Noisy valve

[Agian]

Almost two weeks out AVR. On-X mechanical in aortic position.
Pretty noisy.
Does the clicking get better, worse, stay the same?
Others can hear it as well.
It's something I'll get used to. Small price to pay really.
What are people's thoughts?

 

[epstns]

I do not have a mechanical valve, Agian, but as our late guru Ross always told people, "When people ask me if the ticking bothers me, I tell them 'Only when it stops.'"

 

[marc_kowal]

I've had my mechanical valve since 2012. In the beginning it seemed a little loud, and my wife could hear it when she was close to me. As time went on, it got softer, and now my wife can only hear it if it's a quiet room and she is really close to me.

The ticking is so soft now, that I only notice it when I concentrate on it. Obviously, when your blood pressure rises, it will get a little louder, but no biggie for me.

I look at the ticking this way.....If i'm still ticking, I'm still living, and I'm happy for that!

Hope that helps!

 

[almost_hectic]

Almost two weeks out AVR. On-X mechanical in aortic position.
Pretty noisy.
Does the clicking get better, worse, stay the same?
Others can hear it as well.
It's something I'll get used to. Small price to pay really.
What are people's thoughts?

It will get softer but dont be in a hurry. It takes time and if you're only two weeks out, so you've got a long way to go in the healing process. Enjoy it! With every week I found noticeable improvements in myself and how I felt. Id say not to even think about the noise for a few months, and then a few months after that. I dont know all the reasons why its gets softer but I just know that it does.

 

[Paleowoman]

I didn't have a mechanical but a tissue valve replacement BUT my new valve seemed very noisy for quite some months post surgery. It was explained to me that it is a new noise in the body which takes time for the brain to 'adjust' to. Apparently it takes a baby nearly six months to get used to the noises in his or her body. Just like we put aside background noises so they don't bother us, so the brain has to do likewise with internal bodily sounds. Have you ever listened to a tape recording of your family at a meal, or videoed it - you will hear all sorts of noises with knives and forks and more which you never really hear in 'real' life - that's not because they're not there but simply because your brain is able to filter them out. So it is when we get a new heart valve, though I appreciate that with a mechanical valve it can be more dificult for some to 'filter' out.

 

[RobThatsMe]

I have had both the St.Judes mechanical aortic valve, (10 yrs), and now the On-X mechanical Aortic valve,(6 yrs).
They're both audible, and really not much difference between the two in loudness to me. Mechanical heart valves are loud at first I suppose, especially to someone who has never had one before. I personally find the clicking comforting that it is working.

 

[Protimenow]

My St. Jude's was quite loud when I first got it, in 1991. It was loud enough that I couldn't play hide and seek with my daughter because she could hear me standing behind a door. It was so loud that I was able to annoy a person at a conference who I was sitting behind. He looked behind him, annoyed, a few times. After a few minutes of trying to 'focus' my sound directly at him (by opening my mouth and pointing in his direction), he finally asked 'who's wearing the cheap watch?' I told him that it was my heart that he was hearing, and I watched him shrink down in his chair.

Perhaps I've grown accustomed to the click. My wife doesn't mention it. I usually don't hear it at all, unless I REALLY try hard to hear it, or my blood pressure and pulse are high.

My wife appreciated the sound as evidence that I'm still alive.

If the sound doesn't diminish (and I think that it actually does), you'll get used to it. Those around you should get used to it. The clicking in your chest is a small price to pay for a functioning heart.

 

[vivekd]

I can only hear my On-X aortic valve in the night (especially when I'm having issues sleeping and sleeping on the side).
I bought white noise machine @ https://www.amazon.com/Marpac-Dohm-..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=FPFP931YHYM6JKDY29G3 and that helps me sleep better

 

[Ryanvs]

Hello.3 Months post opp - Some days it 'seems' louder than others, but now it's just a part of me. If I'm having a sleepless night then yeah, it can become bothersome. That said, at times I have an irregular beat, so it the 'irregularity' of the clicking that is off-putting, not the clicking itself. I got use to it and I assume you will to. It's part of you now. I'd be more worried if I couldn't hear it to be honest...

 

[Agian]

Thanks for the responses guys. I was having a shitty day yesterday, and everything was getting to me. Today it's been a non issue.

