Meds & Nausea & Rehab

[aviation1]

NAUSEA

I am now 15 weeks post OHS for a repair - I am on a daily prescription of:

Bisoporol 2.5mg (taken 1.25 mornings and 1.25 evenings)

0.75 aspirin

80mg atorvastatin (evenings) - I have an incident of plaque in my eye

20mg Rivaroxaban

I suffer from a constant nausea in my stomach (although never been sick) which is becoming a problem with my rehab as it can be quite debilitating if going for a long walk, or going for a meal with friends - any help would be appreciated.

REHAB

I cannot find any information about actual cardio rehab (not general regaining strength and fitness) - how does one know when to push the heart rate and to what level (so say doing step ups or walking fast up a hill)?

[Lowerfield_no_more]

If you have had a heart 'event' you should have been offered cardio rehab by the hospital that treated you. However, not all hospital trusts offer this, and even when they do the format appears to be different. Check with your hospital. That apart there is an online cardio rehab course available on the BHF site if you search for it. And/or you could talk to the BHF heart helpline nurse, again look up on the website. As far as your nausea is concerned is is not impossible that you are suffering from side effects from one of your meds. Upset stomach seems to be common side effect people report on here. So if you have not done so already talk to your prescribing health professional, your GP?, or talk to a pharmacist.

[aviation1 in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Thanks - the trust where I had my OHS is 1.5 hours away so yes I am trying through my GP and ther local hospital (Royal Glos) - but they are painfully slow unfortunately

[marypw]

If you’re on aspirin, you should generally be taking something like omeprazole or lansoprazole to protect your stomach. Everyone reacts differently to meds, but aspirin can cause stomach irritation.

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to marypw]

If you suspect that low dose dispersible aspirin is causing you an upset stomach, then a better move in the first instance is to take it with food, and if that doesn't work move across to gastro resistant enteric coated aspirin which is what I take. Only as a last resort should you think about taking a PPI especially since they have side effects for some.

[aviation1 in reply to marypw]

Thanks I do have an omeprazole which I take mornings with food and the aspirin and beta blocker

[Denistennis]

Hi 👋 aviation1, I too suffered a daily feeling of nausea, which started around 10 am and lasted till late afternoon, most days following my Bypass surgery. It wasn't debilitating, just unpleasant. Over time, I started to experience constant loose stools eventually seeking advice from a sympathetic BHF nurse who told me it was possibly down to Lansoprazole a PPI.

Compared to most people with CHD I'm very lucky only experiencing Angina at 71with no underlying health problems. Like many of us on discharge you find yourself abandoned. I struggled to find advice on just how much to push myself so pretty much blundered on and hoped for the best.

Back to the daily feeling of nausea post op 4mths I kicked all my medications into touch other than a daily Aspirin and 20mg Omeprazole. Within days I no longer felt any nausea and my loose stools returned to normal.

Which of my medications were responsible I have no idea. The cardiologist who originally diagnosed my stenosis of the LAD wanted me to continue taking a statin, for my future wellbeing as he put it but I reasoned at 72years going on 73 one's future is uncertain and I had no wish to start experiencing nausea on a daily basis again.

Hope you find a solution to your symptoms as I know from personal experience just how much of a downer it can be.

Best regards,

Denis

[aviation1 in reply to Denistennis]

Thanks Denis - I am seeing my consultant tomorrow and hoping to wean off most of the Meds - I hope that's the solution

[Denistennis]

Fingers 🤞 crossed you get a result. On reflection I took a big risk when I junked most of mine and only time will tell if I made the right decision.

[aviation1 in reply to Denistennis]

Thanks Denis

[aviation1 in reply to aviation1]

I am now off the aspirin and Omeprazole and the nausea has almost but disappeared - thanks Denis