I have just found out I have mitral valve prolapse and regurgitation. It also looks like I have some "thickening" - although i am yet to find out what is thickened (the valve or wall?!)
I also have a hole in the heart, but i havent been told which hole yet.
I am waiting for an apt with a consultant for next steps, more details etc.
My question is are the hole and the valve linked? Does one cause/exasperate the other? Or are they both seperate conditions and ive just been unlucky?
From what ive read these conditions dont seem too serious but I still have a big ball of anxiety in my tummy and hope my apt comes soon!!
Thanks in advance
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Meh22
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Meh22. You will find alot of help and advice on this forum. With many people who have some experience. All i can say is anxiety will be a natural response to what you have found out. I for one am still on the journey. And the anxiety is my biggest issue to try and control. If you have had anxiety through out your life then this can be hard to control. But it can be controlled with some help with talking and possibly medication. But the ultimate control of all this has to come from within. But it is not easy, takes will power and you have to be hard on yourself. They did find that my mitral valve was slightly prolapsed but there was no regurgitation. So that i have to take as a positive. My issue is with the tricuspid valve. But i could have an asd but not a hole but a leaky one. If you understand what i mean. Unfortunatly both my issues i was born with . So this is when to some degree the anxiety has to be controlled. I have plodded along in life not knowing, now i know. Thats when my gremlins in my head take over.
Thank you. I am anxious about all the unknown with my condition and shocked about the news. But I'm sure once I speak to the consultant I will feel better.
Consultants can be quite grand so I suggest you write down all your questions in advance. Has it been suggested you take BP readings at home several times a week -morning and afternoon/evening so you can present those at the time?
It may be that a BP reading will be part of the consultation but due to the anxiety on the day are unlikely to be representative
While I am not qualified to comment on your case, a neighbour who had a life in heavy engineering died in his late seventies, and was found to have had two holes in the heart, so it is not necessarily a very bad thing!
I have read that the hole shouldn't be too much of a worry. But I had a mini stroke, which is how it was picked up, so may need surgery. Will wait and see. Very much praying I don't!
That's true, my hole in the heart (didn't close after birth) was found in 2017 at age 77, during a routine echo. I was told about 25% of the population have a PFO and most are only found during an autopsy.
my son's mitral valve problem was discovered about 4 years ago. The symptoms were initially controlled by medication but eventually he was referred to the surgeon. He had his surgery in May this year to repair the valve & also a hole in the heart which we knew nothing about. He's 28.
I have a hole in my heart from birth, but my mitral regurgitation was caused by my first takotsubo in 2012. It is a PFO and my cardiologist won't repair it unless I want to go scuba diving. I don't think so at my age. I've even given up snorkelling. 😁
Stress. My first two were from severe emotional stress - getting my daughter out of a domestic violence situation. The other two were from physical stress - falls where I fell on my face on pebble concrete. (Needless to say I am now paranoid about falling.) Other names for takotsubo cardiomyopathy are Stress cardiomyopathy and Broken Heart Syndrome (although this last name makes light of it - it can be fatal, and is not always a short-lived illness as some literature would have you believe.
Chest pains and shortness of breath came on a couple of hours after the cause. The pain wasn't too bad but continuous - enough to make me call an ambulance. Everyone's different and some people have developed it after happy occasions, Apparently the body releases a sudden burst of adrenaline and stress hormones which causes the heart to pump inefficiently.
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