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EF 40-45 25 years old worried.
So since October or November last year I have had constant chest pain. I mean almost every day sometimes hours at a time. Before this I never went to the doctor for anything. After multiple trips to the ER and them telling me everything was fine my father convinced me to get a PCP. She ordered a echo stress test and ekg. My stress test and my ekg came back great. But she said there was an abnormality on my echo but nothing to be concerned about. She also diagnosed me with anxiety disorder which I still refuse to believe I have. Mainly because I only freak out when I'm legitimatly having pain. She referred me to a cardiologist and I was expecting to go in there today and hear the same thing. Everything is fine nothing to worry about. But instead i was told my EF was 40-45%. The actual cardiologist wasn't in today so I was forced to see a regular MD as his fill on for my first appointment which seems pretto ridiculous. So the MD basically says he thinks I have broken heart syndrome and if I dont get my emotions together my heart will stop. He did schedule me a follow up with another cardiologist to see if he wants to do a heart cath or not. I've never heard of broken heart syndrome so I did a little research and basically everything says it he's away after about 30 days and everything goes back to normal. Well this has already been going on longer than 30 days. So I consulted with another physician today as well that said he also doesn't think it is broken heart syndrome he did say my EF was low and I needed another echo to confirm but he thinks my chest pain has nothing to do with my heart. My pulse rate has been pretty low and blood pressure has been anywhere from 130 over 90 down to 106 over 46. After seeing my cardiologist or should I say his fill in. I'm now freaked out that my heart is just going to fail out on mE without warning. I have a newborn and recently married and i am just worried now. I increased my life insurance today with my employer and everything over this. Can anyone give advice or help.
A low ejection fraction--and 40-45% is rather low--is NEVER the result of a GI disorder! Good grief.
However, you should be reassured by your good stress test and EKG. Those, especially the stress test, are very good indicators.
You say you have a newborn? How long ago did you give birth? The reason I ask is that there is a somewhat rare heart condition that occurs either during during the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of giving birth, and one of the characteristics is an ejection fraction below 45%. It is called postpartum cardiomyopathy. For unknown reasons, the heart gets kind of weak as a result of pregnancy and pumps less efficiently than it used to.
Now, don't freak out (at least not too much), because it sounds as though your heart is in otherwise good shape. You are not likely to keel over and die, but this is something that definitely should be looked into. It IS treatable with diet and medications, and for people like you, who don't have bad symptoms, the outlook is very good. Just a few weeks ago, there was a discussion on this forum of a young mother who was diagnosed with it, and she had no symptoms at all. In fact, she was planning to run a marathon, but she was simply advised to wait a little longer for that.
I think you should definitely have another echo to check things out, and it would be a good idea to ask specifically about postpartum cardiomyopathy. It is rare enough that there's a good chance your regular MDs may never have seen it.
Since you're obviously pretty stressed (and who wouldn't be?), I'm sorry to have to mention this possibility, but again, if that's what's going on, it IS treatable. And if that's not what's going on, then at least it has been ruled out.
Try to get some rest tonight. It would be perfectly OK to call your PCP back tomorrow for a little more advice.
However, you should be reassured by your good stress test and EKG. Those, especially the stress test, are very good indicators.
You say you have a newborn? How long ago did you give birth? The reason I ask is that there is a somewhat rare heart condition that occurs either during during the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of giving birth, and one of the characteristics is an ejection fraction below 45%. It is called postpartum cardiomyopathy. For unknown reasons, the heart gets kind of weak as a result of pregnancy and pumps less efficiently than it used to.
Now, don't freak out (at least not too much), because it sounds as though your heart is in otherwise good shape. You are not likely to keel over and die, but this is something that definitely should be looked into. It IS treatable with diet and medications, and for people like you, who don't have bad symptoms, the outlook is very good. Just a few weeks ago, there was a discussion on this forum of a young mother who was diagnosed with it, and she had no symptoms at all. In fact, she was planning to run a marathon, but she was simply advised to wait a little longer for that.
I think you should definitely have another echo to check things out, and it would be a good idea to ask specifically about postpartum cardiomyopathy. It is rare enough that there's a good chance your regular MDs may never have seen it.
Since you're obviously pretty stressed (and who wouldn't be?), I'm sorry to have to mention this possibility, but again, if that's what's going on, it IS treatable. And if that's not what's going on, then at least it has been ruled out.
Try to get some rest tonight. It would be perfectly OK to call your PCP back tomorrow for a little more advice.
I think you need to see a GI dr--It is some sort of acid related syndrome--Be mindful of what you eat each day--do you drink coffee? soda? Don't worry about a heart attack--If it was that--you would have had the big one by now and be gone--You have an ulcer or GERD--and need to get on meds and change your diet--Stop worrying--not your heart--Hepkitty
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Im shocked at your Drs btw--did you know errors in med care is the third leading cause of death in US--No wonder-with Drs like this
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