Richard's Posts

Richard - I'm sorry you're feeling this way. It can be discouraging, but a change in medication can absolutely cause you to feel differently- good or bad. Definitely talk to your doctor. There are many choices in medication that may be better tolerated for you! Hang in there - age is just a number.

I always notice a mood change with prescription changes even if they are temporary. I temporarily went completely off beta blockers once and my anxiety shot through the roof for a week with daily panic attacks. It is always worth asking your doctors, “could this be a side effect of something?” whether a medication change is recent or not. How they affect you can change over time. This year, I had my arthritis methotrexate Rx cut by 40% because I couldn’t deal with the side effects. I can deal with the breath through pain a lot easier.

Mood (or attitude) seems to be on a roller coaster with medication changes. I basically went 74 years without pills. Now, 4 at breakfast and 4 more at dinner. Dr scrapped the Defibrillator vest this week and that alone improved my attitude. However, it is good to be able to vent with others, especially others who’ve been through it all and understand.

What "normal" means depends on the person. But the fact that you felt pretty good after 4 months sounds about right. The dizzy spells could depend on medicine, temperature, etc. Mention it to your cardiologist. You should actually feel better than before. But you might also be more aware of symptoms than before. For me, I pretty much didn't feel the incision except for being pretty itchy. For the sternum, listen for cracking sounds. I still feel some discomfort every so often but I think it is caused by the wires holding the sternum together.

I feel as well some discomfort at the sternum, and regarding the occasional dizzy spell that Richard refers I also felt for some months after my surgery, but in my case was due to an excess of one medication (perhaps bisoprolol? ), I don't remember well which one. The cardiologist reduced the dose and the problem was solved.

I had a full sternotomy. The connective tissue between my ribs was sore for a long time. It wasn't until I was a month or so into rehab before it went away. I had various levels of dizziness when I stood up for a really long time, more than 6 months. At 9 months, it rarely happens now.

I can definitely relate. I'm about 4.5 months post-surgery (mitral valve repair), and it still feels like two steps forward and one step back. Dizziness with exertion has been one of my biggest complaints. Unfortunately, it's a difficult symptom to pin down. Sometimes I can exercise and feel great, and other times I have to stop because the light-headedness is too severe to continue. My clinicians don't seem overly concerned, and I try to keep a record of my progress. As long as my overall trajectory is positive, I can stay optimistic. I still have occasional pain from my sternotomy as well, but at this point it only occurs with activity. It sounds like you're headed in the right direction overall. I had high hopes for a quick recovery, so I know how frustrating it can be when things don't go quite as planned. Keep putting one foot in front of the other (literally and figuratively) and I'm sure you'll keep improving.