Mitral

[Usav]

I am 63 yrs old Active physically male. 2yrs ago i had doppler and diagnosed 2 floppy leaflets w minimal mitral insufficiency. Since then i walk 8 km brisk walk everyday an hour with some incline as usual work out for me. I have Got no problem with that . My doc told me to Come back in a year but i could not for some reason, please advise is this ok to walk this much or hazardous for my situation . Ty

[PadThaiNoodles]

I had MVP with moderate regurgitation for about 5 years. No restrictions on activity. Then moderate/severe for 10 years, and finally severe for another 5 years. Never did get any symptoms, so my cardiologist just said to carry on as normal.

My heart finally showed LVH and I went for surgery for mitral valve repair.

[SuperFluff in reply to PadThaiNoodles]

Hi PadThaiNoodles! Can I ask, did your LVH resolve after surgery? Did it leave you with any electrical problems? I thought that it was best to have surgery before changes to the shape of the heart. I currently have three valves leaking (having had rheumatic fever as a child apparently) but not at severe stage yet. My major worry is not getting the surgery when I need it on the NHS, leading to more problems...

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to SuperFluff]

It's my understanding that my LVH will resolve itself within 6 months to a year; it's only when the LVH becomes much more severe that it's an issue.

My surgery was only 11 weeks ago, so I don't know for certain. (I'm also not quite clear on whether the bisoprolol I'm on is just until LVH resolves, or whether I'll stay on it for the duration.)

No electrical issues. I returned to normal sinus rhythm when they warmed me up (they inject cold water into the heart to stop it during the surgery).

FWIW, my cardiologist did refer me to the surgeon when I first reached severe regurgitation (before LVH). The surgeon strongly recommended waiting for LVH as long as I was asymptomatic. (Part of that in my case was that he wanted to wait to see where my aortic valve was going. I did get a mechanical aortic valve during the surgery as by that time it was pretty well shot -- so waiting potentially saved me a second surgery.)

[SuperFluff in reply to PadThaiNoodles]

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. Good to know that they expect your LVH to resolve itself in the short-term and that you have no electrical issues. Also, having one surgery rather than two sounds good to me! Finishing the beta-blockers would be a bonus too. I hope your recovery goes well. It really helps to hear from people further along the track.

[Bobkins99 in reply to PadThaiNoodles]

Same here. Mild for 25 years then rapid decline over about 4 years resulting in mitral repair at the Brompton 2 years ago.

[Usav in reply to Bobkins99]

Can you pls tell what was your first diagnose

[Bobkins99 in reply to Usav]

I had random blackouts starting in 1990. Many years of testing couldn't identify the cause but it did show I had a mild heart murmur (I was early 40s). Eventually I had a recordable loop fitted in 2018 and within 3 weeks it identified that I had a heart conduction issue that caused the heart to occasionally get out of synch and then stop until it reset. This of course caused me to fall over immediately 😳. I had a pacemaker fitted that fixed it, but while fitting it was noticed that my murmer had got worse. They were supposed to monitor it annually but due too COVID etc that got pushed out to 3 years and when it was checked again the mitral 'cords' had failed. I was aware during the time that any exercise would lead me very quickly to breathlessness although normal day to day stuff was fine. It was serious enough to be shipped to the Brompton where fortunately they were able to repair the valve rather than replace it. There's still some regurgitation but not enough to be an issue. I probably couldn't run a marathon though😉

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to Bobkins99]

My sister ruptured a chordae and was immediately very symptomatic (couldn't climb a flight of stairs). I had always assumed I was asymptomatic because my chordae were all intact, but when they did my mitral repair they found a ruptured chordae as well.

There seems to be a lot of variability.

I'm still gonna pull up a chair next to Bobkins99 and watch the marathon....

[Usav in reply to PadThaiNoodles]

May i aşk your age , thx

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to Usav]

60.

[Alison_L]

Hi usav. We all get a bit floppy as we get older (I'm also 63), but "minimal ... insufficiency" is good, so carry on with the exercise.

[Usav in reply to Alison_L]

Thks for comment , should i take low dose aspirin daily for this .🙂

[Alison_L in reply to Usav]

You need to speak to your GP about that and viagra

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to Usav]

I wasn't put on aspirin for the first 20 years.

I did suffer a minor retinal TIA a couple of weeks after surgery, though, and was put on aspirin at that point.

