Symtoms of Advancing Heart Issues

[5863]

I have had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy for close to 18 years.  In the last six months I've gotten slurred speech, slow speech, shortness of breath, low voice quality, all of which makes it sound like I'm drunk.  I've lost 25 pounds in 9 months and have had an MRI, CSCAN, EEG, of the head, chest xray, cscan with contrast of the chest, and tested for Myatenia Gravis along with an assortment of blood tests.  Everything has come back normal.  I'm starting on a 3 round of Drs. and more tests this week.  Are any of these symtoms connected to my heart condition?  

5863

[grendslori]

Ed...THANK YOU for the LAUGH OF THE DAY!!! If you lived here, we could show you how to strip! How much patience do you have???? Lols!

[ed34]

Yes, we bought him when my son was young so they grew up together. He named him barney, after his favourite tv program barney the very annoying purple dinosaur. He has been very little trouble over his now 16 years, but is now getting a bit deaf. This is a blessing really because he doesn't continuously bark when someone knocks at the door. I made a mistake last year, when the lady who cuts his hair was off work for a few months due to illness. I had an attempt at it myself. He looked like a cross between a lion and a poodle.

[grendslori]

Forgot to mention: Is that your Westie in the picture? We've had Airedales for years (and generations) and now have a Sealyham! Don't you just love those firey Terriers! :)

[grendslori]

Ed, I have a great deal of respect for you and for the opinions that you have written on these forums; in this case I have to disagree with what you are writing on here. The OP does not have an obstruction; if he did he would have HOCM not HCM, he doesn't say he has any obstuctions. The ONLY symptom of HCM that the OP mentions is actually SOB: that's the only one. I know of several people who have HCM and have NEVER, EVER heard of anyone describing issues with slurred speech, looking like they are drunk etc. I have HCM myself and you probably know that my daughter had one of the worse cases of bi-ventricular HCM this country (USA) has ever seen. By the time of her transplant she hardly had any chambers left in both ventricles. Obviously she wasn't getting much bloodflow to the brain. If these were symptoms of HCM, I would have certainly expected my own daughter to have had these symptoms as severe as her HCM was. I have spent 35+ years studing about the cardiomyopathies, HCM in particular and I have never seen of heard of these symptoms being a part of HCM. What I am trying to say is that these are NOT common symptoms of HCM as you state. HCM can be the biggest cause of SCD in the young, but even with that the percentages are about 2%, that isn't very high unless it is your child. The cause of death is due to lethal arrhythmias which can be a problem in HCM because the thick walls can develop extra electrical pathways in both the atriums, as well as the ventricals. Thickened walls do not have a bloodflow so the heart muscle can become very irritable and arrhythmias can result from that. Ed, as sure as I sit here, these are not symptoms of HCM. There is something else going on here.  

[ed34]

I wasn't referring to DCM, I was referring to HCM. The first thing to establish, whether HCM or DCM with such symptoms is obviously the output of the heart. If the output is insufficient, then measures would have to be taken and this is what I was trying to establish. With the thickening of the muscle tissue, 30% of patients with HCM develop obstructive output and require intervention to remove some of the muscle to increase flow. This can be done using Angioplasty techniques, using Alcohol.
The symptoms described are actually very common for HCM sufferers, and medication can usually resolve those issues. However, if medication ceases to help then the case requires a more detailed analysis by the cardiologist which thankfully is happening. Knowing HCM exists, and displaying the common symptoms for HCM, I personally think this could be a heart issue. I emphasise COULD, because without further tests to rule out the possibility, it still stands as a strong contender.
HCM is the biggest cause of sudden death in young patients, especially athletes where the heart is over worked. It looks like a good cardiologist is working on the case and running every test imaginable.

[grendslori]

In a very FEW cases HCM turns into DCM, it's actually rare for that to happen. Most all patients live their entire lives with HCM. I wasn't thinking DCM with a lower EF% in this op because they did not say they were in the burned out stage of HCM; I was taking what they wrote for face value. If they were in the burned out phase of HCM, thenyes you would be right in what you are saying.

[5863]

Carotid arteries were normal - EEG, MRI, Scan of Head - Normal
5863

[ed34]

"ed34; just a side note EF% are not low in HCM, they are inb the normal to high range"

Of course, but not towards end stage which I'm trying to establish.

[grendslori]

ed34; just a side note EF% are not low in HCM, they are inb the normal to high range. None of the symptoms you describe are related to HCM. This sounds a lot more like a nuerological issue.  

[ed34]

Personally I can only see there being two possibilities for this. First is the obvious one, oxygen supply to the brain. You've had contrast scans to the chest, but have they checked the Carotid arteries in your neck? which supply blood to the head and this of course includes your brain. The second thing which springs to mind is medication. I remember reading a few reports from Doctors where patients were displaying symptoms normally associated with the after effects of a stroke, memory and speech problems. This turned out to be a very rare reaction to statin therapy but changing brands resolved it.
I assume you have a heart output within the normal range and your EF isn't too low.