chest pain common w/mitral stenosis?

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Marcia Becker

Hi. I am new to the site and have tons of questions. I am 43 and have mitral stenosis. I had a balloon proceedure 10 years ago. I have been doing pretty well since then, only noticing a slight decrease in ability in the last year and slight swelling in my feet in the evening.

I returned from a trip to Paris a month ago, and starting after an episode of chest pain the morning after I returned, I have developed shortness of breath, tightness, heaviness and pain in my chest and some dizziness.

I had an echo, x-ray, blood tests, and CT scan done. CT scan was clear, also nothing on blood tests. My valve is now at 1.3 cm. (It was at .8 when I had the balloon). My doctor is not concerned about my new symptoms because the tests show no reason for them. He told me that the chest pain was anxiety induced. (After a spell of pain from 2:00 am to 5:30, with waves of more intense pain, I went to the emergency room earlier this week-my children are now terrorized)

I am looking for a new doctor, so if anyone knows of a good one in Denver . . .

Is pain unusual, as my doctor told me, with Mitral Stenosis?

I wish I knew what was going on.
 
Hi Marcia-

Welcome to the site. It's a wonderful place with lots of info. to help you and we'll give you the straight skinny.

People with known heart problems need to have doctors who are up on everything and are interested in helping their patients. I think it may be time to mosey down the road to a different cardiologist.

Perhaps you need a cath. and a TEE.

I wouldn't waste any time either. It sounds as if the doctor is ignoring all your obvious symptoms, fluid retention, shortness of breath, tightness, heaviness and pain in my chest and some dizziness. GOOD LORD MAN, how many symptoms does a heart patient need to get the ball rolling.

Kiss that baby good-bye and find a caring and intelligent person to take on your case.

Let us know how you do.
 
Last edited:
Mitral Stenosis

Mitral Stenosis

Hi Marcia and welcome to the group,
Since you were on a long flight, did they do a lung perfusion scan to r/o pulmonary embolus???? You mentioned a scan, but not sure what type.
How are your arteries?

I also have mitral stenosis and have had it for a long, long time. My numbers are all over the place because I also have aortic regurg which makes an accurate mitral valve diameter measurement difficult. I do have chest pain, but it is due more to the AI I've been told. Please e-mail me if you have any questions, and I hope you are feeling better soon.

Francesca
 
Thank you Janie, Nancy, and Francesca. I sent a rather snippy email to my cardiologist, he was not on my insurance plan anyway (I fact I did not discover until we started looking for a new doc), and asked for a reference. I'm not holding my breath for a reply. He had been my doctor for 12 years, through the balloon valvioplasty and a pregnancy, so I don't know why he seemed to not believe I was really having these symptoms.

As far as I know, the CT scan was done to look for blood clots. It was not done until 3 weeks after I arrived home. All I was told was that it was "clear". I find it puzzling that these symptoms started after I got back, and got steadily worse. I never had anything like this before the balloon, only tiredness and shortness of breath. I got the feeling from the doctor that mitral stenosis does not progress in sudden "jumps" like this. I do need to have a cath (my doctor said in our last 3 minute conversation, that if I wanted one, I should call his assistant and arrange it). I will wait until I find someone new.

He has told me that I have a leaky valve, not just a narrowed one, so the echos don't tell the whole story. I know that I will need the valve replaced soon. When I had the balloon, they told me that it would only last 5 years and it's been 10.

So to throw another question out there, has anyone had such a fast progression of symtoms?

Marcia:confused: :confused:
 
symptoms

symptoms

Hi Marcia,

I am glad you are getting a new doctor, this one seems to have a very poor attitude. Have your symptoms subsided any since you had the lung scan?

After I had the last PE it was three weeks before I had the scan because I didn't call my doctor. By that time he felt the embolus had resovlved itself, but he was sure that was it because of my symptoms and prior history of PE (this was right after a long flight). The first one I had when I was pregnant which put me in the hospital for a month after which they induced labour. As for the mitral valve diameter, it has been from .08-2.5 and changes all the time. I had a cath with the anticipation of BV, but the measurement came back at 1.8 so they felt there was no need. I have 3+AI which makes the measurement difficult. In the last year my symptoms have increased and I've started having mild chest pain after exertion? What is your LA measurement? Have you ever had afib, that can cause chest pain sometimes. With the amount of MS you have and the length of time you've had it that could be a possibility.

