message #: 3370.2 in response to 3370.1
A year or so ago, I woke up with terrible chest pain. I'd never had it before and didn't think I was at risk for heart problems. My weight was okay, never smoked and only had wine on occasion. No family history, either. My husband rushed my to the ER and I was quickly admitted and a slew of tests done - sonograms, CT scans, etc. After a week in the hospital it was determined that my cholesterol was high (I'm on Lipitor now) and that I'd had a heart spasm. A new one to me! It's happened a few more times and I see a cardiologist every 6 months but so far, no more pain. If it happens again, I'll have to have angioplasty.
message #: 3370.3 in response to 3370.1
I want to tell you about my brother. At 44 years old he was in top notch physical condition and looked fantastic. He cycled many miles a week, lifted weights, jogged, etc. He thought he was doing great and wasn't worried at all, even though it runs in our family. One of our other brothers had a heart attack (very young) and just on a whim the fit brother decided to get his cholesteral checked and discovered to his shock he was a walking time bomb. He was started on medication immediately. The Dr. informed him that since heart disease ran in our family that diet and exercise helped but that the gene pool was against him. He's now even more diligent about his diet, exercise and getting regular check ups.
It never hurts to get things checked out even if you are not at risk.
message #: 3370.4 in response to 3370.1
Hi, Amy, and thanks so much for dropping by!
My story is rather long (and hard to believe for most), so I'll do my best to make it as short as possible. 8^)
In 1999, through routine blood work, it was found that my cholesterol was high. It was 600+, with triglycerides at over a 1,000. I actually had cholesterol coming out of my skin! That, and it being difficult to breathe, were the only symptoms. The follow-up with my GP sent me packing to a cardiologist. Neither my primary nor the cardiologist had ever seen cholesterol that high in any individual. Through a heart cath, it was discovered that I had a blocked artery at 100%. I was also told that my heart had made it's own bypass - however, it was narrower and weaker than the natural one. The other artery at that time was 30% blocked. The cardio also informed me that I could expect a heart attack within a couple of years. I was stented in my right iliac artery at that same time.
When I began to experience breathing problems again, I was referred to a cardio closer to home. He suggested that I wear a Holter, since my EKG showed nothing out of the ordinary. The Holter results were normal.
A friend told me of an excellent cardiologist in another state and told me I should try to make an appointment. The cardio didn't require a referral and he set me up with an appointment right away. All the usual tests were performed, along with another heart cath, where it was discovered that the previously 30% blocked artery was now at 100%. Once again, my heart had made it's own bypass.
Since then, I have had a cardioversion and regular check-ups, including blood work, and so far, so good. I'm not a candidate for heart surgery because of the narrower, weaker arteries - I probably would not survive major surgery.
Amazingly, I have not ever had a heart attack, for which I'm extremely grateful! Time will only tell what will happen with this broken heart of mine. My cardio did tell me that I probably wouldn't be as lucky with number 3 artery.
There's more to this story of mine, but I'm sure you understand what I've been through and why I'm on this board, eh? 8^)
message #: 3370.5 in response to 3370.1
I'm new to this whole heart disease thing.. Up until about a month ago I thought my heart was perfectly fine.. I've always had an abnormal heart beat. It was never diagnosed by a doctor until after the birth of my second child, when I was 24. I however knew my heart didn't sound right since around the age of 8. Since being diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia I had quite a few different doctors pick up on it, and they always wanted to run an EKG, which they would then tell me had come out normal, with "just PVCs" showing up on the EKG. So they would tell me PVCs are nothing to worry about and send me on my happy way.
Back in Dec I made an appointment with my family doc, just a check up, I needed new birth control actually. We had just moved here so I had never seen this doc before, she was VERY thorough. She listened to my heart and immediately told me she wasn't comfortable with the amount of PVCs she was hearing and she wanted to refer me to a cardiologist. I figured she was over reacting, but thought "Hey, whatever, it can't hurt.." So I saw the cardiologist a couple weeks later, fully expecting her to tell me what I already "knew", that my family doc was overreacting and the PVCs were nothing to worry about. That wasn't the case though. She ordered a 24 hour holter monitor as well as an echo to be done. The holter monitor was done the week before Christmas, and the eco was done the day after Christmas. It turns out the holter monitor results showed 12+% of my heartbeats were PVCs. The echo was even more shocking. It showed that I have a bicuspid aortic valve with stinting, murmur, aortic aneurysm, PFO (hole in my heart) and enlarging of my right ventricle! It was a shock to both the doctors and me! As far as I knew I was a healthy 27 year old. I've never smoked a day in my life, never done drugs or abused alcohol, I'm not overweight. My only risk factor is a long line of heart attacks on my moms side of the family. This was a complete shock!
The doctors decided they need to stop the PVCs because they feel they are contributing to my other heart issues. (The enlargement, the aneurysm) So I had my first cardiac ablation done on Jan 24th 2008, one week after finding this all out! Unfortunately the ablation was not successful so I'm scheduled to have it done again next month.
As for the other issues, they are watch and wait. The plan now is to keep my heart as healthy as possible for as long as possible, (hence the reason for the ablation) but I will be facing surgery to fix the aortic valve and the aortic aneurysm sometime in my life.
message #: 3370.6 in response to 3370.5
Thanks to everyone who has been able to share your story so far.
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