symptoms

[Felicia]

I was 23, and pregnant for my second child, when I was first diagnosed with Mitral Valve prolapse. My mother and my brother have it as well. I've been noticing for the past few years... I am now 32, that I become very short of breath doing the slightest bit of activity. This does not happen on an everyday basis. I also feel my heart fluttering more frequently. I was explained that I feel that when my mitral valve gets lazy. I have had frequent chest pains on my left side over and under my breast. I had an incident that was very upsetting yesterday, and found myself experiencing horrific chest pains. I am getting very nervous and wonder should I be? I read that Arnold Schwarzenegger..(spelling?) had surgery for his mitral valve prolapse and opted to do this while he was young and healthy. How do you know when it gets to the point that you need to have surgery?

[Pat Cheslik]

I have had chest pains for about 15 yrs.  No certain time, it just comes on any time for reasons I can't figure out.  The pains start in the middle of my chest  then seem to go across my chest and  are  very sharp, and then they get more mild and go away. then they start up again and start out sharp then go away.  Sometimes it lasts for maybe 10 min. sometimes shorter lengths and some times longer.  I only get them one or two times a year.  I just had one yesterday for just a few minutes.  I had a stress test last year and nothing showed up.  These pains just happen anytime. I've had them in the mornings, afternoon and evening.  One time I had them when I was in bed. Do you have any ideas of what this could be.  After the pain goes away I am fine.

[[email protected]]

My wife has pain on her left side:
headached, drizziness, loss of appetite, dry mouth, hot and
cold flashes

[Vicky]

My daughter is 8 years old and has been have recurring problems with chest pain.  It's always on her left side right behind her breast.  She can be absolutely still and have an attack ( that's our name for them )  usually they just last a few seconds and we just help her breathe through them.  Tonight she had a much worse and lengthier attack.  She has already had a chest x-ray which was fine and is scheduled for an EKG on Monday.  I am interested to know about this Mitral Valve Prolapse I read about on this site.  Thank you

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

It depends somewhat on symptoms, but of course this is very subjective. The real determinant of the timing of surgery is the echocardiogram. If the valve is leaking a lot, either at rest or with exercise, it is time for surgery.