[Usav in reply to Alison_L]

Dear , i have had hypertension issues for almost 20 yrs. Could it be related to mitral leaflets floopy ? could also hypertension contributes to mitral insuffiency and making it worse by time? Thx

[Skiffrower]

I took part in world skiff rowing aged 65 and subsequently found that I had severe mitral valve regurgitation. V floppy valve. Right up until surgery I was rowing and doing walks of up to 7 miles. Got tired, but I also have fatigue from Long COVID . Advice given to me was keep doing the exercise.

[Usav in reply to Skiffrower]

Sir , is there any relation between postureproblems such as sciolisis and mitral valve

[Usav]

Dear skiffrower , happy you r doing well, but how did you feel while you were 7 miles walk . Any unpleasent feeling such pain , breathing etc. What leaded you to go check with your hearth at that time . What kind of health problems did you have ? With mitral valve floppy ..

[Skiffrower in reply to Usav]

It's complicated . In early 2020 I had COVID and after that my stamina got worse I was eventually diagnosed as having long COVID. I didn't have problems while walking other than breathless going up steep hills, but I have asthma and put it down to a deterioration in that . I found that I got v tired after doing such walks the next day I had to do nothing . I have had to pace myself so I don't have more than a couple of days of exertion at a time . Crazily in the 3 years of trying to find out why I was getting tired and diagnosing Long COVID no one listened to my heart . The heart problem was only identified when I had a pre op for a minor foot op.

I am hoping that the lack of stamina is in fact linked to the floppy valve and the operation will resolve some of the stamina issues.

[Usav in reply to Skiffrower]

Is there specific any other triggers such as cigarettes xmoking , and alcohol for mitral valve leak?

[Skiffrower in reply to Usav]

I'm told that it probably was a congenital tendency to leakiness which would eventually have shown up. It's a possibility that the COVID may have triggered it early ( my tiredness certainly dates from then) but it's one of those things that we will never know. Sometimes we just have to accept that our bodies will do something we don't like no matter how well we've looked after them .

I'm still working on that acceptance 😉

[Usav in reply to Skiffrower]

I had early cought w SARS covid also! Ty

[Usav in reply to Skiffrower]

I have had anxiety problems years and years altough i was a soccer player for 30 years...

[Hidden]

I've had the same experiences as others here. Severe MR but cardiologist says to keep going with exercise, maybe don't tackle any levels of exercise you weren't already used to. I was used to hill climbing and running, he said fine. I was always asymptomatic

[Usav in reply to Hidden]

Pls tell , what are the main symptoms if this get worse, aching perhaps pain ? On chest etc .likewise , thx regards

[Hidden]

Tbh I didn't notice any symptoms and I could still exert myself. But I had a brilliant murmur apparently. After a few years I did notice a bit of breathlessness eg climbing stairs, no pain or discomfort, and a bit of PAF, so I stopped heavy exercise and did brisk walking. The decision when to operate was determined by the measurements they took on my annual echo, LV dilation I think. But I went for years with mod-severe MVR without any deterioration despite being a mad cyclist

[Usav in reply to Hidden]

Thx for reply and comment. Meantime i can do brisk walking , incl.uphill walk etc. Daily 8km i walk in hour with no problem breathing or heart trouble for now..let me see when Will this kick me in the future.this mitral floppy thing 🤨

[Hidden in reply to Usav]

Yeah well good luck, I think you're doing the right thing. Likely it will mean some treatment at some time, but it's pretty routine. Usual procedure is to have regular echos in the meantime

[Usav in reply to Hidden]

İs it ok to take sildenafil w mitral floppy and minimal insufficency

[Hidden]

I don't know, you could have a look on the leaflet that comes with it. I was never told to avoid anything, but I'm not an expert

[Hidden]

By the way, minimal insufficiency is a good thing isn't it? If you have valve insufficiency it means that there is back flow (regurgitation) because the valve doesn't close properly, but if it is minimal then it suggests there isn't much of it.

[Usav in reply to Hidden]

Ithanks ..i usually btiskwalk 1,30 hour ,inçlSlopes uphill type 10 km total i complete daily as task forvyears.not much complain during walk . But sometimesi felt constant aches on left at hearth area and left shoulder arm pain. I take amplodipine at night as dirdcted. Pain goes away .some say it s becausevof anxiety.could this be an angina type or mitral .? I cant tell..But then i say how i keep walking for that long without problem. ..

[Usav in reply to Hidden]

When i fast walk km's , later i Come home .no aches nothing , but the next dayagain starts all problems ,left chest side arm pain , palpitations all day long . But sutprisingly no breathing problem ! ? İt s crazy