feeling of heartbeat/throbbing sensation

[caligal]

HI I am new to this forum - this seems like a great resource.

I have the sensation of feeling my heartbeat - like its pounding very hard. I also have the sensation of feeling my muscles pulsate in rhythm with my heartbeat. It's an annoying sensation.

I went to see my NEW doctor and she did an EKG and they said my heartbeat is normal. DOes anyone have any idea what this is?

Is this mitral valve syndrom? I asked my doctor and they said it has to be very severe scoliosos.

thanks very much!

[Cakedec]

We've discussed this on here before

The pounding, rapid heartbeat symptom does seem to be a common symptom of people on this forum. We discussed it in an older thread in the First Time Surgery group. Go back through the titles of the older threads and look for one, I think it's called "Strange Symptoms" or something like that and we found quite a few people seem to have this.

I don't think it's anything serious. I can feel mine race like crazy sometimes when I'm lying down, especially. If I focus on it, it seems to beat out of rhythm. No doctor has ever commented on it; I think it has something to do with the scoliosis pressing on nerves and muscles in your chest.

What kind of scoliosis curves do you have?

Deb

[LindaRacine]

Hi...

You need to ask what s/he terms as severe scoliosis. There have been several studies on the subject, all showing the incidence of MVP and scoliosis to be around 20-30% of all scoliosis patients. Here's one:

Pediatrics. 1982 Sep;70(3):451-4.
Incidence of mitral valve prolapse in adolescent scoliosis and thoracic hypokyphosis.

Hirschfeld SS, Rudner C, Nash CL Jr, Nussbaum E, Brower EM.

Seventy-four patients with adolescent scoliosis underwent cardiac examination and M-mode echocardiography to detect the presence of mitral valve prolapse (MVP). Twenty-one (28%) had echocardiographic evidence of MVP, whereas 18 had auscultatory findings of a nonejection click or late systolic murmur. A subset of 41 patients had a family history of scoliosis and 37% had MVP. The incidence of MVP increased to 41% when a first degree relative, such as a sibling, parent, or offspring, had scoliosis. Thirty-six patients with scoliosis had additional thoracic hypokyphosis (straight back) and 13 (36%) had MVP. The incidence of MVP was 48% when the scoliosis and hypokyphosis were hereditary and increased to 53% when a familial history of skeletal abnormality was present. This study indicates a high incidence of MVP in patients with scoliosis and hypokyphosis, especially when the cardiac and skeletal systems may be affected by a generalized soft-tissue defect.

From what I've read however, MVP is usually benign.

--Linda

[lnetzer]

Rapid Heartbeat

Hello! My 13 year old son was diagnosed with 2 curves in January of this year. In February and March he started having rapid heartbeat, so fast that I could see his shirt moving it was pounding so hard. We took him to a pediatric cardiologist and he wore something called an event monitor where everytime he was having an episode, he would push a button on the monitor and it would record it and then we'd send it in. He wore it just over 6 weeks. It all came back with no abnormal heart rhythms, so we then had the ultrasound of his heart done, again with no negative results. It turned out to be anxiety. For your peace of mind, you might want to consult with a cardiologist. Ever since we've been thru all of this, his anxiety has subsided greatly to where the rapid heartbeat is only happening maybe once a month or so....

Just my input

Laurie

mom to Josh age 13 double curves 77T/55L...scheduled for posterior spinal fusion July 10, 2006

[caligal]

thanks everyone`

I spoke to my doctor again (I have Kaiser in San Francisco) and they are going to conduct an echocardiogram in 3 weeks also to make sure everything is OK.

Thanks so much for everyon'es reply. This sensation is very annonying and I am eagerly hoping the echocardiogram will come back normal.

[Cakedec]

Meds can do this

Caligirl,

Are you on any medications? Some can make your heart beat harder or race. I found that anything with Sudafed (pseudophedrine) in it will do this; also if you drink caffeine--some people are very sensitive to it and their heart will race.

My ekg's and heart monitor tests both came out normal even though I have the same thing.

I haven't had an echo for it, but it is a good precaution for you. At least you will know for sure if there is anything wrong and most likely it will be normal.

Deb

[caligal]

thanks for the replies! I generally don't take any medications. I do take centrum vitamins and drink tea sometimes (not coffee), but that is a very good point which I will consider when taking any medications.

[berta@aloha.net]

Mvp

Mine ended up being MVP, all the way to Mitral Valve regurgetation. (MVR) I had open heart surgery and was lucky that they were able to repair my own valve, instead of replacing it.
I started off with strong rapid heart beats, off and on for a couple of months. I attributed it to menopause, until on xmas eve of '05, my heart would not stop beating fast and hard. It felt like I had been really working out, but wasn't of course. My mitral valve had finally broken all the way.
I don't want to scare anyone, but any rapid heart rates should be checked out asap. I was told that I could have passed out from the blood regurgitating backwards into my lungs. My heart was working very hard to keep the blood flowing down. The doctors said my heart was otherwise very healthy and ABLE to handle the extra work, for a little while at least.
I found out later that my MVR was linked, but not caused by my scoliosis, which I have a double curve of 50+ upper and 60+ lower.
It's just been within the last year that I have so much pain and my curvature IS progressing. I'm 57 and just joined this forum and it's been so great to have others to talk to. I am presently pursuing getting surgery.

[caligal]

thanks Berta for the note

How did they diagnose it as mitral valve regurgitaiton? How long was it when it progressed from MVP to MVR?

[berta@aloha.net]

Caligal,
First when I went into my local Kaiser clinic, my doctor could hear it, then she had them do an x-ray, then an ekg, and then she sent me right away to do an echocardiogram, which is the serious test. This was all in an hour. Then my doctor looked at me and asked me how fast I could pack my bags to fly from Kona on the Big Island, a half an hour away to Oahu to the Kaiser Hospital for further testing and open heart surgery.
I didn't even know that I had a mumur, which is the beginning of MVP. But many people can live with a mumur all their lives, no big deal. And I hear that many can have a degree of MVP and be OK with medication. So basically, mine went fast, since I only had moments of strong rapid heart beats before that, but hadn't gone in to be looked at, thinking it was menopause. The thing that scared me was when I started getting light headed for no reason and out of breath just going up my stairs and my heart wouldn't stop pounding, even when I was resting.
But I'm better now! I have a titanium ring around my mitral valve that gives it the support to open and close properly.