Diagnosed With Mitral Valve Prolapse?

[rymac]

I was wondering who here has been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse. I was diagnosed with mvp about ten years before I was diagnosed with dysautonomia.

[carinara]

Hi bluesman,

i was diagnosed with a mild mvp.

carinars

[Dizzysillyak]

How were you diagnosed ? I ask because I was diagnosed with a MVP at the Mayo Clinic just by a doctor using his stethoscope but when I had a complete cardiac workup they found that I have a left bundle branch block. I was told that this is a common misdiagnosis.

I was wondering how this relates to our dysautonomia too. Obviously our hearts can't be functioning normally, but is it enough to cause this ? I'm sure in some cases but how do we know.

Come to think of it, how many of you get winded easily upon exertion but not all the time ? I was thinking that this indicates a cardio problem and not deconditioning. Somedays, I can go for hours and not get winded but other days, I start the day getting winded easily.

[bjt22]

For the past 25 years, I've had doctors tell me, on and off, that I have a loud "click murmur". I have a mild prolapse with regurgitation.

[maggie]

I was dx with mvp in the beginning when I started having symptoms of pots. Mine is so small the dr said it couldn't be the cause of my heart rate going up so high. I was under the impression that anyone who had pots had mvp, but I could very well be wrong.

Maggie

[firewatcher]

I was dx with mvp in the beginning when I started having symptoms of pots. Mine is so small the dr said it couldn't be the cause of my heart rate going up so high. I was under the impression that anyone who had pots had mvp, but I could very well be wrong.

Maggie

At first my endo said he suspected MVP, but after a cardiac workup, it was negative. The cardiologist showed me the ultrasound and where the prolapse "would have been" if I'd had one. That's when I started looking into having MVP syndrome without the MVP and found POTS. Many people with MVP will have POTS or its symptoms, but not all POTS patients will have MVP.

[flop]

MVP is where one of the leaflets of the mitral valve in the heart moves in the wrong direction. Instead of the mitral valve closing, part of it moves too much and allows blood to leak through the valve. Any turbulent blood flow (like a leak across a valve) causes a noise / heart murmur that can be heard with a stethoscope. (A bit like water gurgling down a plug hole).

When a doctor listens they may hear a murmur and suspect what is causing it. To actually diagnose MVP you need to have an echo so that they can look at how the heart valves move and see if there is a prolapse.

From what I remember reading previously - lots of people with MVP on echo have symptoms of dysautonomia. I don't think that there is any proof that it is the leaky valve causing the symptoms, they may be coincidental findings.

What was often referred to as "MVP syndrome" is now usually described as being a form of dysautonomia.

I think that many people with MVP have POTS/dysautonomia but there are lots of people with POTS/dysautonomia who do not have MVP (hence the suggestion that is it not the MVP that makes people feel sick).

Flop

PS - I don't have MVP.

[rymac]

I remember my heart racing at around age 12. I never thought anything of it. I figured everyone must have this happen. A doctor with a stethoscope finally heard it when I was in my late 20's. Then I had an echo to confirm the diagnosis. No wonder this illness is so hard for people to understand there is no consistency with symptoms. I've never passed out. Maybe I will someday as I have felt close.

[flop]

The symptoms of dysautonomia are so confusing. One of my cardiologists doubts my POTS diagnosis as he says "syncope is not typical of POTS". I think about 30% of people with POTS actually faint, the others can get severe pre-syncope though.

Flop