Hi Everyone,
Has any of you heard of MVPS? It is a benign heart condition of the mitral valve. I have found that many of the symptoms from this is similar to mine. Some part of this condition is called Dysautonomia. People with dysautonomia/MVPS have a more active autonomic (stress) nervous system.
Some symptoms of this I found on drhoffman.com/page.cfm/184:
Migraine headaches ~ Dizzy, spacy feeling ~ Difficulty concentrating ~ Balance problems, vertigo ~ Insomnia, sleep disturbances ~ Hyperventilation; shortness of breath ~ Palpitations of the heart; skipped or irregular heart beat ~ Panic attacks, with pounding heart beat ~ Phantom chest pain with no apparent physiological cause ~ Hypersensitive startle reflex ~ Cold sweats ~ Cold hands and feet ~ Numbness or tingling in the fingers or toes ~ Bowel urgency, diarrhea, constipation ~ Sensitivity to drugs, including alcohol, caffeine, and medications (caffeine prevents the natural absorption of catecholamines, so that they linger in the body. Caffeine and theobromides in chocolate are related to medications used to treat asthma, which work by inhibiting the absorption of catecholamines.) People with mitral valve prolapse are especially sensitive to all kinds of drugs and medications
Triggers: ~ Hypoglycemia ~ Adrenal instability, with hyperactivity followed by adrenal exhaustion ~ Hypothyroidism ~ Chemical sensitivities ~ Food reactions ~ Fluctuating sex hormones, especially estrogen, causing worsened symptoms of PMS and menopause ~ Magnesium deficiency
Obviously I dont’ have all of these symptoms but they are pretty close to what I have. Has anyone heard of this?? I think I saw that even if it is treated with surgery or something it still doesnt cure the symptoms and I also heard it’s really hard to diagnose!
Ashley
I actually have been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse. Technically, the mitral valve in your heart is ‘floppy’ and allows some blood to back flow, which can cause palpitations and lightheadedness. You can only dx it with an echocardiogram, which will show the structural abnormality of the mitral valve. Even then, some people have such a mild case that it might not be evident. The MVPS includes a lot of autonomic symptoms, most of which I had before I got dx. I thought I was going crazy with the panic attacks, palpitations and chest pains, so it was a relief to know I had something that generally is regarded as one of the more benign heart conditions out there. You really only need surgery if you have a large degree of mitral regurgitation - too much backflow basically, and a valve replacement might become necessary. That’s not extremely common though.
And I have read that people with MVP or MVPS are more prone to migraines as well, so it sort of all fits together. A lot of symptom management is stress reduction and exercise/diet - once I improved that, all my cardiac symptoms went away. Now if I could just get rid of the migraines and dizzy feelings, I’d be on a roll!
Hope that helps and was not too technical. I am studying to be a PA and am lucky enough to have lots of great medical journals at my fingertips, so learning about exactly what this disorder is really calmed my nerves.
Thanks for your replies. - Timeless that’s a good website.
Taryn - Do you think your migraines and dizziness are caused by your MVP? Do you actually get headaches b/c I rarely get headaches and if I do it is not very painful (just kind of a dull feeling). Did the stress reduction and exercise/diet help get rid of your panic attacks? I believe I am suffering from panic attacks but not to the extreme as some. In certain situations (class, theatre…) I get very dizzy, heart races, weak, sometimes lightheaded, cold hands…It makes it very hard to sit through situations like that. Are you on any meds? I am not at the moment b/c I am really sensitive to them and scared to try any.
Ash
I really don’t know if my migraines/dizziness are caused by the MVP. Research (some, anyway) proposes a link b/t the two, but who knows how strong that link is? I do get actual migraines, sometimes pretty bad ones, and have since I was about 20. The dizziness, head pressure, etc…only started recently, which I chalk up to my age (now 30, and sometimes migraines can change/worsen with age), and grad school stress. Regarding the panic attacks, I will defnitely say that the stress reduction/exercise helped them, but even more so was knowing that they were ACTUALLY panic attacks, and that I could control them. I kept thinking something was terribly wrong w/my heart, so I was freaking out each time this happened. But once I could rationally explain my symptoms (which were everything you mentioned - dizzy, racing heart, sweating…) it greatly improved. I know you said you were sensitive to meds. I don’t like taking them either, but my doc prescribed low dose alprazolam (Xanax) to be taken at the onset of an attack…I even cut that dose in half, only had to use a couple, and now just carry them in my purse w/me. It’s psycholgical, but for me it totally helps, and helped me break the panic attack cycle. I had no side effects from the Xanax. And I haven’t had an attack since November.