strange heart episodes

I am a 34 yr. old woman in decent health , although I contract serious viruses that have caused 5 hospitilizations in18 mos.  (c diff, mrsa, and a reoccuring kidney infection that abscessed.) I should mention here that I do not HIV, although I was anorexic for years.  I have had maybe 6-7 of these strange incidents with my heart.  The 1st occured May of 2009, I awoke feeling as if I was having a heart attack.  I had to go to the hospital to receive antibiotics thru my pic line, so I told the nurse.  They did an ekg with the leads, took an x-ray, and gave me a beta blocker. They could not find anything and I felt foolish, so I left. At 9 pm, I became so exhausted that I quickly fell asleep.  Two hours later, I was awaken by severe chest pain and my heart making an audible clicking noise.  My husband said it sounded like I had a broken valve and I could feel like a backflow of blood. The noise and pain lasted two days which I laid in bed in fear of any exertion.
The last major episode was in July 2010, it literally lasted 2 wks.  There was a new symptom.  When I bent over I could feel blood gurgle up in my heart.  
I now have pretty consistent chest pain that hurts also in my shoulder, arm, and sometimes up my neck.
I haven't gone back to the doctor due to fear of open heart surgery, plus I'm pretty head strong.
My father and brother both have mitral valve prolapse. Could this be this?  Thank you.

[CCFCardio MD2]

I'm sorry to hear you're having so much difficulty.  Your symptoms do not sound like they are caused only by mitral valve prolapse.  However, mitral valve prolapse can lead to irregular and fast heart rhythms which can cause chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, lightheadedness.  These odd rhythms would typically be detected on a routine ECG.  Given your history of recurrent infections, you should ask your doctor if you might have endocarditis, an infection of the heart and heart valves.  The audible clicking noise is difficult to explain as mitral valve prolapse can cause a click, but typically only audible via auscultation with a stethoscope.  

The bottom line is, if you have a family history of mitral valve disease and you are having persistent episodes of chest pain and shortness of breath, you NEED to be evaluated by your physician.  People can live with mitral valve prolapse and have no problems, but others develop severe mitral regurgitation and backflow of blood in your heart (this is not a sensation you should be able to feel, however).  Don't be afraid of going to your doctor.  He/She may be able to diagnose your problem and provide you some relief from your symptoms which are clearly distressing to you.  Open heart surgery may be scary, but letting a potential major medical problem go untreated is even scarier.  Please be evaluated and followed by your physician.

Best of luck to you and I hope you feel better.