Sheila
Member
Hi everyone. I am a new member and glad to have found this wonderful forum. I am 60 years old and been aware for a few years that I have a bicuspid aortic valve. We moved 2 years ago from Cleveland to Marietta, Georgia and had to find all new doctors here.
I did not have any symptoms as such that could be clearly related to the valve. However, last December, I experienced a wave of dizziness while seated in church,- the best way I can describe it is that it felt as if my system was shutting down starting with my head! But in a matter of 10 seconds or so I felt powered up again and I did not blackout!
I saw my cardiologist who repeated my echo which showed no change from an earlier echo, in the aortic valve area, which has stayed stable for a couple of years at 1.0cm2. Since this dizziness did not appear to be a symptom of the valve we decided to wait and see.
I was fine and had no further dizziness till the end of last month and again it happened while I was seated and at rest. I thought it might be from some other cause so I went last week to see my new primary care physician who wanted me to have an echo right away and not wait till October when it was scheduled. On the way home from the doctor's office I experienced another brief dizzy spell.
I had the echo done this week on Monday and I was pretty shocked to find out that this echo showed a valve area of .7cm2 I will be seeing my cardiologist on Monday to discuss this change. I understand that different techs and equipment and even dehydration may cause variations in the readings. I will wait to see what my cardiologist says and if he wants more tests done before deciding what next.
I was wondering if anyone else had experienced a similar dizziness with no exertion at all, and if that was seen as a symptom of the valve getting worse?.
Thank you for all the useful information you have posted on this site.
Sheila
I did not have any symptoms as such that could be clearly related to the valve. However, last December, I experienced a wave of dizziness while seated in church,- the best way I can describe it is that it felt as if my system was shutting down starting with my head! But in a matter of 10 seconds or so I felt powered up again and I did not blackout!
I saw my cardiologist who repeated my echo which showed no change from an earlier echo, in the aortic valve area, which has stayed stable for a couple of years at 1.0cm2. Since this dizziness did not appear to be a symptom of the valve we decided to wait and see.
I was fine and had no further dizziness till the end of last month and again it happened while I was seated and at rest. I thought it might be from some other cause so I went last week to see my new primary care physician who wanted me to have an echo right away and not wait till October when it was scheduled. On the way home from the doctor's office I experienced another brief dizzy spell.
I had the echo done this week on Monday and I was pretty shocked to find out that this echo showed a valve area of .7cm2 I will be seeing my cardiologist on Monday to discuss this change. I understand that different techs and equipment and even dehydration may cause variations in the readings. I will wait to see what my cardiologist says and if he wants more tests done before deciding what next.
I was wondering if anyone else had experienced a similar dizziness with no exertion at all, and if that was seen as a symptom of the valve getting worse?.
Thank you for all the useful information you have posted on this site.
Sheila