I really need to get back to work.

 

[epstns]

That's about normal. We all have "days like that." As I tell many friends, "My mother told me that there would be days like that -- she just didn't say that there would be so many of them, so close together."

 

[dani's nana]

I have a mechanical valve, CarboMedics 21-mm valve, and you wouldn't hear it. I am blessed that I can't hear it as repetitive noises since my stroke about put me over the edge. My husband can't hear it when he tries putting his head on my chest. Aortic valve replaced 3/9/16

 

[pellicle]

I was at a new (to me) doctors the other day, and before he pulled out the stethoscope he looked at me and said "my, you've got a real diesel valve in there haven't you"

 

[zee112]

Almost two weeks out AVR. On-X mechanical in aortic position.
Pretty noisy.
Does the clicking get better, worse, stay the same?
Others can hear it as well.
It's something I'll get used to. Small price to pay really.
What are people's thoughts?

Hi mate, I've had mine for 3 months now. I can't say it gets quieter, but you do become accustomed to it, up to the point that your mind completely blocks out the sound because it becomes a natural part of you, if that makes sense? I'm getting there, but you learn to live with it. At one point I couldn't hear it and became terrified lol

 

[Agian]

I was at a new (to me) doctors the other day, and before he pulled out the stethoscope he looked at me and said "my, you've got a real diesel valve in there haven't you"

isn't it funny how jokers say stuff to fellas that they wouldn't say to a woman? Reminds me of the time I electrocuted myself, everyone thought it was hilarious. Then again I didn't break a nail.

 

[Paleowoman]

isn't it funny how jokers say stuff to fellas that they wouldn't say to a woman?

Not necessarily LOL I wrote on here a year after I had AVR and had to go to A&E (ER) that a consultant there said that I have a “stonking murmur” ! Stonking meaning remarkable, exceptional, very loud, but also has sexual connotations as it comes from artillery usage - think of the shape of barrel of an artillery gun/cannon. When I told one of my own consultants what that other consultant had said, he told me that in America one meaning of the word “stonker” is an erection ! So that’s how big docs describe my murmur LOL

 

[FredW]

I didn't have a mechanical but a tissue valve replacement BUT my new valve seemed very noisy for quite some months post surgery. It was explained to me that it is a new noise in the body which takes time for the brain to 'adjust' to. ....

Interested Paleogirl, I was trying to sleep last night and felt this 'thump...thump...thump' in my tail bone and the top of my spine. I live is the country and it is so quite here, one can hear the stars pop out at night. It was the first time I had been in a quite place since Friday when the put the new tissue valve in. I called my wife over and asked her to listen to my chest. She heard it. In fact, she said it sounded good since before replacement, she could hear the murmur and it would disturbed. Then today, again I was lying down trying to nap and heard it. It is not disturbing for me, since it sounds like a good valve and is keeping me alive. I suspect it will go away or the ringing in my ears will overshadow it someday.

 

[Agian]

Not necessarily LOL I wrote on here a year after I had AVR and had to go to A&E (ER) that a consultant there said that I have a “stonking murmur” ! Stonking meaning remarkable, exceptional, very loud, but also has sexual connotations as it comes from artillery usage - think of the shape of barrel of an artillery gun/cannon. When I told one of my own consultants what that other consultant had said, he told me that in America one meaning of the word “stonker” is an erection ! So that’s how big docs describe my murmur LOL

Yeah, but I bet you were pretty confused and upset at the time.

 

[Agian]

I live is the country and it is so quite here, one can hear the stars pop out at night..

LMAO you must have some noisy stars ,down your way: "dude hope we're not disturbing you,, but we're popping out for the evening.'

 

[pellicle]

Hi

isn't it funny how jokers say stuff to fellas that they wouldn't say to a woman?

two things come to mind:

I think he picked his mark pretty well because I happened to think it was funny (although I see not everyone else would)

I think its interesting that while we discuss equality there is still the premise that you could say somethings to a man but not to a woman (irrespective of if you can or can't in reality do that). It underscores to me that equality is a premise of restricted applicability. Somehow (you know where I work) it gets used as a weapon and a lever as required - perhaps more so than the previous ways of thinking.