Heart Failure

[Davewm]

A short background:

I had a Triple Bypass and Mitral Valve repair 18 months ago. I made a good recovery however at the 6 month follow up I was told that the repair wasn’t 100% and I still had a slight leak.

Since last September I’ve been getting more breathless again so I saw GP who did tests and then referred me back to the Cardiologist.

Unfortunately I was taken into Hospital a week last Thursday after collapsing in the bathroom at 4 am. I was, according to my wife, out for 2/3 minutes. I’ve no recollection of what happened from entering the bathroom to coming round on the floor.

I caused a bit of concern for Her because I was on the floor in the bathroom against the door so she couldn’t get in. When I came round I initially thought I’d had a stroke as I couldn’t speak. When I managed to speak I told her that I thought the shower was leaking. I’d actually peed myself whilst unconscious.

She called 999 and the ambulance arrived very quickly.

When the paramedics arrived and did there first tests my BP was 84/48. They did various tests and suggested that I should be admitted to hospital.(My appointment to see the Cardiologist on 4th January had cancelled due to COVID and I have been getting slowly worse with breathlessness and dizziness.)

She wasn’t allowed to come with me. Whilst in A &E the Consultant came and said I would be admitted. After 14 hours on a trolley I went into one of the wards for further tests and heart monitoring.

I’d been concerned for a long time about the fact that my medication hadn’t been assessed since before my operation.Finally on Friday evening the Consultant confirmed that the cause of my collapse was Heart Failure. He also said that the medication I was originally prescribed to protect my heart, whilst waiting that 6 months for my operation, was reducing my Blood Pressure to a dangerous level - hence the collapse. It’s also, unfortunately, had the effect of causing Stage 2 Chronic Kidney Disease. He then prescribed different medication which will, hopefully, avoid further collapses.

I was discharged on the Saturday and I’m now feeling a bit better. I’ve been given a follow-up appointment to have more scans etc: when covid permits.

The medication change was:

Stopping the following completely:

Losartan, co-amilofruse (I was on maximum dose), amitriptyline

Reducing dose of bisoprolol

I’ve now been prescribed Spironolactone.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Kind regards,

David

[Ianc2]

hi Davewm. I had a similar event just over a year ago and got carted off to A&E where they checked everything, all ok, suggested it may have been a sudden drop in blood pressure, said your MOT seems to be OK, and escorted me out the door at 2 am. Its an interesting life at times.