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Symptoms of MVP-Syndrome?
I'm an age-47 male thyroid patient (Hashimoto's thyroiditis) .
A heart murmur was detected in my teens thought to be Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome (1970s). In 2001 (25 years later), a cardiologist ruled-out WPWS with an EKG. I did not have an echocardiogram. Despite not having WPWS, I still always had symptoms of heart murmur. My mother has MVP & mild regurge.
My symptoms - heart skips, flutters, dizziness upon standing, fatigue (sometimes severe), exercise intolerance, spells of excessive unrination during the night (all aggravated badly with stress and/or with too much caffiene or choclate). I used to have panic attacks and tachycardia but these improved and my heart usually only races on occassion when I first wake, mornings and do a yawn-stretch. If I bear down like when you blow up a baloon, I feel uncomfortable symptoms similar to when I stand and get the orthostatic hypotension spells (have never fainted from them).
My concern - I have become considerably overweight (I'm 6ft - 240lb - am starting a determined diet now) and a symptom that has gotten worse is an uncomfortable feeling in my chest when lying flat on my back. It feels as if my heart isn't working right and I feel as if I can't breath enough or not deep enough. It's shortness of breat I'm sure but manifests a little strangely. It's very uncomfortable and awakens me from sleep if I accidentally fall alseep flat on my back. I actually dream that I'm short of breat and it awakens me. I can only comfortable sleep on my sides. It also makes me have a cough sensation and if I have a flare of symptoms from chocolate eating excess (for example), the cough sensation can even occur no matter what body-position I'm in.
Sorry this was lengthy - not trying to take advantage but am very concerned. Does it sound like I'm in need of an echocardiogram? Can MVP worsen with autoimmune thyroid disease?
A heart murmur was detected in my teens thought to be Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome (1970s). In 2001 (25 years later), a cardiologist ruled-out WPWS with an EKG. I did not have an echocardiogram. Despite not having WPWS, I still always had symptoms of heart murmur. My mother has MVP & mild regurge.
My symptoms - heart skips, flutters, dizziness upon standing, fatigue (sometimes severe), exercise intolerance, spells of excessive unrination during the night (all aggravated badly with stress and/or with too much caffiene or choclate). I used to have panic attacks and tachycardia but these improved and my heart usually only races on occassion when I first wake, mornings and do a yawn-stretch. If I bear down like when you blow up a baloon, I feel uncomfortable symptoms similar to when I stand and get the orthostatic hypotension spells (have never fainted from them).
My concern - I have become considerably overweight (I'm 6ft - 240lb - am starting a determined diet now) and a symptom that has gotten worse is an uncomfortable feeling in my chest when lying flat on my back. It feels as if my heart isn't working right and I feel as if I can't breath enough or not deep enough. It's shortness of breat I'm sure but manifests a little strangely. It's very uncomfortable and awakens me from sleep if I accidentally fall alseep flat on my back. I actually dream that I'm short of breat and it awakens me. I can only comfortable sleep on my sides. It also makes me have a cough sensation and if I have a flare of symptoms from chocolate eating excess (for example), the cough sensation can even occur no matter what body-position I'm in.
Sorry this was lengthy - not trying to take advantage but am very concerned. Does it sound like I'm in need of an echocardiogram? Can MVP worsen with autoimmune thyroid disease?
I should probably follow your lead and make a concerted effort to change some of my behaviors.
Last year I was aware that my tea consumption had become a little excessive (easily in excess of 7 liters a day). I think cutting it back to three cups really made a huge difference. With the stress leading up to Christmas and the death of a family member I seem to have regressed back to old behaviors.
The information on gerd, asthma and bronchitis was interesting.
I might even check out the asthma and allergy expert forum to see if more info has been posted there about it.
That must have been very scary having tachycardia growing up (or at any time really).
Thanks for the advice about the low HR. I actually thought that low was healthy but I read something awhile back saying something to the contrary.
No, not on meds aside from asthma meds and currently an antihistamine for hay fever. I'll add it to my list of stuff to take to my GP.
I've accessed my medical records in the past and found it somewhat interesting that I'd been given atropine, etc to raise my HR when I just thought it was normal.
My family watched a BBC program recently saying that things (I think it included people) have a maximum of 800 million heart beats. Just a useless bit of info.
With the recent anxiety it could have been how you interpreted your physiological symptoms. It's possible that some of those symptoms were associated with anxiety in the past. I'm not sure. It could be just that you're feeling more vulnerable when you're sick. ??
Sleep deprivation can be quite disabling. It's good to hear that you feel like you're catching up.
I expect with the family history and symptoms you would like the echo done.
Good luck for everything and thanks for the feedback.
