sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
Most people don't feel it. Mitral valve prolapse is usually caught during a routine physical exam, it has a distinctive sound when the doc listens to your heart. If it gets really bad you can have arrhythmias, dizziness, light headed feeling, and shortness of breath.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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I have this condition, diagnosed by ultrasound and have landed in emergency several times due to erractic racing heart.
I do feel it when it is acting up and you just can't get comfortable or ignore it because you can feel it beating so fast in your chest. It can feel like a panic attack and you can feel light-headed & dizzy and it's not a good idea to drive yourself to the ER . It can make you hyperventilate as well.
The ER gives you a drug which works quite fast to regulate your heartbeat.
I started taking herbs for heart like hawthorn etc, and also cat's claw etc., for lyme and these attacks happen much less frequently and I haven't had to visit the ER for some time. I was on beta blockers to begin with but they did not seem to do much for me.
You can manage the condition, the big concern being if the valve continues to deteriorate which can mean a valve replacement at some time.
Mine is actually less floppy now with the herbs I've taken and I believe the lyme involvement has diminished also.
What drove me to go to the ER was when I started saying to myself "I feel like I could just die!". That was my cue to get help.
Posts: 590 | From Canada | Registered: Oct 2007
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I have this condition, diagnosed by ultrasound and have landed in emergency several times due to erractic racing heart.
I do feel it when it is acting up and you just can't get comfortable or ignore it because you can feel it beating so fast in your chest. It can feel like a panic attack and you can feel light-headed & dizzy and it's not a good idea to drive yourself to the ER . It can make you hyperventilate as well.
The ER gives you a drug which works quite fast to regulate your heartbeat.
I started taking herbs for heart like hawthorn etc, and also cat's claw etc., for lyme and these attacks happen much less frequently and I haven't had to visit the ER for some time. I was on beta blockers to begin with but they did not seem to do much for me.
You can manage the condition, the big concern being if the valve continues to deteriorate which can mean a valve replacement at some time.
Mine is actually less floppy now with the herbs I've taken and I believe the lyme involvement has diminished also.
What drove me to go to the ER was when I started saying to myself "I feel like I could just die!". That was my cue to get help.
Cut/Paste from Internet... About 60% of people with mitral valve prolapse have no symptoms. A stressful situation, such as childbirth, job change, or viral illness, can bring on symptoms that may include the following:
Irregular heartbeat or palpitations, especially while lying on the left side
Chest pain - Sharp, dull, or pressing, lasting from a few seconds to several hours, usually not related to myocardial ischemia (that is, not a threatened heart attack)
Fatigue and weakness, even after little exertion
Dizziness
Light-headedness when rising from a chair or a bed
Shortness of breath
Low energy level, often misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome
Posts: 99 | From Bucks County, PA | Registered: Aug 2008
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
I have had this condition for 25 years. My heart pounds very hard, but not fast. Sometimes I feel palpitations, feels like what it is, a floppy valve. The beat is off. Might skip or might feel like extra beats. Other times you will feel sharp pains in the chest; but this is not a serious condition.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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toby67
Unregistered
posted
yes, the fluttering... i usually notice mine at night when i lay down for bed. (only because it's quiet and i'm still)
my heart seems to suddenly jump start and race to play catch up... i can almost feel the floppy valve - weird.
it used to freak me out into a panic attack. now i just breathe in and out a few hard breaths and it usually subsides.
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posted
Hubby has had a mitral valve prolapse probably from birth -- diagnosed at age 3. He is 53 now.
He has never had any obvious symptoms. But docs do prescribe antibiotics if you ever have any dental work done.
He has recently started having PVC's and PAC's -- since starting Zithromax. Not sure if they are from Bart or Babs -- they come and go.
An echo and stress EKG said eveything was within normal limits -- and as usually happens the day of the tests he was not very symptomatic.
Actually the doc said the amount of regurgitation from the leaky valve had decreased since his last cardio exam -- think that was 4 years ago. I feel like the high doses of CoQ10 he has taken for the last 7 years have helped strengthen his heart muscle.
He is also taking hawthorne and cactus grnadiflora tincture since being on the Zith -- may be helping -- not exactly sure.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I too have MVP - but it has never slowed me down - gymnastics with in school, athletic since - until this Lyme thing hit me.
Ditto Suthergrl's experiences. It's annoying to say the least.
These days the skipping, loud beats, or several rapid beats are all more noticable. I figure the sprichetes are 'drilling' through.
Once upon a time (30 years ago) a doc. prescribed Inderal for me. I don't think I used it for more than two weeks. I've since read things about Inderal and was glad that I could do without it.
I used to take an antibotic prior to every dental appointment, HOWEVER, this year my dentist told me that the dental industry has decided that this is no longer necessary.
My DDS knows I have Lyme, so I take it anyway as a precaution.
Posts: 212 | From Arizona | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
My mom has this. They didn't find it until a few years ago, like 3 years I think. She's 52! She has to get ultrasounds of it every year and if it gets too "loose" or something, they will have to do open heart surgery someday to try to correct it - that's why they check it every year. I think my mom has this...it's either that one or the aortic one.
They told her the one she had is uncommon over here in the u.s. and is more prevalent in the middle east-which is how her doctor (who is from over there) heard it immediately.
They did an u/s to look at it after hearing it, and discovered arteries that looked blocked....Thank God they did exploratory surgery, you know, how they go in through your groin and on up....well, during that same exploratory surgery, she ended up having heart surgery and had 3 stints put in her heart. She had 1 that was 95% blocked and 2 that were 75% blocked. She's not even that overweight either, but...she does still smoke.
I'm just glad they found it. Her chest always hurts. It really scares her. We don't know if it is her actual heart that is hurting from blockage, her prolapse, or from her horrible low blood cells from her Hepatitis C Treatment (it's kinda like Chemo).
It's scary. My grandma died of heart disease (thin as a pole) first quad bypass at 58. They went in to do another one at age 71...and her poor little body couldn't handle it and she died.
I miss her so.
-------------------- ~*~Lyme POW~*~
I will escape. Posts: 100 | From n/a | Registered: Oct 2008
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
MVP is ABSOLUTELY linked to low Mg levels.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Sorry to bring up an old post, but HOW is it linked? Do you mean low mag CAUSES MVP?
Posts: 45 | From Crestview, Fl U.S | Registered: Feb 2004
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'Kete-tracker
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17189
posted
My M.V.P. only detectable by the quacks when my heart rate is up above 105. No objecive symptoms... ever, for me. But, then again, mine is considered "minor".
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
. It can make you hyperventilate as well. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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