Audible clicking in chest when lying on back

[Nancy T]

I’m a 49-year-old woman. Was told 6 years ago I had a very slight heart murmur; internist's notes said 1/6 systolic ejection murmur, I think.



For a year, I've been occasionally hearing a “dripping” or clicking noise when lying in bed on my back, apparently from my chest or gut, in time to my pulse.



It will click for, say, 5-60 seconds, stop for a few seconds, start again, etc. Sometimes there are little smooshy sounds at the end of the clicks.



About a week ago, while lying in bed on my back as usual, I shifted position or scrunched myself up somehow and heard a very loud clicking, probably 5 or 10 times louder than the usual sound! And it was clearly going tick-tock--two sounds--for every pulse beat. Since then I have not noticed any clicking at all.



Is this likely a small heart murmur (mitral valve prolapse, maybe??) grown bigger, or the same 1/6 murmur that for some reason has become audible to me? Does that mean it’s progressing?



Frankly, I think my doctor would think I’m cuckoo if I went in and she couldn’t hear the clicking. (Due to years of unexplained neurological symptoms--hearing loss, dizziness, facial shocks, paresthesias, etc.--the neurologist has suggested I’m a hypochondriac, and my PCP seems to follow along with that, even though I have no history of that kind of behavior.)



Even if it IS a mitral valve prolapse, there is no treatment for an asymptomatic patient, correct? So I see no reason to have it checked out, since nothing would be done anyway, unless I start to have symptoms.



Any similar experiences or knowledge welcome!!

[anacyde]

Even hypochondriacs can get sick.  Mention it to the doctor.  There may be a clicking there.  It is possible for valve problems to worsen, though this doesn't mean yours has.  And yes, there are treatments for faulty valves.  Good luck to you.

[Nancy T]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have any chest pain, shortness of breath, ankle swelling or anything like that, so am thinking it's not worth mentioning the clicking to the doctor, who might, to cover herself, send me for a test costing the healthcare system hundreds of $$ which will have no practical value in a symptomless patient.



BTW, I am not a hypochondriac--just for the record. :) Never saw doctors until age 42, when I lost my hearing and got dizzy. But once they give you the label, you cannot talk reasonably to doctors anymore--you are prejudged before you open your mouth. Asking doctors questions is a huge risk to my (psychological) health, so I do it very rarely anymore, and only if I feel 90 percent sure they will have a pill or other Rx that will help my problem.



It may be true that so-called hypochondriacs also get sick, but no matter how sick they actually get, they are never really legitimate patients anymore--they are always looked down on with a particular kind of knowing little smile.

[td808]

For the first time today, I experienced this wierd clicking noise in my chest while lying on my back. I am 29, don't eat so great and don't exercise very much. If anyone can offer any information that would be great.

Thanks.

[Lil711]

Anacyde you are right. Asymptomatic or not, mitral valve prolapse, clicks, murmurs etc should be checked out via echocardiogram. I had the classic "click" and my cardiologist said I should rent myself out to medical schools so students could listen, LOL.  You can have no symptoms at all and still have a serious mitral regurgitation. Surgery to repair the mitral valve (or replace, if necessary) is now preferred for those with severe regurgitation or even moderate-to-severe if/when other symptoms like atrial fibrillation  or breathlessness.I just had mitral valve repair surgery one month ago, and am recovering well. My MVP, whjich I had since my twenties, became MR (mitral regurgitation) a few years ago but still was considered "moderate," until the last couple of years. I had a bout of atrial fib, and then my echo began to show more leak.  There are very good reasons to consider early intervention with severe mitral valve leaks to avoid damage to your heart that is irreparable and leads to heart failure.  My surgery was minimally invasive and I was only in the hospital five days.
Lil711

[Momto3]

Nancy T,
Ditto on the others' comments.  I also have a heart murmur and I have it checked 1-2 times per year.  Your valve regurgitation can definitely worsen without symtoms.  That's the tricky part.  

Lil711,
I have MVP/MR and my cardiologists have also commented on my "classic click." This could be like a little side job - "Rent a classic click!"  When I listen to my heartbeat, I can't really pick up the click, but I can definitely hear the "swoosh."  My click radiates to the back and apparently it's quite audible (except to me...lol).  My daughter has/had (she may have actually outgrown it, it wasn't on last echo) MVP with mild MR and when she was young and had a severe case of the flu, I could hear it without a stethoscope!!  It was so bizarre.  I thought it was some noise in the heating system so I was listening to the vents.  Turns out it was my daughter's click-murmur.  It sounded like a pigeon - coo, coo....The doctor said that was exactly right!  She was so dehydrated you could hear it across the room...Weird!

It's great to hear your recovery is going so well.  Were you surprised when you were told it was time for surgery?  I've heard those words twice, and both times, turned out not to be the case.  I had a TEE to get a better idea of the regurg. and it showed 2-3+.  The doctor said I may, or may not, need surgery someday.  If you don't mind, how long did you know about the MR before surgery?  I was diagnosed in my early 20's with MVP/MR and so far, things are still OK.  Were you symptomatic? I know it's better to have repair over replacement so I agree timing is key.  Where did you have minimally invasive surgery done (or what city, if you'd rather not say)?  

Connie

[jim62]

Are you sure someone didn't implant a mechanical valve for you while you weren't looking?  That would explain the clicking.......

Naaaa.  You probably would have noticed.

Never mind.   ;-)

[monkey62]

I had an atrial myxoma.  Very rare.  It caused a murmur from the mitral valve.  An echocardiogram will find it.  I had shortness of breath while laying on my back,  some swelling in my ankles after I had worked a 12 hr night shift, (I'm an RN and had never heard of this condition).  Most common sympton is sudden death.  Ask for an echocardiogram.

[Nancy T]

Thanks for the comments! I hadn't checked this thread for a long time so didn't realize it had been "reanimated"!

Last night I had another one of the rare but very attention-getting, LOUD clicking episodes, and I just posted a new thread about it, having forgotten about this thread, sorry.

I have no other symptoms, but perhaps I should mention it to my PCP when I next see him. Fortunately I got a new one who seems less likely to stick me in the hypochondriac category, but you never know.

Is there anything else besides a murmur that could be causing this??

Nancy T.