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Surgeon reveals 4 ‘strange’ side effects people sometimes get after having heart surgery
All surgeries come with side effects, usually things like pain, nausea, and a sore throat, but there are some weird ones too – especially with heart surgery.
Cardiovascular surgeon Dr Jeremy London has revealed four weird symptoms you probably had no idea could occur after having surgery on your heart, and doctors can’t even totally explain why they happen!
4 ‘strange’ heart surgery side effects
There are all kinds of heart surgeries which can be planned in advance when people have heart disease or performed as part of emergency treatment, but some of the most common ones are bypass surgery and heart valve surgery.
As explained by the NHS, hallucinations, constipation, sleep issues, shortness of breath and swollen ankles are all common after heart surgery, but these are some of the rarer side effects that you’d never expect.
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1. Altered taste
The first weird thing that sometimes happens is your taste changes. The heart surgeon said patients often come in and say things that used to taste really good suddenly taste terrible, and they have a metallic or “offensive” taste in their mouth. This typically goes away after four to six weeks but can be strange after leaving surgery.
2. Feeling cold
Heart surgery can also change the temperature you feel. Those who were hot all the time before are now always cold, and it can rarely occur the other way around too. Nobody knows why it happens and this symptom can persist for a long time after surgery. So, people often find themselves buying more blankets and jumpers.
3. Visual changes
Patients can also get changes to their eyes after having surgery on their heart, particularly blurred vision that comes on all of a sudden. This can sometimes be a result of blood pressure medications or painkillers, but even people who aren’t taking either of those sometimes have vision issues for four to six weeks after surgery.
4. Strange heartbeat
Finally, some report feeling like their heart is beating out of their chest, which can be very concerning. Usually, there is nothing wrong at all and people are just hyper-aware of their heart because they know they have had a major surgery on the organ. It typically goes away after several weeks when the surgery anxiety fades away.
Dr Jeremy London is a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with his own practice in Savannah, Georgia, who received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia.