Hope I'm not asking too many questions. With multi-valve involvement things can get tricky.

fdeg
 
What were your symptoms with the PE? I had wondered if that was the problem, but it had resolved itself before the CT was done, leaving only the symptoms. Naturally, my doctor didn't mention it and I couldn't keep him on the phone long enough to ask. My symptoms seemed to peek a month after my flight. It seems to be a little better now (at 5 weeks) but I have good days and bad, so it's hard to tell. I did have an episode of pain the morning after my flight that lasted about 30 seconds and radiated from my chest to my right arm. Since you have "been there", does any of this sound familiar?

I don't know if I have had any Afib or not. I have noticed some irregular beats and my heart beats very hard and fast after doing something like climbing a flight of stairs. After I heard the irregular beats, and calling the doctor's office in something of a panic (wonder why he thinks I'm hysterical?), I wore a 24 hour monitor. It was a "good" day and, of course, there was nothing there, except for a high heart rate at times.

My greatest fear through this is where the downhill slide is going to end. I really don't want to have the valve replaced before I have had a chance to research and make my choices. I keep hoping if I can put it off long enough, there will be some nifty new thing to get me out of this mess. Have you had your valve replaced? What is LA?
 
Mitral Stenosis

Mitral Stenosis

The first time the pain was excrutiating, like someone put a knife in me and dragged it to my back. I had chills and was so short of breath. The second time I was very short of breath and could not stay awake. I would get up for an hour or so and then had to go back to bed to sleep, but would wake up short of breath. I did not think it was a PE, but the scan tech told me that he had a doctor who was just feeling a little short of breath, no pain what-so-ever and ended up having surgery to remove the clot from his lung. So PE can present differently. The first time I was hositalized, but the second time my symptoms were gone after a week. Once the clot resolves the symptoms should be relieved as well.

LA = left atrium. The measurement should be on your echo report. People with MS have big LAs because of the blood backing up there from the slow filling of the left ventricle. The larger the LA gets the more prone you are to afib.

I have not had my valves replaced, I have been pretty stable for the most part. As I said the MS numbers have been all over the place and right now the valve diameter is 1.7 and last year it was 1.3 and the aortic regurg remains moderate, but my symptoms have increased.

Bottom line, you need to have the pain evaluated and if it continues you might have to insist on a cath in order for the doctors to look at your coronary arteries. Have you done an exercise test?

I am 47 and was diagnosed when I was 26 with rheumatic heart disease. I work full time at a pretty demanding job, but I can tell you, it is not easy.

Hope this helps in some way,
fdeg
Please feel free to e-mail me privately
 
Thanks for telling me about your PE. My symptoms have definately not gone away since the CT scan was done. I had another episode of pain at 2:00 am. I got up and took 3 Advil (I was told to take Advil for my "muscle pain" on my emergency room visit). Didn't make a dint. After 2 hours it eased enough to go back to sleep. It's still there this morning, but not as bad.

I wonder if it is exersise related, the bad days usually come on or after the weekend. I do lot more moving around on the weekend. I have not had an exercise test. I hope it will not take too long to get in with a new doctor. I will demand a cath if the symptoms don't stop.

I don't know how to access your email address, but I don't mind posting here in case someone sees it and says "I've had that!"

Thanks a lot. It helps to talk. I really appreciate it.
 
Dr. John Propp & Dr. Ronald Stevens!

Dr. John Propp & Dr. Ronald Stevens!

Hey Marcia,

I know a WONDERFUL surgeon in Denver! JOHN PROPP. A fantastic surgeon and he answered my every question. He?s very compassionate with a wonderful personality. He came by my room every morning. My anesthesia man was Ronald Stevens... a really cool guy.... in cowboy boots. :) They are wonderful people and they know their stuff. You?ll love them.

