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Three leaking heart valves
I am 44 years old. My father died of a heart attack at 38. I just learned I have 3 leaking valves. The Mitral and Tricuspid are mild and the Aortic is moderate. I had the echo, wore the monitor and had the stress test- all normal. The Dr said to watch my blood pressure and cholesterol which are fine right now. To come for another visit next year.
I keep having a tightness in my chest. (Dr knows this) I also have a hard time sleeping at night. I get tired and need to take breaks throughout my day. I exercise, drink water, I do not smoke, I am not overweight, have maybe 2 alcoholic drinks a week...no more than that.
With the leaking valves, is it normal to have the tightness and trouble sleeping? Is that something I will just learn to live with? I fear a heart attack and I know worrying about it is not helping. The tightness really scares me.
Thanks,
Robbin
I keep having a tightness in my chest. (Dr knows this) I also have a hard time sleeping at night. I get tired and need to take breaks throughout my day. I exercise, drink water, I do not smoke, I am not overweight, have maybe 2 alcoholic drinks a week...no more than that.
With the leaking valves, is it normal to have the tightness and trouble sleeping? Is that something I will just learn to live with? I fear a heart attack and I know worrying about it is not helping. The tightness really scares me.
Thanks,
Robbin
Thanks to you and cindy707 for your replies. As you know this whole thing is new and scary to me. I was glad to read the tightness was probably anxiety related. I do have anxiety and have a son dealing with that as well. I try not to stress out but oh man, easier said than done!
Other than that I do feel fine. Can't thank you enough and you really did put my mind at ease!! Something I really needed :)
Other than that I do feel fine. Can't thank you enough and you really did put my mind at ease!! Something I really needed :)
Personally if it were me i would seek out a second opinion on this one just primarily because of the potential of the seriousness of this. I am assuming when you said that when you had the stress test that it was a nuclear stress test right? Or meaning one that the dye was used in checking your arteries to be sure that they are clear. To me it sounds a little crazy to wait an entire year for you to come back for a re check when they have already identified a moderate leak in the aortic and it would seem to me that someone would be more agressive in monitoring this situ especially in light of the fact that you are having chest tightness which is a red flag in anybodys book. I mean Robbin the thing is that this is YOUR body not theirs and you don't want to be passed over because the docs patient load is too high and he/she is taking an oh well attitude...to me it is a huge red flag that your dad died so young of a heart attack and makes you predisposed to one putting you in a higher risk group and yep there is alot that can be done for valves that leak so i just don't get it. Did you have the test where they shot dye thru your body to take a look at the arteries at all? Watching your blood pressure and cholesterol is super important for every single one of us period the end its a boiler plate statement thats made to all humans but to me your situ is different. Peace of mind is priceless and i seriously would research out another heart doc that is not affiliated with yours and get a second opinion on this because we only get one shot at this life and like all of us you have to give yourself the best chance possible at it...and the tightness in your chest is a very big red flag.......
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On the mitigating side, you are female (right?), and your echo, your Holter, stress test, and blood fats are normal. This should ease your mind.
I myself have a mild to moderate leak of my aortic valve. In six years, it has progressed very slightly if at all. My doc has me come in for an echo once a year and a stress every two years--and he is a careful doc.
Having this anomaly plus PVCs and the occasional bout of panic attacks, I am not worried about my ticker. One of the things I have learned from my own experience is that sleep difficulties and chest tightness in the setting of not-very-unusual test results are not likely to be heart related. They certainly CAN be, but you really want a bunch of other symptoms to point in that direction, and frankly, I don't get the impression that you are ill.
Chest tightness and sleeplessness are, however, intimately and strongly linked to conditions related to anxiety and panic.
If what you are describing is your first series of exams, in light of your father's history, I don't think you'd be overly demanding to seek a second opinion or to ask for another evaluation at six months instead of a year.
But if that too comes back negative, in the absence of any other symptoms than worry, at a certain point you are going to have to decide whether or not to discount the opinions of several people who really have studied the heart's function and seen a lot of patients all of whom have hearts.