I just want to thank the expert here too because this is an excellent forum.
Last year I was aware that my tea consumption had become a little excessive (easily in excess of 7 liters a day). I think cutting it back to three cups really made a huge difference. With the stress leading up to Christmas and the death of a family member I seem to have regressed back to old behaviors.
The information on gerd, asthma and bronchitis was interesting.
I might even check out the asthma and allergy expert forum to see if more info has been posted there about it.
That must have been very scary having tachycardia growing up (or at any time really).
Thanks for the advice about the low HR. I actually thought that low was healthy but I read something awhile back saying something to the contrary.
No, not on meds aside from asthma meds and currently an antihistamine for hay fever. I'll add it to my list of stuff to take to my GP.
I've accessed my medical records in the past and found it somewhat interesting that I'd been given atropine, etc to raise my HR when I just thought it was normal.
My family watched a BBC program recently saying that things (I think it included people) have a maximum of 800 million heart beats. Just a useless bit of info.
With the recent anxiety it could have been how you interpreted your physiological symptoms. It's possible that some of those symptoms were associated with anxiety in the past. I'm not sure. It could be just that you're feeling more vulnerable when you're sick. ??
Sleep deprivation can be quite disabling. It's good to hear that you feel like you're catching up.
I expect with the family history and symptoms you would like the echo done.
Good luck for everything and thanks for the feedback.
I just want to thank the expert here too because this is an excellent forum.
Thanks for commenting! Very enlightning info.
It's funny you mention caffiene (coffee etc...) because after I stopped coffee and chocolate, my urinating at night after bedtime stopped.
GERD in medical research studies has been confirmed repeatedly to be a cause of breathing problems and many of the studies state that people with it, may not even notice heart burn symptoms but will still develop breathing problems. They have found that approx 75% of people with asthma have GERD and that it is a direct trigger of bronchitis as well.
The most common heart murmur as you know is MVP and after I did search on it, found many symptoms people have, attributed to it, including heart palps and breathing difficulty, especially when lying flat on your back.
Quote: "Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, often when lying flat or during physical activity" (Mayo Clinic)
Link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valve-prolapse/DS00504/DSECTION=symptoms
As far as bradycardia goes, I actually have a mostly low heart rate at rest (between 55 and 60 BPM) and spells of tachycardia are rare, unlike when I was young and they occurred fairly often. Your 24 BPM sounds very low to me, even for a well conditioned cardiovacular and you might discuss it with your doc if you haven't already. If you're on a betablocker for blood pressure of heart rate, it could mean your dose needs cut back a bit.
I too have the anxiety problems but for the past few years has been intermittent. For some reason when I had the spell of bronchitis, it raised my anxiety level terribly, so that I had near panic attacks at night, throughout my sleeping time for several nights in a row. It left me very tired but i'm starting to catch up on sleep now.
I was told I had Wolf-Parkinson-Wolf Syndrome as a teen because of my spells of tachycardia but a cardiologist ruled it out in 2001 with an EKG. I did not however get an echocardiogram done, so MVP was not looked-for. I believe with 100% conviction that I have MVP however and it runsin my family.
Your post was interesting and I appreciate it!
It's funny you mention caffiene (coffee etc...) because after I stopped coffee and chocolate, my urinating at night after bedtime stopped.
GERD in medical research studies has been confirmed repeatedly to be a cause of breathing problems and many of the studies state that people with it, may not even notice heart burn symptoms but will still develop breathing problems. They have found that approx 75% of people with asthma have GERD and that it is a direct trigger of bronchitis as well.
The most common heart murmur as you know is MVP and after I did search on it, found many symptoms people have, attributed to it, including heart palps and breathing difficulty, especially when lying flat on your back.
Quote: "Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, often when lying flat or during physical activity" (Mayo Clinic)
Link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valve-prolapse/DS00504/DSECTION=symptoms
As far as bradycardia goes, I actually have a mostly low heart rate at rest (between 55 and 60 BPM) and spells of tachycardia are rare, unlike when I was young and they occurred fairly often. Your 24 BPM sounds very low to me, even for a well conditioned cardiovacular and you might discuss it with your doc if you haven't already. If you're on a betablocker for blood pressure of heart rate, it could mean your dose needs cut back a bit.
I too have the anxiety problems but for the past few years has been intermittent. For some reason when I had the spell of bronchitis, it raised my anxiety level terribly, so that I had near panic attacks at night, throughout my sleeping time for several nights in a row. It left me very tired but i'm starting to catch up on sleep now.