Here?s Dr. Propp?s address:

Rocky Mountain Cardiovascular Surgeons, P.C.
1601 East 19th Avenue Suite 4450
Denver, Colorado 80218-1216

Here?s Dr. Stevens address:

Colorado Anesthesia Consultant
Dept. 499
Denver, CO 80291-0499

I had my surgery at the ?Columbia Medical Center of Aurora, South'.

I don?t have mitral stenosis. I had a faulty mitral valve, causing regurgitation. Also chronic atrial fibrillation and a million other smaller problems with the heart. I think the a-fib was caused from the heart being screwed up for such a long time before I had the surgery. My cardiologist says it likely will never return to a normal rhythm or normal size. I was seeing a Dr. (PCP)regularly and having regular echos done. The wacko PCP was waiting for me to become ?symptomatic? That?s a long story..... the moral is don?t totally rely on your doctor to make your health care decisions. By the time she decided I should see a cardio, he said my heart wouldn?t survive the surgery! I lost a lot of confidence in doctors in general that day.

My heart has been screwed up for most of my life, but the last ten years or so I could really tell it was getting worse. The last year before my surgery, I knew I would need surgery at some point. The last couple months before I saw the cardio.... I was actually scared. I was having all the same problems I had always had, but they were happening much more often. My heart would start beating so hard that I?d break out in a sweat and I?d feel like I couldn?t breath. I could be sitting completely still and all of a sudden my heart would start beating so fast you couldn?t count the beats. And even when it was beating normal... normal wasn?t ?normal? . It would beat really fast then stop a couple seconds, then slow, just all kinds of weird. It still does that. I would get tired so easy..... I couldn?t even walk up the boat ramp without stopping to rest the last summer before my surgery. Any activity would make my heart go crazy.... a real drag for an active person.

Dr. Propp and Dr. Stevens are very knowledgeable, compassionate, easy to talk to people. :) Did I already say that? lol

Welcome to the forum,
Rain
 
Rain
I read your post and related to the arrythmia problem. You know, I had that same thing with a racing/pounding pulse, a pause and then a slow pulse. I was having SVT, or supraventricular tachy, at a rate of 240-260. It would pause, trying to convert itself, then slow to about 40. The most awful feeling. About a year ago, I went to the ER, when I became faint and couldnt get it to quit after an hour. The Doc noticed my Magnesium was like zip, and then pulled past records. It seems that everytime I had these episodes my Magnesium had been 0 and no one put it together. I now take 400 mg of Mg a day, and (knock on wood) havent had an episode SINCE! Go figure.
 
WOW!!

WOW!!

Hello Mindy,

I guess I need a mega dose of magnesium! :) I take a daily vitamin with 200mgs. Janie has told me the same thing.....guess I?ll take a couple hundred more mgs a day and see what happens. I just hate to do anything that might mess with my INR! Anything and everything I do .... has an effect on it.
Thank goodness you found your problem.... and it was such a simple fix!!

Best wishes,

Rain
 
"Organic"

"Organic"

Janie, The best thing I have ever found that is 100% organic is good ole cannabis. Unfortunately the "anal" powers that be in this country feel that it is far less dangerous than alcohol, so it's illegal. It does however take care of the desires you speak of. :D
 
Just tap your heels together, and say . . .

Just tap your heels together, and say . . .

Hey! what's going on with this thread? My, My.

Thanks to those who sent emails with advice, referrals, and support. I found a doctor, and I feel a little like Dorothy, because I found him in my own backyard, oh, ok sideyard, ok, OLD sideyard. It turns out that a very well respected group of cardiologists in Denver, who happen to be on my insurance list, also happen to have the son of my old next-door-neighbor in the group. After a truely retched Saturday night and Sunday, I decided to take advantage of the connection, and drop in on my old neighbor. Anyway, I spoke with the new Doc today and have an appointment in a week and a half!

I still don't have a clue what's going on, but I feel so much better knowing that I can leave the job to someone who knows what they are doing.
 
marcia

marcia

Just let us know what happens with the new doctor. Sometimes we have to go to several dcotors till we get one that know what he/she is doing. Good luck. And let us know simething. You keep hanging in there. You will get answers soon.
 

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