Breathing Problems after Cardiac Bypass Surgery

[Irishking23]

How common are breathing problems after cardiac bypass surgery?   I am almost 3 weeks post a triple cardiac bypass and my breathing problems still persist.  It seems that I also forget to breathe and get that drowning feeling.  This is very disturbing and prevents me from sleeping.

I asked my visiting nurse about this and he said that breathing problems post cardiac bypass surgery are not common.

[sree6432]

i had by pass recently i was re admitted 4 times last two times is having severe respiratory problem what is this problem what doe this indicates

[Irishking23]

I returned to the heart surgeon's office today and he decided to remove Pacerone 200 mg for cardiac arrhythmia and replace it with MULTAQ 400 mg twice daily.  He suspects Pacerone was behind the breathing problems I was experiencing. The warning on Pacerone 200 mg says SEVERE AND SOMETIMES FATAL LUNG OR BREATHING PROBLEMS have been reported with this medicine.
He said that yesterday's Echocardiogram showed my heart's Ejection Fraction to be 50 to 55% or normal.   Everything else is looking great.

My Ejection  Fraction before X3 bypass surgery was 35% (at Indiana Heart Hospital they said it was only 27%).   I really received a miracle to have my ejection fraction almost double and return to normal.

[kenkeith]

Keep us informed.  Thanks

[Irishking23]

I am going to have an electrocardiogram tomorrow morning and we'll know what my Ejection Fraction  is.

Ed34
Thank you for your input on breathing problems post bypass surgery.   My body  does not want to breath automatically and I have been struggling ever since surgery on November 11.   My nighttime sleep is minimal to non-existent due to the breathing problems.

[ed34]

Maybe I'm not interpreting you correctly, and I apologise if not. Including myself there were several bypass patients at rehab who had real issues with breathing. I think it stems from the initial discomfort after surgery, where anything more than a shallow breath hurts. You tend to take over your breathing, overriding the auto system because you only want fast shallow breaths. When you start to fall asleep, breathing is passed in everyone to another part of the brain and letting go of manual control can be an anxious moment. It's like you lose trust of your brain. After about three months it all returned to normal because the discomfort was low enough and my chest could fully inflate with no problem. When this time arrives, the same thing happens. You have to let the body breathe automatically but it's as though you have lost trust in that ability and believe you have to keep reminding your brain to take a breath. However, in a short period of time that trust returns and your body happily takes control without any thought from yourself.
Like I said, maybe this isn't the kind of thing you meant, if not, I apologise.

[kenkeith]

You should contact your doctor for information about your symptoms post bypass surgery.  It is not a common condition prior to CABG and not expected, but if you had an enlarged left ventricle and low ejection fraction (amount of blood pumped with each heartbeat) was not normal that may be expected.

If the ejection fraction is low, then the blood may back up into the lungs causing your symptoms.  I had heart failure 7 years ago, and those were the symtoms I had, and also a dry cough..

Thanks for the question, and if you have any further questions or comments you are welcome to reply.  Take care, and I wish you well going forward.