Solitary chicken - need advice

[Valkyrie]

Beta blockers. Seems that number one son has been prescribed them. Oxeprenalol.

He does have a heart murmur and I wondered if that would be a bad idea. He only has one box (sneaked a peek), now he's 19 it's ignore parents and patient confidentiality - fair enough, but it would have been nice to know from our side.

[quickcluck]

they wont be a problem with his HM... do you know why he is taking them?

[Valkyrie]

Yes, he cut himself badly last weekend - had to have an op to mend muscle and tendon. All big drama and stress! And I'm being very nosey and wanted to see what was in a huge packet of "antibiotics". Well he has those and painkillers and a box of these things. I guess that would be the result of him being assessed.

[Chucky Mama]

OH was prescribed them when he was a student and got hugely stressed to the point of getting palpatations(sp?). He took them for a short time before stopping as he said that he felt 'out of it' on them.

[Valkyrie]

That's why I thought heart murmur plus that perhaps not good. I did hear him say that he felt everything was in slow motion - don't know if he's taken any more. He seems quite cheerful at the moment though - we are still on edge!

[docsquid]

Beta blockers are used for a variety of conditions, principally cardiovascular (such as disorders of heart rhythm or rate, high blood pressure, or disorders of heart function such as after a heart attack or heart failure), and psychological (extreme anxiety or stress).

 

I would guess that when he had his anaesthetic, the anaesthetist prescribed a beta blocker either to prevent a disorder of heart rhythm during surgery and the period of recovery, or because s/he detected a potential problem while doing an ECG. Knowing that he had a heart murmur, your son should have had an ECG as part of the assessment, and if he didn't tell the anaesthetist about the murmur, s/he would still have detected it upon listening to his heart (which may have been done after your son was sedated). It is most likely to have been to prevent a problem, rather than because a problem was actually detected in the operation or during assessment. A beta blocker given in this situation would aim to reduce the risk of the heart suddenly tripping into a fast rhythm called tachycardia.

 

You'll have to ask your son whether the medication was intended to be for a defined period (peri-operative only) or until re-assessment at a future date - he should have been told this but might not want to tell you, I guess because he is sensitive about it

 

Beta blockers are generally pretty OK from the side-effect viewpoint, but can make you feel a bit slow and lead to muscle fatigue, and a youngster would probably notice this more.

[Valkyrie]

Thank you for that - I am quite relieved now. He was under general anaesthetic - he had ECG years ago so assume it is still in his hospital records, but things change, so I understand a double check would be in order too. The packet is not as big as the antibiotics, so probably a one off. As you say, he isn't very chatty about what went on - not that he's chatty about personal things anyway. He eventually talks to me, but I think that may be months down the line. He never talked about the same situation last time (only steri-strips needed then), so he will be unlikely to let me in for this time. He has an appointment for the removal of the stitches, whether anything else will happen at that time I don't know. He's hardly been here - out with friends, so hopefully he will be bending their ears instead. Unfortunately he didn't do it before all this happened - he only partly mentioned something to me, but wouldn't continue the conversation. Girlfriends!