Gail’s Pounding Heartbeat Question Triggers A Memory
There are some things about my double heart valve replacement surgery that I will never, ever, never, ever, nehhhhh-verrrrr forget.
One such memory is that of my LOUD and POUNDING heartbeat on the second night home from the hospital. It was around 10pm on a Monday evening. Robyn, my wife, had just laid down next to me in bed. We talked for a bit and then, after exchanging “I Love Yous”, we entered that silent period right before sleep.
As we laid quietly in the dark, my new heart decided to make its presence known. A “Bum-Bump” rattled in my chest and head. Then another “Bum-Bump”. It became louder and faster “BUM-BUMP! BUM-BUMP! BUM-BUMP!”
I instantly became fixated on the loud repetitive sound. In fact, I became thrilled knowing that my heart valve flaps were working so well. (Fyi, your heart valve leaflets make the “Bum-Bump” sound in your heart as they open-and-close.)
Little did I know, my pounding heartbeat was NOT exclusive to my auditory senses.
A minute later, Robyn whispered aloud, “Oh my gawwwwsh! Is that your heart making those noises? I can hear it from over here.” She continued, “I’ve never heard anything like that.”
While we were concerned at first, we quickly rationalized that my heart was simply adjusting to the benefit of having two, new heart valves opening-and-closing like never before. Robyn said to me something like, “After having your bicuspid aortic valve replaced, I bet your heart is really, really happy!”
For this reason, I perked up in my chair this morning when I read Gail’s email. Gail writes, “Dear Adam - Your book was helpful and I thank you for it. My husband is sixty years old and seven weeks post-op yesterday with a St. Jude mechanical heart valve replacement. Okay, our question is…. There are times (more times than not) when his heart beats so hard it literally shakes him. Sort of like very small earthquake tremors. It doesn’t bother him physically. Is this normal?”
While every patient case is unique, I believe, given my experience and the experiences of other heart surgery patients I have interviewed, the pounding heartbeat issue is not unique to Gail’s husband or me. Several other patients have shared similar stories specific to loud heartbeats following cardiac surgery.
However, if you have any other thoughts or ideas, please leave a note for Gail by clicking here.
Keep on tickin!
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August 9th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
That’s really interesting. How long did that effect last?
I have yet to be scheduled for surgery, but now I’m thinking mid-October might make for a fun Halloween Costume, perhaps I could go as “Tell Tale Heart”.
(It actually sounds like a pretty scary thing to have to consider after surgery, so I am glad you mentioned the possibility before hand….)
August 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Hi Gail,
I’m guessing it’s not abnormal for your heart to beat louder and faster or harder after surgery, mine does the same thing. I am about 3 1/2 weeks post aortic valve replacement. I have an On-X valve with a repaired ascending aortic aneurysm. Fortunately my wife can’t hear it but my 13 yr old daughter can hear my new valve clicking away. We were at the dinner table one day, she was sitting across from me, gave me a strange look and said. Is that your heart I hear clicking? I had her tap the rhythm out on the table and she was right on time. I told her that it was. It bugs her a little so every chance I get I slip up next to her so she can get an ear full. We laugh about it and then go on with our business.
It bugs me at night because I can feel my heart beating and hear the ticking. It doesn’t worry me though, I am just the type of person that can’t handle a ticking clock at night either. Also my resting heart rate pre-surgery was in the 50’s now it is in the upper 70’s and that bugs me. I am 48 yrs old and have always been athletic with a slow resting HR. I warned all the nurses about my slow HR but they got alarmed when it dropped into the mid 40’s while I was sleeping. Of course they woke me to find that I was okay. I told them I pretty much go comatose when I sleep.
I was totally asymptomatic prior to the Docs finding my defective aortic valve and aneurysm. They found it while looking for something else after an injury.
My Doc says it is normal for my heart to beat faster and harder and it will calm down once it realizes that it is okay from the trauma from surgery.
I wish you and your husband all the best and pray for a speedy recovery.
KT
August 10th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Gail,
I was two weeks past surgery when my heart started racing and felt like it wanted to escape! I was just sitting still at the time, though I had just drunk a half a Mountain Dew absentmindedly when my son left it on the table. I took my blood pressure and my pulse was over 150 bpm. When it had not slowed back down after 20 minutes, I went to the ER, where they hooked me up to a monitor and later did a sonogram. Everything looked fine, and the pounding, which had slowed back down to around 80, did not repeat. Doctor basically said, “These things happen.” The valve was working fine and I had no fluid around the heart.
I’m not gonna worry about it!
August 11th, 2008 at 2:09 am
I had Aortic replacement on 04/07/08, and the first thing I noticed was the clicking of the valve, especially when I opened my mouth.
I also have had the loud, irregular pounding heartbeat, to which I still get. I was prescribed Toprolol for atrial fibliration (prob spelled wrong), at first the beating would subside to about normal within a few min of taking my daily dosage, but of late, I have the same beating and now am experiencing a sharp pain in the top right part of my heart
August 11th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I had heart surgery 2 months ago on my aorta and aortic valve , I can constantly feel and hear my heart , sometimes it beats so hard it feels like it wants to jump out of my chest.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Hi everyone,
It’s fascinating reading about your experiences. I was diagnosed with a moderately leaky aortic valve four years ago which has been very stable since. If it hadn’t been diagnosed following an appendectomy I’m not sure I would know about it? The only symptoms to speak of are occasional mild aches in the region and vary rare bouts of dizziness that last a minute or less but seem to take a while to completely wear off?
Can anyone relate to this? I get it checked out once a year…I am most interested in recovery times, getting back to work and life style post op?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I experienced the same thing for several weeks. I was hospitalized again so that medication could be started to regulate my heartbeat. After a month on the medication (Cordarone), it is better.