Consistent Chest Moderate to Sever Pain and Shortness of Breath 2 years after surgery’s

rest, recover, pace

by Gemita - 2020-07-27 04:07:28

Hello Drifter,

Welcome to the forum.  Just a few thoughts.  You say “every time I do too much walking, riding my bicycle or bending over I end up with extreme chest pain and shortness of breath".  I am wondering whether you need to learn to pace yourself better and not to do too much on one day to cause a flare up of your symptoms the next day?  I have learned to accept that “pacing myself” may be the only way that I can live without severe pain.  Maybe you could work with your doctors to try to achieve this ?  

I am wondering whether your arrhythmia Atrial Fibrillation may still be present and might be contributing to these symptoms (yes sorry just read your Bio and can see that ablation failed) since exercise and pushing too much as you describe can trigger my Atrial Fibrillation and worsen my symptoms especially when I am in a bending position.  Have you recently had any short or longer term monitoring so that you and your doctors can see what is going on during exercise ?  During periods of rest do you ever experience “severe” chest pain and shortness of breath?

You say your pain and shortness of breath have been occurring since your ablation so that might indicate that the procedure itself may have caused injury to the area that has not resolved and may be difficult to detect.  I am assuming you have had many investigations for any continuing problems like inflammation, fluid in your lungs, chronic infection, ischaemic heart disease, blood clots.

You have a lot going on and all of your medical conditions may be contributing to your difficulties.  I hope your diabetes is well controlled to keep you safe.  Poor control can lead to many unexpected complications.

Have they suggested a further ablation or other treatment to control your AF?  Maybe ask for a review of all your meds. I did and found stopping my anti arrhythmic meds (which proved to be "pro arrhythmic") and lowering my dose of my beta blocker following pacemaker implant, to be immensely helpful.  It is all about finding what works best for you.  In the meantime, listen to your body and please do not try to push through your chest pain and shortness of breath if your Atrial Fibrillation is troublesome since it will only make your symptoms worse.  Rest, recover, pace yourself if you can.

I send my best wishes and hope that your doctors will find a way of helping you.

Thanks for the thoughts.

by Drifter - 2020-07-27 16:20:29

Thanks for the replay and words of wisdom. Paceing myself is a large issue for me. I am still in the hospital with a Monitor on. I had a major AF event that lasted most of the night and they were able to document the event and get a hands on review. So I am not going home today. They have me on sotalol 80mg twice a day to control heart rhythm. The hospital doctors are getting with the pain clinic to review medications. When I get out I think we are going to get into the motor home and get away from the farm for a month and that will force me to pace myself. Thanks for the thoughts. I am at my wits end.