New member / Sorry in advance - long 1st post!

• by USMC-Pacer
• 2012-10-01 10:10:37
• General Posting
• 1137 views
• 4 comments

I sure am glad I found this site! What a relief it is to not be alone out here in pacer land!
My history in a nutshell: 5 years ago at age 42 I had surgery to correct a congenital bicuspid aortic valve, along with the ascending aorta, and whatever else they replaced I can’t remember without looking for my operative report. Since the time of surgery, I have felt great in a lot of ways.. a lot of the symptoms of the past have been eliminated. Over time I realized that I should feel better.. My surgeon, or cardiologist put me on beta-blockers (Metoprolol Tartrate) and I have been on them since my surgery. I am an athlete; walking, jogging, swimming, and cycling; all are a challenge with the Metoprolol. I have been complaining to my cardiologist for years about how the medication makes my feel. He would nod his head at me and move on.. Finally, my GP got tired of listening to my whining about it and agreed to lower the dose in half (from 25mg twice daily to 12.5 mg twice daily)….. within days the problems started! With the Metoprolol, while jogging I had heavy legs, a sluggish feeling, inability to get a deep breath, exhaustion, etc… At least I blamed Metoprolol for these side effects. Maybe I was wrong..
Quickly (3 days or so) after my Metoprolol dose was lowered, I went for my usual jog. I instantly noticed that I felt better, no more heavy legs or sluggishness, breathing deeply like prior to the surgery. But not for long. After ½ a mile and suddenly within a few seconds time, I was breathless with some sort of crazy erratic heartbeat and a weakness I have never experienced. Upon stopping, it went away as fast as it started. Probably should have called 911, but I didn’t.
Off to the cardiologist! First was a 48 hour holter monitor. He said it showed an exercise induced paroxysmal fast heart rate, and referred me to me an EP. My EP said it looked like a possible AFIB with missed AV conductions and recommended an ablation, but first he wanted a stress test. The stress test was stopped at about the 8 minute mark due to the crazy erratic heart rate I felt above.
The diagnosis was a “high grade AV block.” Pacemaker recommended. That was about a week ago. Today, my wife and I met with the EP at her request. He went over all the tests.. He said that at rest, my problem is non-existent. During exercise it progresses from 2/1 to 3/1 but it is intermittent. He says it is mostly likely a result of scarring from my AVR.
This week I will be making an appointment for the pacer implantation.
Any words of encouragement are appreciated. I am looking forward to getting back to being myself as far as my exercise regime, and hopefully feeling better, lots better. I am hoping that I was wrong about the Metoprolol, and my problem was the AV block.
Welcome me aboard, I think I will be here for a while if you all will have me