Not getting used to walking with a little running

[beneficii]

I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve with mild regurgitation a few years ago. I am 32 years old. My stats look OK right now, but I've had some issues with exhaustion lately. I relocated a few months ago to Sacramento, CA. Some of this might be psychiatric, which I've had lifelong issues with. For the past 5-6 weeks, I've had to use public transit, which involves a lot of walking and some running, and I've used it most days during the week during that time. Even so, I do not seem to be getting used to it, often ending up exhausted at the end of the day after coming home. If I have to do any running, I am already quite winded after just a few minutes. (In the past, some occasional running has not been a problem.)

I'm supposed to have yearly echo (which had been around February each year), but thanks to the move I've been without it for more than a year. I finally get my intake appointment at an all-purpose medical clinic on 5/2. I'll make sure to bring these issues up.

 

[almost_hectic]

Your condition may be progressing but if you've been fine at your last echo it may not have progressed a lot... but assumptions are never to be relied upon. I was fine one year and not the following and was due for my surgery. Not to scare you though. You're already looking around on this website so you're in the right place. Whatever you do, don't ignore it or forget to mention it to your doctors. It's not to be taken lightly, although I will also tell you that the surgery is not something you need to fear. As others here will also tell you the same, it's serious business for sure, but not to be feared.

 

[pellicle]

Hi and welcome

I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve with mild regurgitation a few years ago.
... but I've had some issues with exhaustion lately.
... For the past 5-6 weeks, I've had to use public transit, which involves a lot of walking and some running, and I've used it most days during the week during that time. Even so, I do not seem to be getting used to it,

give us a little more background on your previous fitness levels and what you rate yourself like in terms of exersize and activity.

 

[beneficii]

pellicle,

Sure. I was never a regular exerciser, but up to a few years ago I never had any problem with running if I needed to; some of the recent exercise intolerance over the past few years may be due to being in my 30s now. Nevertheless, I have been doing a lot of walking and some running the past 5-6 weeks, and I am still not getting used to it.

I kept an eye on things today, and when I tried running even for a little bit, my chest started feeling really tight.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

... but up to a few years ago I never had any problem with running if I needed to; some of the recent exercise intolerance over the past few years may be due to being in my 30s now.

sounds a familiar story to me. Back in 1992 I was 28 and was told it was "time" for my valve to be changed. I'd had an OHS at 10 to "fix" the valve. From my late teens through to 28 I was active and did a lot of cycling. By 1990 I'd become busier with life and had gone into a technical / desk role and then onto uni again (a change of career). I initially put my degradation of exersize tolerance to me getting old (30 seemd over the hill back then).

Interestingly exactly the same pattern emerged at 48 when my valve (a homograft) was becoming incompetent (stenotic).

I've realised that its an indicator (which is why I asked)

I kept an eye on things today, and when I tried running even for a little bit, my chest started feeling really tight.

lash out $50 bucks and get a basic training watch with HR monitor and keep an eye on where it goes to. That'll be really good feedback to you (and us if you share it).

Let me know if there is anything I can answer and I'll have a go

 

[beneficii]

This evening, I am having problems with dizziness and thinking, and I still feel uncomfortable in my stomach and lower chest/back. Earlier, my stomach felt sick and I was dizzy at the same time. The thinking problems seem to involve a disruption of working memory: I will think about something, then I will come to an object of focus, then I will digress a lot and focus on that object, then I will completely forget about the original thing I was thinking about ("desultory thinking"/"derailment"/"racing thoughts"/"tangentiality"). Other times, after doing a lot of digressing, my thoughts stop and go blank, and I see only blackness in my head ("thought block"). This gets even worse after I close my eyes to try to go to sleep.

This happens a lot in the evening, now that I think about it. I thought maybe it was psychiatric in origin (I'm diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and these issues can occur there), but now I wonder. This seems to happen in conjunction with these other issues. I've always had some problems thinking, but lately the problems seem to be much more severe than normal.

 

[dornole]

I'm glad you have your echo soon, that should give you some insight into whether your heart has changed from mild regurgitation and if this could have anything to do with your running symptoms, or if you need to look to something else like just fitness.

You could talk to your psych providers now about the thinking stuff. Haven't heard anybody describing those kind of thinking symptoms from regurgitation. I'm always tempted to ascribe all kinds of mental and emotional symptoms to !MY HEART! but . . . generally pull myself out of it and address things in the normal conventional psych treatment manner. I hope things settle down for you.

 

[beneficii]

So I have my echo and see a cardio tomorrow. Once i got set up with my primary care provider last week, this appointment came quick!

 

[beneficii]

Welp, no change. Same old bicuspid aortic valve with mild regurgitation and nothing else. Gotta find another cause for that fatigue.