it every 4 hours even if I wasn’t in pain, the paracetamol keeps it under control. I also had Co Codamal for when it was a little worse, mostly I took it at night.
Having back pain arm and neck as well we are put into some really funny positions when having our op so this is more than likely the cause. Tell your Mum to carry on with the breathing exercises and the coughing one that we do in hospital, it really helps, I called them huffing and puffing. Remember our lungs were collapsed when we were on bypass and now they need a little tender care to fill those little pockets out again. It’s not just our hearts that take a hit our lungs do to.
I had my surgery 4 years ago at the age of 68, and I am grateful every day to the medical team that gave me my life back. It takes time but your Mum will get there, doing the gentle walking helps such a lot, I used to count lamp posts and try and get to the next one on my next walk silly I know but it worked.
Hi there Pauline, thank you so much for replying. I've been trying to explain these things to mum but I think she sometimes find it hard to comprehend (maybe this is due to her Parkinsons)
I am going to remind her to keep taking the pain killers even if she doesn't have pain because I suspect this is one of the reason for her increased pain because in the last few days she started to take the pain killers only when she is having pain.
She was doing ok with walking but had to stay indoors the last few days because she caught a cold and don't want to make it worst but I will get her to more around the house. Also carry on with the coughing exercises.
It's sometimes better to hear these things from people who experienced this surgery. I try to reassure my mum that it will get better day by day.
It’s a shame cardio rehab isn’t on at the moment, make sure her name is on the list for when it starts up again. I found it invaluable you are with others who have been through the same experiences as you and just talking and you say I have such and such and someone comes back with me too is sometimes such a relief. So it helps with stamina and the cardio nurses are there to keep an eye on us but for our mental health as well.Not being able to get out to walk is difficult I live in Scotland so we are very snowy at the moment, get her to walk a bit more round the house or even walking on the spot. It all helps.
I can’t add much more to the replies you have already had which are excellent. I had a Quad bypass over 7 weeks ago and still experiencing pain and sleep difficulties. Your Mum is still very early just over 3 weeks in and she will be experiencing a lot of pain. I find just listening to my body helps me.. so if I fall asleep/nap as and when it happens, I just go with it, I go to bed and wake up as and when needed so I am less concerned about sticking to routine. In addition to the advice you have already got, I find a recliner really helped and still is helping me to find comfortable positions, and the other thing to think about is posture, looking to gently keep your shoulders back, hunched forwards (which is what you instinctively want to do) doesn’t help with recovery in my experience...
Hope that is helpful, the meds/painkillers as advised by other are also key.
Hi, thanks so much for your reply. Thankfully I am here to keep reminding mum how important it is to have good posturing.
She does have a recliner but found it had to even sit down due to the body aches.
She wasn't sleeping so as a temporary measure her GP put her on some mild sleeping tablets which is helping a little but cannot be long term.
The harsh reality is I don't think anyone is prepared for the recovery aspect of this operation. It really does takes it toll on you. Honestly I think my mum done well so far.
Thanks alot for your help.
I wish you all the best in your recovery process 🙏
You are quite right about not being prepared for the recovery process, it is a long and challenging road, your body puts you through a lot of changes and it is a massive challenge just trying to find comfort during recovery...
Your Mum will be glad to have you there for support so well done you, just continue to be there for her as you are doing and tell her to be patient and kind to herself... she will get there.
Goodnight, quick question regarding astrovastatin med. Can you please let me know what dosage you were put on post Bypass surgery and was it subsequently reduced? I think this is not good for mum it's making her feel very ill (Nausea, muscle pain, Indigestion) Sorry I thought for continuity I ask under my existing post. Thanks for your help.
Healing and pain can vary. Personally I prefer co-codamol which is paracetamol and codeine combined as I can't take the codeine separately as I have side effects.
I took 8 a day for about 2 weeks, mainly to help me to sleep but you need the build up to be effective.
I then started taking paracetamol during the day and then 2 co-codamol last thing, then all paracetamol.
I did this myself by trial and error.
For months after I would get random pains which either needed paracetamol or co-codamol until eventually I was pain free.
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