infections and MVP

Posted By Christine on March 09, 1999 at 12:17:33:







Just over two months ago I got sick, and aside from appetite and weight loss, and
general yuckiness, I was experiencing scary (to me) heart palpitations in the
evenings. Blood work showed that I had managed, at age 29, to get mono. Over
two months later I am over the usual 'sick' things, but continue to have some
back pain (between the shoulder blades), tender ribs, sore chest, and chest
'itchiness' (these don't usually happen all at once, but I'll have one or two
at any given time), as well as episodes of racing and/or forcefully beating heart
(particularly in the morning and evenings).  I feel good when I walk, especially
outside, but climbing stairs, something as minor as stretching, and sometimes
doing nothing at all jumps my heart rate up to 120 or so (my resting heart rate
is >80 to begin with - I'm 5'4", ~120, down to almost 110 since the mono) . My
pulse will feel irregular at any given time.  Sometimes when I lie down I feel
something that I might describe as reflux-like, and my whole torso, but especially
around the heart area, feels rattle-y (hard to describe!). The doctor now thinks
that I have mild MVP, based on a clicking that she hears when she listens to my
heart, but an EKG, echocardiogram, and chest x-rays three weeks ago did not reveal
anything.
So my question is whether viral infections can aggravate (or even cause?) MVP, which
before this illness was never detected and asymptomatic. If so, does it generally
revert to asymptomatic-ness after the other virus has been eliminated?
Can MVP appear and get noticably worse in a matter of weeks (i.e. would an echo
be any different one month later)?  Are these the sort of symptoms (chest soreness
and irregular heartbeats) that beta blockers will alleviate?  Mono can last months!
How long do I wait to see if my symptoms go away before asking for beta-blockers?
My doctor seems amazingly unconcerned, and I always leave her office feeling reassured
- but then have more symptoms or read this board and get worried all over again. My
health has been constantly on my mind for over two months now, and I wonder how much
I'm further aggravating things just due to anxiety!
One more question.  Note, there is no history of heart disease in my family.  For
the past year or so, I have occasionally experienced a fleeting sensation which, when
I described it to my doctor, she called a precardial catch, said it was not uncommon
in people my age, and is harmless.  Is this the same as a PAC?  Does it go away once
I'm out of that age group?  Could it actually have been an earlier arising symptom
of the MVP?
Thank you for any opinions.