A trip the ER, a night in the hospital, be careful with rapid weight loss

 So I went to my 10-day post-op appointment on Friday (doc going on vacation so he saw me 9days post op) and he sent me to the ER mid-appointment out of concern I might have a pulmonary embolism. This was because I'd gone from being able to walk 4 miles/day pre-op to not even making it up half a flight of stairs without my heart beating out of my chest and losing my breath.

Turns out I don't have a pulmonary embolism. :)

BUT, because I LOST 18lbs in 14 days (13lbs since surgery) my heart was having trouble adjusting to the sudden weight loss. As they monitored it and noticed it would spike to 120bpm out of no where, and go no lower than 95bpm, they said the sudden weightloss, combined with mild dehydration is what gave me the symptoms of a pulmonary embolism.

So now I'm taking a heart medication to slow down my heart rate and stabilize it....but I'm allowed to continue dropping weight :) just have to work even harder to drink drink drink more than 64oz...

Anyway. That's my excitement! :) Hope you all are well!!! Stay healthy!
Candace

Candace...I am sorry you had that scare. I am glad you are doing ok now. I didn't realize that dropping weight too fast would do that. Thanks for sharing with us.
 

Wow, what a scrare.  So glad that you are home and doing well.  Take care!
-Heather

Hmmm who knew losing weight could do some damage. Guess thats why they want you to lose it slow and normal. Glad you're doing well though. Sorry for the scare. Keep us updated. Best wishes

Word of wisdom from my husband - "They don't tell you about that kind of **** in the pamphlet." 

I'm glad you're ok. That must have been a huge scare. I'll be thinking of you.

Lisa

I'm so glad you don't have an embolism! My friend who had RNY had one, and was in the hospital forever recovering. Take it easy and get those fluids in!
Nancy

Thanks Everyone! I assumed fatigue was normal post-op, but that level of it is not (I learned). It is the same reason crash diets can hurt your heart and those who lose weight too fast can go in to cardiac arrest.

What bugs me is I has asked specifically about this with my nutritionist several months ago and she said that heart troubles don't happen unless you've been eating under 800calories for more than a year...turns out not to be the case.

So if your cardio ability suddenly drops, your heart starts pounding when it normally didn't, go to the doc.

Candace,

Sorry to hear about this, but that God you spoke to your Doctor and he caught this.

This goes to show not only how important it is to do your follow-ups, but also discuss any discomfort your feeling.

Good luck, and know I will be praying for you.

Did they tell you this was a potassium issue?  I know that if you lose weight quickly it can mess with your potassium levels which can cause heart issues.

I'm glad you are on the mend - be careful!!

 It wasn't a potassium issue; those levels (and all the electrolytes) were fine...so they think it was just rapid weight loss (which is ironic since all weightloss has since stopped) and some dehydration stressing the heart...

But thanks for the reply; I'll tuck that away in my brain for future reference for sure! I'm seeing the cardiologist again in a week so I'm hoping to come off the beta-blocker and get more answers at that time...and hopefully see some weight loss! :)
Candace