JJ's Journal

I am doing pretty well with cardiac rehab, but still have some dizzy spells and shortness of breath if I go for an all out effort. In cardiac rehab, we do moderate effort exercise, but if I am out on my own (say on my bike) and I go real hard, I get dizzy, have shortness of breath, and simply have to stop. Rarely, I have to stop and brace myself against something until the dizziness subsides. Has anyone else experienced this 3 months after mitral valve repair? Thanks.

I had minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery on 04-13-2016. Today, I am 7 weeks out. The recovery has been a bit on the tough side. I had dizziness, vision problems, some chest pain, afib, buzzing/vibrations in my head, ...........the list goes on. All of these have seemed to pass.....yea! About 10 days ago, my blood pressure started to elevate. It is usually highest when I get up in the morning and in the evening. I went to cardiac rehab early today and it was 164/90. When I left rehab it was 130/80.........much better. It seems to get worse when I am lying down. Also, lying down seems to bring on irregular heartbeats and sometimes afib. I was put back on amiodarone a couple of weeks ago. I am taking 50 mg Metoprolol 2x day, 12.5 mg HCTZ 1x day, and, as of last night, 5mg of amlodipine 1x day. Anyway, has anyone experienced high blood pressure after being 6-7 weeks out of surgery? Thanks.