I was told I had Wolf-Parkinson-Wolf Syndrome as a teen because of my spells of tachycardia but a cardiologist ruled it out in 2001 with an EKG. I did not however get an echocardiogram done, so MVP was not looked-for. I believe with 100% conviction that I have MVP however and it runsin my family.
Your post was interesting and I appreciate it!
I feel anxious just reading these posts. I have/ have had similar symptoms with the exception of the cardiac history although my brother has a heart murmur (pectus excavatum) and there is an apparently genetic value issue in my extended family.
My first thought when reading your post was that you may have gerd. I'm very ignorant about the heart stuff though.
I find that when I feel my heart missing beats, etc I put it down to anxiety. I have high stress and anxiety levels. I think it may be more common after I exercise though (when my stress levels are lowest).
The dizziness I again put down to stress and anxiety or dehydration or low blood sugar levels. I've been told that when we're stressed we can hyperventilate and that this can affect carbon dioxide levels which can affect blood pressure.
I was recently getting very fatigued and wasn't tolerating exercise very well. It came back that I was anemic.
Excessive urination I put down to anxiety, drinking too much caffeine (which is said to be a diuretic) or asthma meds.
Not sure about the other stuff. I just about pass out in the shower but seem to manage if I put my head down and turn the water temp right down.
I sometimes get gerd too. I have problems with emotional eating which affects my ability to manage my weight and can cause it to fluctuate significantly. It could be heart burn. Sometimes I think that the increase in weight puts pressure on my organs. It can leave me feeling extremely uncomfortable and scared for my life.
The shortness of breath could also be a symptom of acid reflux. I've been told that the acid irritates ? I've forgotten what exactly now but it does affect breathing.
I had a severe asthma attack several years ago. I'm not sure whether it was due to gerd, an allergy or severe over-training.
My resting HR had been 24 bpm but then went up to over 250. My peak flow reading was less than 100. I'm usually bradycardic (or have been) versus your tachycardia.
With the shortness of breath I can sometimes feel myself panic. I try and control my breathing, open all the windows if it is at night to try and get some air plus also take my asthma meds which don't seem to be very effective.
I had secondary bronchitis too recently following a viral infection.
Congrats on the weight loss.
If you're desperate for some relief from symptoms at night elevating the head of your bed can sometimes help. I sometimes put books, etc under the head end.
I told my GP I didn't want medication as I thought I could control my weight. I have some success with this but really need psychotherapy to address underlying issues.
Reducing caffeine helps as does losing weight.
Good luck for your appointment with your doctor.
Sorry for all the info I hope you didn't find it all terribly inappropriate.
You should always get stuff checked out by a doctor though regardless of comments made by lay people.
My first thought when reading your post was that you may have gerd. I'm very ignorant about the heart stuff though.
I find that when I feel my heart missing beats, etc I put it down to anxiety. I have high stress and anxiety levels. I think it may be more common after I exercise though (when my stress levels are lowest).
The dizziness I again put down to stress and anxiety or dehydration or low blood sugar levels. I've been told that when we're stressed we can hyperventilate and that this can affect carbon dioxide levels which can affect blood pressure.
I was recently getting very fatigued and wasn't tolerating exercise very well. It came back that I was anemic.
Excessive urination I put down to anxiety, drinking too much caffeine (which is said to be a diuretic) or asthma meds.
Not sure about the other stuff. I just about pass out in the shower but seem to manage if I put my head down and turn the water temp right down.
I sometimes get gerd too. I have problems with emotional eating which affects my ability to manage my weight and can cause it to fluctuate significantly. It could be heart burn. Sometimes I think that the increase in weight puts pressure on my organs. It can leave me feeling extremely uncomfortable and scared for my life.
The shortness of breath could also be a symptom of acid reflux. I've been told that the acid irritates ? I've forgotten what exactly now but it does affect breathing.
I had a severe asthma attack several years ago. I'm not sure whether it was due to gerd, an allergy or severe over-training.
My resting HR had been 24 bpm but then went up to over 250. My peak flow reading was less than 100. I'm usually bradycardic (or have been) versus your tachycardia.
With the shortness of breath I can sometimes feel myself panic. I try and control my breathing, open all the windows if it is at night to try and get some air plus also take my asthma meds which don't seem to be very effective.
I had secondary bronchitis too recently following a viral infection.
Congrats on the weight loss.
If you're desperate for some relief from symptoms at night elevating the head of your bed can sometimes help. I sometimes put books, etc under the head end.
I told my GP I didn't want medication as I thought I could control my weight. I have some success with this but really need psychotherapy to address underlying issues.
Reducing caffeine helps as does losing weight.
Good luck for your appointment with your doctor.
Sorry for all the info I hope you didn't find it all terribly inappropriate.
