Newly Diagnosed Heart Murmur

[21yearsold]

I have been newly diagnosed with a systolic heart murmur. I have an ECHO Appointment next week and I am wondering what they do in this appointment and if I would know straight away.

I have been having chest pains for the past week, which I have been to my GP about - all they have said Indicated is I’m stressed about uni or worried about my heart murmur which Is not the case.

During my nursing placement my assessor had sent me to A and E, and all they said was to wait for my ECHO appointment next week.

I am so frustrated and upset as I feel no one can help me at all and everyone is either playing the Mental health card or I am just asking for stronger painkillers.

This chest pain is getting to me so much I can’t do anything throughout the day and even during my sleep as it makes me very tired I can still feel my chest, heart and body playing up.

What can I do 😞

[Kristin1812 Heart Star]

I’m afraid the technician doesn’t tell me anything much about my echo till I see the consultant, later. I am sure they are waiting fir the results of the echo when things should be till clearer. Be patient!

Easy to say, I know.

[Jocastina]

Hi, an echo is a painless ultrasound scan of your heart where they can look at the structure of the heart and valves and check for any leaks or stenosis so they will take a lot of measurements on screen and measure flow rates and sometimes play sounds out loud (sounds all a bit gurgly). It takes about 45 mins. They won’t tell you anything on the day but you should insist on a follow up appointment with a cardiologist who can explain the results to you because not many GPs are skilled at interpreting echos. I’ve had an echo every year since I was about 15 and I’ve only just had surgery age 51. Some people may never need any intervention. Good luck.

[road2ruin]

Hi,

If there is anything major at the echo, the technician will likely seek advice and someone will speak to you before you are allowed to go home, or worst case scenario, you will be kept in for further checks. When I had mine before I had an AVR, they had a chat to me and told me to stop strenuous exercise.

Try not to worry too much about it, you are one step closer to sorting things out.

Pete

[Paperlover]

As others have said, the echo is nothing to worry about, but they will not tell you the results on the day . Bear in mind that most people with a heart murmur are born with it, and never know they have it, and even if they know, it often requires no treatment. I had a heart murmur but didn’t know about it until I was in my 40s, and was only monitored after I got into my 50s because a doctor thought it was particularly noisy when she was checking me over for some other reason. It turned out I had a mitral valve prolapse, which has been repaired now, but even though the prolapse was severe and I had quite a bit of regurgitation, I never had any symptoms. It is quite conceivable that your pain is unrelated, but they are just making sure there is nothing wrong with your heart so they can rule it out.