Shallower breathing after stent placements, no heart attack

[RichZi]

Before my two stents two weeks ago my breathing was deep and satisfying. Since I got the stents, my breathing is shallower though I'm not breathless. I'm doing my cardio-rehab and function very well physically. I am quite physically active. I am concerned because before my stenting I felt my body (cardio-pulmonary) was working much better than it is now. I had no heart attack. Angiogram two weeks ago found 90% blockage of RCA at the PDA/PL bifurcation and stented that. I had the angiogram because of multiple tests showing advanced atherosclerosis. I take clopidogrel and atorvatatin. I'm 60 years old, non smoker. Much thanks for any information or experience with this. - Richard

[Heather1957]

I'm no expert but have had a bypass (2017) and 2 stents (2021)

If you only had the stents fitted 2 weeks ago I am amazed you are already receiving cardio rehab (lucky you) but it is very early days and you have to give your body time to recover.

I had my stents fitted by Rotablation (drilling) and it knocked me for 6 but eventually I felt I was firing on all cylinders.

You may need to have some changes with your medication and hopefully your cardiac nurse can help out with this.

Seriously 2 weeks isn't long, give it time but keep the experts informed.

[RichZi in reply to Heather1957]

Hi and thank you so very much for your thoughtful and informative reply. It made a lot of sense to me. I guess I haven't had a full appreciation for how invasive the stent procedure is and how I need to give my heart/lungs and body time to get used to the difference in blood flow and oxygen needs. I just wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate your thoughtful response. Wishing you all the best, Richard

[Tonyscully]

Hi,

My experience has been the same since having a stent 5 weeks ago. In that time I have spoken to the cardio team at Harefield Hospital & they have assured me this is normal. Our bodies are having to adjust to having this ‘foreign’ body fitted & the shallow breathing is expected. That said it’s not nice & has concerned me. Good luck with your recovery, I have been advised it can take several weeks for things to settle down.

Regards

Tony

[RichZi in reply to Tonyscully]

Hi, Thank you so much for your reply and great information. Hearing that your cardio team assured you that this symptom is normal was definitely nice for me to read. Two days ago I left a message for my cardiologist about the fairly mild symptom I am experiencing. His office has yet to reply and I truly feel it's because the sensation/symptom is as your care team advised you, normal. Thanks again, I appreciate your info about being advised that it can take several weeks for things to settle down. Reading that definitely put me at ease and regarding my concern only 2 weeks post procedure. All the best to you. - Richard

[Tonyscully in reply to RichZi]

You are very welcome. I feel lucky that I went to Harefield a specialist Heart Hospital. Tiredness, twinges & niggles along with some shallow breathing are all things they are comfortable with. They gave a knee operation as an example, we would expect some pain & lack of full knee movement for several weeks the heart is no different other than a twinge in your knee is less concerning than a twinge in your chest! I am far from an expert but if you had any questions or concerns feel free to ask

Take care

Regards

Tony

[MountainGoat52]

Richard,

I had two stents in my RCA back in 2017 when I had a heart attack. Several things happened as a result:

Firstly my breathing is now more shallow. I put this down to the improvement in blood flow. To provide the amount of oxygen the body requires to function, each litre of blood needs to carry less oxygen from the lungs because it is moving and delivering the oxygen faster. I can still breathe deeply if I need to and indeed do so when my body has an jncreased oxygen requirement such as when I climb hills. I have found that I am now able to hold my breath for much longer.... most useful when I am walking past someone who is smoking or vaping. I really don't like to take in their secondhand fumes.

Secondly, the improved blood flow made it much easier for me to stand for a period. Prior to my heart attack / stents I used to get considerable back pain while standing or moving around slowly. This disappeared with the stents. I know it was an immediate effect as I was able to stand and chat with fellow patients while I was still in the cardiac unit, in one instance for a whole hour. Again, I put this down to the improvement in blood flow.

The third effect was that I lost 6kg in weight in the first week after the stents... and the weight has stayed off. My body was able to process food more easily. Prior to my heart attack / stents I had not been able to eat before exercising. I used to have my lunch after I had been on my 4 mile lunchtime walk so as not to get indigestion. My body could not exercise and process food at the same time. Now it can, though I still tend to avoid eating much before walking the hills as a matter of good practice.

Personally I have never found my more shallow breathing to be an issue. I do exercise my lungs when at rest to make sure they are ready for when I am out on the hills, which I consider to be good practice.

Hopefully everything will settle down for you soon and you will become accustomed to the new you.

Kind regards,

Gerald

[RichZi in reply to MountainGoat52]

Hi Gerald,

Thank you for taking the time to reply and for including such great information. I understand the lower-seeming demand for breath can be approached as a matter of perspective. Probably as I understand your experience, it is not necessarily a matter of personal concern if there is no medical concern. I certainly am breathing sufficiently, not out of breath, so no need to be concerned as perhaps my body is simply not demanding the air intake that it did prior to the stents.

It was nice to read the multiple positive health affects you've experienced since your stenting procedure. It sounds like we may be exercising somewhat similarly. I suppose I need to let my body adjust to the stenting and give it time.

Much thanks again and wishing you all the best,

Richard

[Qualipop]

I was fine on clopidogrel but Ticagrelor which I was originally given made me feel as if I couldn't take a deep breath. It was so bad I stopped taking it a few days before I was due another angiogram ( Much to the cardiologists fury) but I just couldn't bear the feeling that I couldn't breathe even though my sats were fine. My GP was refusing to change it. It felt as if I was having a bad asthma attack or having to consciously force myself to breathe. I hope yours settles down but if not it may be worth asking about your meds.

[Emmy61]

Hi RichZi

I had a stent fitted in October 2022 and was on clopidogrel for 6 months. I don't recall shallower breathing but had niggly chest pains for about 9 months before it all settled down. It's easy to be worried about it all but it will calm down.

[Livingstones in reply to Emmy61]

Interesting... I had a stent in Oct 2023 and I feel like a "foreign body" in my chest, not really painful but worrying though. I'm on clopidogrel for 6 months, but the cardiologist said it would be better for a year. (I don't like that) Any thought of taking D3/K2 MK7 as we see more and more on internet? My cardiologist was not even aware of those K2 vitamins to clear the plaque... I wonder.

[Survivor1952]

2xPCI, AVR and CABG here all in the space of a month!

I’m on Ticagrelor for a year from my discharge from hospital because of the stents and the bovine heart valve. Also several other drugs to form quite a cocktail.

Whilst in hospital, between the PCI and AVR procedures they were concerned that my breathing was a bit shallow and my SATs were down a bit.

Now, 6 months later, my SATs are normal, I’m breathing normally and I’m pretty active for a 71 year old, weekly 5k Parkruns, walks in between, back to officiating at sports events as I did in the past. Only real issue is I can get tired but I put some of that down to boredom - I’ll be pacing the house at 8pm wanting to do things, I guess I want to keep mooving 🤣

[Livingstones]

About the same symptoms after placing of a stent 3 months ago. I'm 72 and during the procedure the cardiologist told me, "You'll feel 30 years younger!" So I went confident. Now I think, "I was feeling better before the stent !" First reaction: quack doctor... But let's be patient, hoping it'll work out well in the long run. Now looking on internet about the D3/K2 MK7 vitamins... is it working to clear the arteries? Are there medically proven wrong interactions with meds prescribed (clopidogrel, statins etc.)