You should always get stuff checked out by a doctor though regardless of comments made by lay people.
Thank you very much Dr. Kirksey! - Happy New Year!
Yes, I'm definitely getting an ASAP Dr. appointment.
My heart skips/flutters are near non-existant I've noticed if I stay away from caffiene & chocolate and I have had anxiety problems on and off since my teens so may also exacerbate those. I had them more fequent in my youth.
I definitely was developing bronchitis but at the time of my first post wasn't fully manifested, so I wasn't sure. My cough was dry for days but just now starting to produce small amounts if clear phlgem. I've had no swelling at all (edema) in my legs or feet or anywhere in my body (never have had this). Haven't had frequent urination in several weeks but have cut back on calories and lost 5lb since Dec. 26th!
Thanks again!
Yes, I'm definitely getting an ASAP Dr. appointment.
My heart skips/flutters are near non-existant I've noticed if I stay away from caffiene & chocolate and I have had anxiety problems on and off since my teens so may also exacerbate those. I had them more fequent in my youth.
I definitely was developing bronchitis but at the time of my first post wasn't fully manifested, so I wasn't sure. My cough was dry for days but just now starting to produce small amounts if clear phlgem. I've had no swelling at all (edema) in my legs or feet or anywhere in my body (never have had this). Haven't had frequent urination in several weeks but have cut back on calories and lost 5lb since Dec. 26th!
Thanks again!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
thanks for the follow up. Worsening GERD may certainly explain your "heart burn" but does not really explain your heart arrhythmias, shortness of breath, near fainting, exercise intolerance or frequent urination. It is possible to have several medical conditions, perhaps as a result of weight gain. So a thorough evaluation and assessment by your PCP may shine some light on the problems. Good Luck and Happy New Year
Thank you! I realize you do not typically do follow up responses so I do not expect an answer to this addition but, I found something doing a search on my symptoms that I believe would be a very strong possibility. Regardless, I'm following my improved diet, exercise and visits to my doctor.
Since my asking the question I developed bronchitis type symptoms and upon doing a search, found that GERD can cause the bronchitis and chest discomfort (I attributed it to heart discomfort but no pain is involved, just a tightness).
I have had GERD for many years but it worsened severely the past few years as I gained weight. I found in my search that caffiene and chocolate can worsen symptoms of GERD and the connection of it to difficulty breathing when lying flat, wheezing and coughing is found on a large number of very reputable sites (including Mayo Clinic etc...).
Here's one medical research quote:
"Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may cause, trigger or exacerbate many pulmonary diseases.The acid can cause throat irritation, postnasal drip and hoarseness, as well as recurrent cough, chest congestion and lung inflammation leading to asthma and/or bronchitis/ pneumonia." (U.S. National Institutes of Health - Link> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19641641 )
Many GERD patients report discomfort in their chest when they lay flat and many thought it was heart-related until they were evaluated and GERD was found.
Just wanted to share this and thank you again!
Since my asking the question I developed bronchitis type symptoms and upon doing a search, found that GERD can cause the bronchitis and chest discomfort (I attributed it to heart discomfort but no pain is involved, just a tightness).
I have had GERD for many years but it worsened severely the past few years as I gained weight. I found in my search that caffiene and chocolate can worsen symptoms of GERD and the connection of it to difficulty breathing when lying flat, wheezing and coughing is found on a large number of very reputable sites (including Mayo Clinic etc...).
Here's one medical research quote:
"Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may cause, trigger or exacerbate many pulmonary diseases.The acid can cause throat irritation, postnasal drip and hoarseness, as well as recurrent cough, chest congestion and lung inflammation leading to asthma and/or bronchitis/ pneumonia." (U.S. National Institutes of Health - Link> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19641641 )
Many GERD patients report discomfort in their chest when they lay flat and many thought it was heart-related until they were evaluated and GERD was found.
Just wanted to share this and thank you again!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello
All of your symptoms seem quite worrisome as a complex. I would suggest a thorough evaluation by your PCP, if not your emergency department. I dont know your risk profile or past medical history but you appear to be at risk for heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol etc. Frequent urination can be a sign of diabetes and thyroid disorders can contribute to arrhythmias and murmurs
Get evaluated and your doctors will determine if you require EKG or further testing. Good luck with your diet
All of your symptoms seem quite worrisome as a complex. I would suggest a thorough evaluation by your PCP, if not your emergency department. I dont know your risk profile or past medical history but you appear to be at risk for heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol etc. Frequent urination can be a sign of diabetes and thyroid disorders can contribute to arrhythmias and murmurs
Get evaluated and your doctors will determine if you require EKG or further testing. Good luck with your diet
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