Day 2 Post-op Painful Breathing

I am still having immense pain when I breathe. Is this normal? I can't even take a full breath. When I came out of recovery yesterday I was in so much pain with each breath they gave me verced (basically knocked out again) and took x-rays and an ekg or echo but said everything seemed ok, then late last night the pain was so bad I went to the ER and spent 5 hours there where they took another x-ray and drew some blood. They gave me a shot for pain and sent me home with a muscle relaxer. I woke up with a fever, head-ache and nausea but after sleeping most of the day my fever dropped but this evening the pain seems worse again every time I breathe. It's been frustrating because last night when I called the Dr it rang once and then just beeped that is why I went to the ER. Then today when I called the Dr. they said he wasn't in today because he was in surgery all day and I was directed to contact the ER??? That sure doesn't seem like very good patient care to me.

7 Comments

sleep

by stormynw - 2014-05-10 09:05:38

Well, I iced it for quite a while last night and then slept for about 12 hours and so far so good. However if the painful breathing gets that bad again or if my fever gets that high I'm just going to head straight down to the ER. Thank you all for your input.
Dami
p.s. I do live alone but I would not
even think about driving myself.

Well

by Grateful Heart - 2014-05-10 10:05:19

If your Doctor is in surgery all day and they told you to go to the ER.....I'm not sure what else they could have advised you. It may not sound reasonable to you right now....being in pain and all.... but it really is the best advice they could give.

Follow what Dizzy suggested but if your temp rises again.....get back to the ER.

Did they do an EKG or Echo? An Echo would reveal if there is any fluid building up around the heart. Not common but it can happen. I didn't feel it until 18 days after my implant but we are all different. All of a sudden it hurt to breathe and trying to take a deep breath was very painful. I'm not saying this is your condition but make sure they did an Echo.

I don't want to put this thought in your head right now but wouldn't want to ignore it either. It was missed originally in my case. I don't go to that Doctor anymore.

Grateful Heart

It is NOT normal !

by IAN MC - 2014-05-10 12:05:47

You should not be having any pain when you breathe . This is definitely not normal and could have many causes ranging from pleurisy to blood clots. It could be something simple involving the chest muscles, whatever it is, you need medical attention.

If I were you I would get back to ER a.s.a.p. ; you need to have more tests and an accurate diagnosis !

Ian

ER Again :( Painful breathing - Again!

by stormynw - 2014-05-19 05:05:58

Another night in the ER and I am NOT amused! So week 1 check up showed my ventricle lead was Not communicating with my heart although it was firing. SO the next day they went in to reposition the lead but first the Dr noticed that my shoulder was moving indicating I was feeling it (Thank goodness I don't remember it) then when he went o reposition the lead my heart acted up and so he waited a few minutes and then it did the same thing so he removed the lead and waited for 15-20 minutes to let my heart settle down then he repositoned it. He kept me overnight for observation in CCU/Telemetry and when I got out yesterday all was good but I woke up in the middle of the night and the extremely painful breathing was back and woke me up over and over. I tried to sleep it off and finally around 1:30 pm got up but the pain would not go away so I headed back down to the ER. They did a D-Dimer test and just to make sure there wasn't a blood clot in my lungs they did a CTA w/contrast. But after sitting in the ER for over 4 hours the Dr walks in and says there aren't any blood clots I can go home. When I asked about the pain the ER Doc said well you have pain medication... REALLY? I took it before I went in and they gave me a dose while I was there (because of the pacemaker work on Thursday) and it doesn't touch it. Besides I'm not looking to take more pain meds I am SOOOOO Frustrated! It really hurts to breathe. Well I'm off to bed and hoping tonights better than last night although I don't expect it to be because the pain is worse when I bend over or I'm lying down.

Pain When Breathing

by rogerhast1 - 2014-06-04 11:06:01

I would get checked for paracarditis. I can't believe they apparently haven't diagnosed you with that. Classic symptoms are that it hurts to breath and is worse when you lay down. They normally prescribe ibuprofen and colchicine. If prescribed, DON'T stop taking it just because you're feeling better. You have to run through the course, which is about 6 months on the colchicine and a month on the ibuprofen. You'll get immediate relief.

I have paracarditis from my implant. Some people get it, some don't. It's not supposed to be chronic and you will get better but take the medication. As time goes on, some people will get it again, some won't. They say chances of getting it again are reduced with the medication.

I've had it twice now. Second time they gave me morphine and it didn't do a thing for the pain. I'm now on month 3 of the colchicine and it helps big time. Don't mess around with paracarditis if diagnosed with it. Read up on Cleveland Clinic site.

Nailed it.

by stormynw - 2014-06-05 01:06:27

Sooooo before I even read the last post here's what happened... after the last ER visit I decided to go over to Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle about a 2 1/2 hor drive plus a 35 minute ferry each way. My cousin took me over and that morning before I left I posted on my facebook ... "My guess is pericarditis". Long story short I nailed it. That is what they diagnosed, and I'm taking 800mg of Ibuprofin 3 times a day and the pain is better. I wasn't being real careful about taking it and I felt some pain so now I'm trying not to miss a dose although I do have a hard time getting that 3rd dose in every day. :/ My biggest concern at this time is the shortness of breath. I still have it and sometimes it actually seems worse. They've thoroughly checked my heart out and the pacemaker is pacing away and my heart is good so... No idea. When they did the CT the other night in the ER they didn't find any blood clot but they did see a couple small spots on my lungs.
Now in 2008 I had ischemic colitis and at that time they didn't know what was going on at all so I had a complete CT. Well I always get copies of any tests, scans etc and when I was reading the report from that hospital stay (5 days) I read the CT report and it mentioned a small spot in my right lobe that needed to be followed up on by my doctor. Really? No one had even mentioned it. I realize they were concerned and dealing with the I.C. but??? Anyway they've been watching it and it hadn't really changed. However now it does show it has grown a little, from 2mm to 7 mm but that has been over 4 or 5 years. Also now there is a spot in my left lung so I made an appt for the 18th with my PCP to follow up on it. Makes me nervous. I've never even smoked a cigarette but both of my parents smoked and my mom was like 3-4 packs a day. :( And we lived close to a Rayonier Pulp mill which closed back in 1996-97. But there were times as a kid we would run inside because the air was so bad we literally could not breathe. They used a process with sulpher and were always releasing gases which is part of the reason they finally closed because they were constantly being fined by the EPA. Oh well sorry to go on and on. Thanks to all of you for your input :)
Dami

Paracarditis

by rogerhast1 - 2014-06-08 01:06:40

Hey there, stormynw,

It's good that they found out about the paracarditis. The colchicine is critical as well. Get ahold of your doctor that told you it's paracarditis and ask about the colchicine. Colchicine is a longer term medicine but helps with providing a means for the heart muscle to have a lubricant agaist the paracardium. Cleveland Clinic notes that patients take it for 5 or 6 months. The ibuprofin is for inflammation but it normally taken only about a month. And your're right, don't miss your dose, you'll notice it more at first, and don't miss later doses after you feel better. Get rid of the problem. Good luck to you.

Roger

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Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

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