Heart Murmur

yes....i did....

Interesting, mind me asking how it was diagnosed/how long it took to diagnose?  Did you have to have any lifestyle changes?  What kind of process was it for you?

it's common and often doesn't require a ton of lifestyle adaption. 
 

Don't jump to any conclusions too quickly.  I recently went to the cardiologist as a result of my primary care doc. detecting a slight arythmia during a routine check-up.   Had to do the whole barium thing; treadmill work; all sorts of scans etc.  Concerned me a bit (I'm a good bit older than you).

In the end it was just that -a very slight arythmia. which the cardiologist said was pretty common and nothing at all to worry about. 

That said - definitely worth getting checked out!

Good luck.  Hope yours is also no big deal.

Roger

Yeah, same here. Was never diagnosed as anything. Get it checked out, but it's not that uncommon.

Edited by MonkeyClaw 2010-11-10 4:32 PM

yeah- my physician found a heart murmur a couple years ago.  Sent me to a cardiologist, who sent me to get an ultrasound to make sure it wasn't a valve problem.  Ultimately- no problem.

but- I have a better story that just happened this week.   I've been feeling great- my track workouts and pace are all terrific. But- I've felt an arrhythmia every now and then, so I went to my physician.  Wanted to make sure that it's OK for me to race. 

anyway- they quickly saw the arrythmia on the EKG every time I felt it.  They called it a PVC (premature ventricular contraction), and told me it's not a problem.   But wait- here's the good part.  I got to do a full Cardiac Stress Test. 

I was feeling pretty good past level 4 on the Bruce test. 13 minutes into the test- the tech asked if my legs were feeling heavy.  "Nope, my HR's just getting to my LT, I can go another 40 min at this pace".  When I passed 17 min (it gets steeper and faster), the Tech called in the doc and the other tech to watch, as they had never seen anyone go past 18 min before.  I went 21 minutes!

I was pretty cocky, telling the doc he needs to get a faster treadmill. 

Guess I got clearance to run my half mary this weekend.    

Yes, my mid-life crisis is going well.

Edited by morey000 2010-11-10 4:49 PM

Like it - nice job! 

.....hope they didn't charge you more for the extra time it took!

It's called a "flow" murmur when the identified cause is simply increased volume of blood flowing through the valves, as opposed to any structural problems.

I was having palptations during a very stressful period, dr. identified a murmer and I had a normal echo.

Now, just for fun, after a workout I'll listen to my heart and hear my murmur...it atually calms me because I know it's from a HEALTHY heart that can pump lots of blood.

Kids also get it especially when the are sick or feverish and their heart rate goes up.

But definately get it checked...however if youre not having any symptoms no need to overly concern yourself.

Last year during my physical, the doc was listening to my heart and stepped back and said, "That's strange."  Not what you want to hear during a doc visit.  She then asked if I'd been working out more and I told her that my training volume was up from last time.  She listened again, this time with me lying down, which somehow changed the sound.  She explained that increased training often causes a whooshing sound due to increased blood flow.  She assured  me it was nothing to worry about.  Hasn't caused any trouble. 

My doctor did the same thing - heard a Murmur and told me it was my Aortic valve... freaked me out - He also told me not to exercise til I went to a Cardiologist... The cardiologist did an Echo & Stress test and said I was fine and to never come back...

still worth getting checked though

Edited by Cardholic 2010-11-10 7:31 PM

I had a murmer and they found I had a leaky mitral valve (valve doesn't shut all the way so some blood backflushes). The only way it effects me is I get palpitations when I am stressed or have too much caffine/alcohol. Other than that no problems, even while completing Ironman Canada.

I represent the bad end of the range of possibilities. 

I had a murmur that was caused by a congenital bicuspid aortic valve, i.e., a structural defect to my aortic valve.  Was first diagnosed when I was young, but was asymptomatic until my late 40's when the valve started to deteriorate.  Ended up having open heart surgery to get a mechanical aortic valve.  Without the surgery my cardiologist said I would have had a life expectancy of about three more years.

The good outcome was that my surgery went well, I made a full recovery, and I ended up doing my first triathlon three years post-op.  Coming up on the ten-year anniversary of my surgery next month.

The moral of the story is get it checked out and find out for sure.  Hopefully, it's nothing serious, but you owe to yourself and your family to find out.

Good luck,

Mark

Edited by RedCorvette 2010-11-11 9:56 AM

Well, the "bad end" would have been without modern medicine, and you not being here to share your story. 
Now you are the $6M man.  "we can rebuild him.  make him better, faster, stronger..."
Welcome back amongst the living.  A generally nice place to be.

I have a murmur and go to see my heart doc once a year, so far no problem and the amount of training that I do seems to pretty good for it, for the past 2 years it has not regressed one bit.