Advice needed Irregular heart beat Aortic Valve replacement 17 yrs ago...St Judes

[dsteil2]

Hi..I have a concern...my husband had aortic valve replacement 17 years ago (he was 40 years of age)...replaced aortic valve with a St Judes artificial valve...I noticed a few weeks ago that his heart is not beating normally anymore.....beat is weird/irregular...he went to doctor for a physical...doctor picked up on irregular heart beat...sent him for an ecg.....by the time he took the ecg...it showed normal...this morning lying in bed I listened to his heart again...it was beating irregular... again...we went for our morning walk...he went for a shower...after shower his heart was beating normal again...he has been tired latley....has had some uncommon back pain....
What's with all this regualr heat beat after excercise yet at rest it's beating irregular...no set pattern.......I am confused.....
Anyone else experience this?....is there some sort of heart failure going on? He cannot get to his specialist until August...Should we return to our family doctor or will he think we are nuts...I know this heartbeat is not normal...this is the third time I have intentionally listened to his heart while he was at rest (unbeknownst to him...he was unaware I was intentionally listening to his heartbeat) Any advise would be appreciated...I am worried...We have talked...he has said he doesn't feel right but won't return to family doctor at this point...says there is no need and that they won't tell him anything different because of the normal ECG....
Thanks for any advise you can give...
Debbie

 

[Superbob]

By "specialist," I assume you mean his cardiologist, with whom he has an August appointment. I would call the cardiologist, explain the situation, and be firm that you need an immediate appointment to have this checked out. I understand waiting months for routine appointments, but when there is a potential problem, there needs to be quick access. I wouldn't be shy about pressing his office for your husband to be seen right away.

 

[Georgia]

He MUST contact his doc and tell him about the back pain. That can be atypical angina and needs to be checked.

Good luck.

 

[jax3172]

event monitor

event monitor

In my uneducated opinion, your husband needs an event monitor. When he or you feel irregular heart beats, he would record what's going on (it also goes back about a minute which means you have about 30 seconds to start recording after "feeling" an event to still get it recorded). Then you call in the event and folks look at it immediately. Tell the cardiologist (or his or her phone person) that you feel it's an emergency and you want the monitor immediately, or the next call they will receive will be from your attorney (bluff). You could also show up at an emergency room. You'll get checked out to a degree but when you leave, they will actually call your cardio and force an appointment for you. You could also get your PCP to force the issue with the cardio or get you to see another cardio or maybe even order the monitor for you (if he feels it would be helpful). But do something!

 

[Ross]

Call his cardiologist, explain the situation and demand that they use a holter monitor and try to catch and record what is happening. They may actually get the monitor without demanding it, but if they try to blow it off, make it a point to ask for it!

 

[Lynlw]

is there 2 threads on this? i'm pretty sure I responded but don't see my replies, Lyn

 

[dsteil2]

17 years St Judes..

17 years St Judes..

Thanks to you all...My husband is headed to our family physian tomorrow...I got him convinced to go after calling our doctor. He has suggested a longer ecg or monitor and we will go on from there...Once again thanks to you all..
Debbie

 

[Ross]

Thanks to you all...My husband is headed to our family physician tomorrow...I got him convinced to go after calling our doctor. He has suggested a longer ecg or monitor and we will go on from there...Once again thanks to you all..
Debbie

Get a referral to a Cardiologist!!! He needs to be seen by a heart specialist, not a family physician though you usually have to start there.

 

[Sandy SHields]

irregular heart beat

irregular heart beat

Hi I am sure you probably have already seen your Doctor about the irregular heart beat but just wanted to put in my experience with it. I have a artificial heart valve for 23 years i am now 50. Last year I started having atrial fibulation. before that i was having irregular heart beats. My doctor could never catch the irregular heart beat because it wasn't happening at the time of my appointment. When I finally went into afib at work one night They called 911 because I thought I was having a heart attack. when they did a ecg at first they couldn't really tell what was going on because my heart was beating so fast and my blood pressue was so screwed up they couldn't hardly get it. Anyway they foudn that it was atrial fibulation. Alot of people have it and live their lives just fine some have problems with it. So far I have had to have my heart schocked twice to put it back in normal sinus rythm.
It can cause a strock but not as likely with a person on coumadin. Don't know if this was any help to you but I do know that people with prothetic heart valve can have this problem. Hope things go ok for your husband and you.