Mike's Journal

Carmen P  I'm 5 weeks out and had a higher pulse two weeks ago. My Fitbit thought I was exercising most of the day. It lasted for several days, then my heart rate went down and my blood pressure trended higher. I had posted wanting to know if anyone had had the same experience, but no responses. Just happened to see your post. My blood pressure has started to level out today. Had an appointment with my cardiologist, my BP was 110/60. Hang in there, hopefully our hearts will level out at some time.

Mike Thompson  Funny, I just checked the calendar and I'm five weeks out today also (10/13/16)! I've got a Fitbit myself and I'm getting the same thing. It shows me in Fat Burn for 20 hours straight. It's a heck of a weight loss program since I'm literally exercising while I sleep, but I don't think it's a plan I can market to a broad audience :)

Were you up to that 100-110 range? My blood pressure has been rock solid the whole time so hopefully that doesn't change. Did you do anything special during that high period or did it just work itself out?

Carmen P  After several days, it did calm down somewhat. My heart rate was 90 to 119 for those days. I did try to stay calm and breath slowly and deeply. That episode happened about two weeks after surgery. Then about a week ago, my blood pressure started trending higher after I trimmed my toenails. (I know, go figure, but it did seem to really put pressure on my sternum) Such a simple thing. My BP went as high as 145/91 with 106 heart rate. Scary stuff after surgery and on Atenolol. A couple of days ago, I started walking twice a day, slowly and about two miles each time. My BP has started to trend lower. I was told by my cardiologist yesterday, I was taking my BP too often...... relax, I was doing great.
Good luck and it sounds like your doctor is on top of it.

Phyllis Petersen  I had surgery the same day as you, but it was robotic repair. Heart rate and blood pressure do vary a bit, but nothing that high or to a point I needed checking. I've just had to rest and put my legs up if possible. Feeling better=doing more=feeling not so good of I do too much. But how do I know what's too much without trying?

Catie B  Mike, I hope they can help bring your heart rate under control soon. Sorry to hear you're going through this.

Mike Thompson  Yeah, figuring out how much activity you can tolerate is a bit trial and error since everyone's recovery progresses at different rates. I'd say just trust what your body is telling you.

I went today and got an ACT monitor to see what shows up on that. So right now I'm tied to wires and a monitor around my neck for the next two weeks. I have to say I'm getting a bit tired of tubes, wires and needles :)

Something occurred to me this morning. I talked to my surgeon's nurse two days before my heart rate shot up. I mentioned then I was having trouble sleeping and she suggested Tylenol PM. So, I've been taking 2 Tylenol PM each night since last Friday, and the heart rate increased on Sunday. I found some articles that listed one of the potential side effects of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can be a pounding heart.

So I don't know how long it stays in your system, but considering I'm getting a fresh dose every night, maybe enough has been staying in my system to keep my pulse high. And maybe that explains why the extra metoprolol had zero effect since it's trying to lower the pulse at the same time another drug is raising it. Or, I could be completely full of it and there's no connection whatsoever :)

But needless to say I've stopped taking it immediately and I'm waiting to see what happens in the next couple of days.

Keeping my fingers crossed, it would be nice if it turned out to be something explainable like that instead of a "We're not sure why it's doing it"

Amy Steele  Mike - So sorry to hear about the ongoing numbness in your hand. Sounds like there's a pinched nerve somewhere... Even in your neck...

Ted Miko  Hi Mike. I feel your frustation! I am left handed and my thumb and first three fingers are cold and numb. I can't feel any temp or barley hold things. Been squeezing a "stress" toy , though not helping stress much (lol) it seems to slowly bringing back my feeling. I work in the cold outside. So having some feeling would be handy. Im thinking that asap I'll go to chiropractor and see if theres a nerve pinched. Hang in there bro! I figure they pretty well wrenched everything out wack and it'll take some effort on my part to get it back. You'll be back before you know it.

Barbara Laurie  Mike, the swelling and numbness could be related, or not. You could have a compressed nerve in your neck , or neuropathy from the OHS itself. Time will tell. Being left handed and having both my hands affected really does bug me at times!
Best Regards, glad you're doing well otherwise❤️

Diane Zeigler  Two fingers on my left hand were numb for about 2 months. Then one day someone asked me about the numbness and I realized it was gone!

Phyllis Petersen  I'm glad you mentioned this. I got very nervous last night when two of my fingers went numb. Knowing that others have that too makes it a bit less scary.

Mike Thompson  30 days out and some numbness is still there, but I can tell it is getting better. I have enough strength back to open medicine bottles and snap my fingers on that hand now, which I couldn't do a few weeks ago. So to those having issues, hang in there, it does get better.