My doctor wants me to have an ecg because she found a heart murmur. Feeling a bit worried
Heart murmur: My doctor wants me to... - British Heart Fou...
Heart murmur
![Xc51mn74 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/fb027f22666a40bcb1a1663448a71f01_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
![Xc51mn74 profile image](https://images.hu-production.be/avatars/fb027f22666a40bcb1a1663448a71f01_small@2x_100x100.jpg)
Hello Xc51mn74
Welcome to the forum, I know not somewhere you ever thought you would be joining. OK your GP as found a murmur, sounds scary I know, but look at it this way something as been picked up and is going to get looked at. There are many of us have had the same thing, and we are still here Cardioligest are very good at fixing heart problems😂 The ECG will give your GP an idea if you need further treatment, or not.
You are now a member of the Hearties family, and we are here to lend an ear or give you a shoulder to lean on if that’s what you need.
Take good care
Best wishes Pauline
I understand how stressful it can be to learn there's an issue with your heart. But it's honestly way too early to be alarmed.
All a "heart murmur" is a slightly unusual sound from the blood flow through your heart, a momentary swishing noise for example. Many people have a murmur and the vast, vast majority are completely harmless. Your GP's recommendation of an ECG is purely precautionary, please try to just park this until the ECG results come back, which in all probability will be a clean bill of health.
All the best!
I was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 16 and was told then that a high percentage of people have them but never know. I was monitored with an ecg every year and it stayed the same for ages but gradually started deteriorating when I was in my 30s. Eventually I had to have my aortic valve replaced when I was 52. A good way to look at it is that it's good that they've found it as they can now monitor it so that you don't end up being an emergency case. I know it's easy to say, but try not to worry about it. My cardiologist told me to go away and get on with my life and he didn't expect to have to do any intervention until I was well into my 40s if then and would have to monitor me if I got pregnant (I didn't!). Apart from the yearly check up I never really thought about it.
Also you won't get the result of your ecg straight away. When I first started having them they were electrocardiogram, so the cardiologist looked at it straight away and gave me the result, but nowadays they do echocardiograms, which give more detail but means you don't get told immediate results.
Keep us posted. Wendy x
Hi,l can understand your concern.It’s always worrying to be told that an abnormality has been found but heart murmurs are not in them selves a diagnosis.Hence the GP referring you for further tests.A heart murmur can be totally benign,just “noisy pipe work “indeed it’s quite a common finding during pregnancy when there is extra blood being pumped around the system but it can of course indicate an underlying problem.The good thing is that it’s been picked up and invest down hopefully you won’t have to wait too long for an answer.Fingers crossed for you that it’s a benign murmur.
Years ago people didn't know they had heart murmurs but so many more things are tested and diagnosed these days. Just as well you know and good on your GP for asking for further tests, though a bit disconcerting if it came out of the blue, but as somebody else poined out cardiologists do amazing things now if you should need it, probably not. And good gthat you've found this forum. never scary and always helpful in my experience.
I was found to have a heart murmur when I moved to London in 1986 and had to find a new doctor. I had all the tests, but all was fine. It showed up a couple of times when I had unrelated problems, but never caused any concerns. I had no heart problems until 3 years ago when I was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and I had to have an ICD implanted a few weeks ago following several episodes of tachycardia which landed me in A&E. I know it's a shock to be told this news, but chances are it's nothing to worry about, and all they will do is keep an eye on you, which is a good thing. Good luck.
Hi. They found I had a heart murmur when I was in my early 20’s and it was only picked up by my GP when I had chest infections after that. I was fine until I was in my late 50’s when I had what I thought was a cold that wouldn’t go away. 18 months later my valve was repaired and my heart is working fine now. It is scary when you first learn about it but the medics know so much now. Take care and hope you get to know more soon.