Trouble breathing...lungs or post-bypass symptoms? Posted: 08-04-06 08:54am
I am a 57 year old male.In august last
year I quite unexpectedly had severe chest
pains, which after a angiogram was told it
was severe angina. I had one artery
totally blocked, one 90% blocked & one 70%
blocked. It resulted in me having a triple
bypass. Before this I was very active &
was a keen runner. I had smoked up until I
was 30 & in later years I smoked 40 a day.
I have not smoked for 27 years.
I attended basic rehabilitation classes at
the hospital & then went onto a further
rehab course at my local gym, with an
instructor especially qualified in taking
patients with heart related problems. I
finished the 10 week course & still go to
the gym. I have within the last 3 months
started running again, under supervision
from my instructor. I have gradually
progressed to being out for 50 minutes. I
walk for a total of 35 minutes & jogged on
& off for 15 minutes. Now I am having
problems in being able to run for more
than 2/3 minutes without getting very
breathless. I stop & walk for a couple of
minutes & then resume my running.
My question is....Now as my arteries are
working 100% & the blood etc is flowing as
it should. Am I having problems with my
lungs (due to having smoked for all those
years) but is only just coming to light
since my bypass?
ATTENTION! You can’t expect to run so
soon after surgery! Previously, you
exhibited 3 of the 4 major risk factors
for developing angina pectoris: smoking,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and
high blood sugar. At the moment, you
can’t be sure that your new heart
arteries are working 100%. By-passes can
also occlude in time. Nonetheless, a
possible lung disorder can be excluded by
performing peak-flow-methry, spirometry
and lung X-ray image.
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