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DECOMPOSED ---I'm beginning to notice improvements in how my body is working... 

By: kathy_s16 in POPE 5 | Recommend this post (2)
Thu, 16 Jan 20 8:59 PM | 40 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Pope 5 		Msg. 49193 of 62138
(This msg. is a reply to 49179 by Decomposed)
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A lot of detail there, DE. One of my brothers had a very swollen ankle, which was caused by his heart condition. So, as you say, the symptoms can be bizarre so you have to keep on top it. You have done everyone here a huge favor.

Nothing wrong with being on a pill forever, DE. Seems that everyone is on something or other.

In summary, you are doing great!


If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

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The above is a reply to the following message:
I'm beginning to notice improvements in how my body is working...
By: Decomposed in POPE 5
Thu, 16 Jan 20 11:45 AM 		Msg. 49179 of 62138

I've been forced to sleep on my back ever since the operation and it hasn't gone well. I'm not a "back sleeper." In fact, sleeping on my back has exacerbated a problem I've had for several years with night-time dehydration and caused me to wake with migraines about every second day.

But my sternum must be mending because I was able to sleep on my left side last night. I still woke after 2 1/2 hours (it's 3:45 a.m. right now), but I woke because my ribcage was hurting and not because my eyes, tongue, lips, gums, roof-of-mouth, etc., were all drying up, as has become my norm. I also don't have to hit the john this time and it's the first time in years that that's been the case.

A month before my surgery, I was put on a drug called metoprolol to stabilize my heart and reduce the risk of erratic heartbeat (aka, "A-fib"). I noticed immediately that my hands stopped going numb when I slept. That began 3 years ago with fingertip numbness and was worsening, more recently sometimes extending well up my arms. Cardiologists assured me that what I was describing was due to my neck not my heart, but the change on the very day I started using metoprolol made it clear to me at least that they were wrong. After the surgery, they reduced my metoprolol because it was dropping my blood pressure too much and the hand problem still didn't come back. I don't know with certainty that the problem is gone since I'm still on a low dose, but I'm cautiously optimistic. (The cardiologists believe that when a person experiences A-fib once, he's inclined to get it again, sooner or later. A-fib is very bad news for people with synthetic heart valves. So I'll probably be on a low dose of metoprolol forever.)

Lastly, I'm sweating less, particularly at the armpits and groin. Like the numbness in my hands, this had become noticeable over the last few years, particularly since I was getting rashes when I never had before.

So, why am I mentioning all this intimate stuff? I'm doing it on the off-chance that any of you ever experience them. The symptoms seemed to me like bizarre, little things - I hadn't even told my doctors about the sweating - but were actually signs that my aortic valve was failing. If things are happening to you, tell your doctors. If they don't know what to make of them or make light of them, maybe it's time to change doctors.

I'm cautiously hopeful now that some of the other problems I've got may improve. Problems cascade, after all. The dehydration is the worst issue I'm aware of. If it improves, maybe I'll start sleeping again. Maybe the kidney stones will stop appearing. Maybe the migraines will stop (and they'd BETTER since they're driving me nuts of late.)

Fingers crossed.

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