Hi, and thank you for being here for my question. Basic info: I'm 45, 5'4", 201 lbs. I had an appointment with my internist today and told her about some recent heart symptoms I have been having, and she dismissed them, saying I was "intellectualizing" them. This is what I told her, and what I have been feeling: Three to four times per week, when I lie down to sleep, my heart feels like the blood inside is gurgling, and it makes me think of the health shows I've seeon on TV where they show the blood regurgitating back inside an atria, etc., depending on the location of the blood flow. It just doesn't feel like the blood inside my heart is flowing efficiently, like it's sluggish and gurgling. My heartbeat seems sluggish and slow at the same time, too. She said that people can't feel the blood flow inside their hearts, and that I was intellectualizing, and she couldn't do anything with my description. I think that the words "sluggish," "gurgling" (blood sensation), and "sluggish" and "slow" heartbeat were very telling. Maybe I'm not feeling the actual path of blood flow through my heart, but I'm certainly feeling something, and I don't think it's healthy, and it shouldn't be swept under the rug. Also, I have been EXTREMELY fatigued, sometimes to the point that I have to stop after climbing 4 or 5 stairs and rest for a couple of minutes (this has NEVER happened). Throw this into the mix: 3-4 times per week my cheeks and neck flush, usually at night, and they are so hot that the first couple of times I thought I had a fever (started a couple of weeks ago). One strange thing about my temp is that it's usually in the 97's and continued to be during the flushes. FYI, in my mid-twenties, my doctor said he could barely hear a mitral valve prolapse, but if I lived a healthy life, it shouldn't be a problem. I haven't lived a very healthy life (no drug abuse, just haven't eaten very well, and have had Major Depression since early 30s and it's taken it's toll). So since my internist won't help, even to rule trouble out, I now have only the internet to turn to. I'm SO glad there's the Cleveland Clinic here! Can you help? In my Google travels, I've run across mitral valve regurgitations, etc., but no information as to if one can feel them, and what a gurgling blood feeling might be. By the way, I'm lying on my back when this happens, I was just diagnosed with diabetes (borderline) today, and about 6 weeks ago, had a bad chest cold to the point where my lungs weren't just wheezing, they were singing!! -- my sternum even hurt (lasted about a week) (didn't go to the doctor). Minor symptoms have dragged on ever since up to last week (nose, ears, throat), but they seem to be gone now. I thought the heart and flushing symptoms might be related to the cold (since it dragged on, though minor, for the last 7 weeks), but my internist today didn't let me get that in edgewise. I'm not overly frightened, but definitely concerned. Hope you can help! I don't know where else to turn. If you need more info, please let me know. I am so very thankful, Julie