Heart problems at 39?!
Discussion
Had an echocardiogram recently due to some chest pain that turned out to be muscular and went away.
However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
I got a scan as part of my bi annual health checks and my HR was 49bpm. Ok, a bit low, but this was in the middle of the day wide awake.
So a flurry of activity went on and they took it again, the same. He wasn't going to sign me off! Just put down sinus bradycardia in the end.
2 years later, same check, and its 43. with minor inferior repolarization disturbance, flat or low negative T in aVF - whatever that means, they were going to send me to a specialist but after much discussion and interview they said they would monitor.
Anyway, I could barely sleep that week. I asked a doctor friend and he said it was nothing to worry about, so I guess its not so unusual.
Since then i've bought a fitbit with heart rate check and I just have to accept my heart rate is low - its not because i'm some kind of deep sea diver or anything, it just is.
Hope you get it fixed.
So a flurry of activity went on and they took it again, the same. He wasn't going to sign me off! Just put down sinus bradycardia in the end.
2 years later, same check, and its 43. with minor inferior repolarization disturbance, flat or low negative T in aVF - whatever that means, they were going to send me to a specialist but after much discussion and interview they said they would monitor.
Anyway, I could barely sleep that week. I asked a doctor friend and he said it was nothing to worry about, so I guess its not so unusual.
Since then i've bought a fitbit with heart rate check and I just have to accept my heart rate is low - its not because i'm some kind of deep sea diver or anything, it just is.
Hope you get it fixed.
I am on Amplodapine (or however you spell the bloody things), for elevated blood pressure.
A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
Gary C said:
I am on Amplodapine (or however you spell the bloody things), for elevated blood pressure.
A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
I am sure the OP feels reassured now.A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
MrSmith901 said:
Had an echocardiogram recently due to some chest pain that turned out to be muscular and went away.
However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
When I was born, my mother's blood pressure was sky high. As they did, in those post war days, they confined her to bed, keeping her in hospital for two months, but the BP didn't change. She died at the age of 87, and then from a slip, knocking her head and having a bleed on the brain.However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
I had low BP. My doctor was concerned I would die. Had to go to work by train and not drive. My job's doctor monitored me at work, when he could be bothered. After daily, then weekly, then monthly checks, with, if anything, a slight deterioration, they gave up being concerned, and so did I.
There's this belief we're all definable by the norm. I'm not sure it is true.
Assume nothing until you have seen a cardiologist.
Last Jan I had what I thought was a panic/anxiety attack. Went to see the GP. Do you know you have a heart murmur Paul? Got referred for an echo, BP, and heart rate checks, and to see a cardiologist. I expected to be given some tablets. Regurgitation at the mitral valve. He referred me for surgery. That was the Wednesday, on the Monday we had our 12 week scan. I was 38.
Some subsequent tests, angiogram and TOE (avoid that one if you can!)
On September first I had Mitral valve repair with P2 triangular resection and 2 artificial cords to P2 segment + 34 mm Physio II annuloplasty ring. Replacement wasn’t rulled out so I was happy with the outcome.
The op would have been 8 weeks earlier but my wife and I both caught covid. Because of that I had 8 weeks to recover before by son was born.
All is good now. It was just one of those things. Not lifestyle related. There’s no getting away from it. The week recovery in intensive care was what I imaging hell to be like. Looking back the mental stress was far greater than physical. Having to write down all our passwords etc was rather sobering.
Last Jan I had what I thought was a panic/anxiety attack. Went to see the GP. Do you know you have a heart murmur Paul? Got referred for an echo, BP, and heart rate checks, and to see a cardiologist. I expected to be given some tablets. Regurgitation at the mitral valve. He referred me for surgery. That was the Wednesday, on the Monday we had our 12 week scan. I was 38.
Some subsequent tests, angiogram and TOE (avoid that one if you can!)
On September first I had Mitral valve repair with P2 triangular resection and 2 artificial cords to P2 segment + 34 mm Physio II annuloplasty ring. Replacement wasn’t rulled out so I was happy with the outcome.
The op would have been 8 weeks earlier but my wife and I both caught covid. Because of that I had 8 weeks to recover before by son was born.
All is good now. It was just one of those things. Not lifestyle related. There’s no getting away from it. The week recovery in intensive care was what I imaging hell to be like. Looking back the mental stress was far greater than physical. Having to write down all our passwords etc was rather sobering.
cliffords said:
I am sure the OP feels reassured now.
Asking questions like this you shouldn’t just expect reassurance. Reassurance from a group of unqualified strangers is useless, especially if it’s wrong and OP has something serious going on. It’s best to wait for the specialist because there are lots of factors at play. I started having heart palpitations and resulting panic attacks 23 years ago at the age of 18. It took nearly seven years of testing, 24 recordings, A&E visits to finally diagnose me with Paroxysymal Atrial Fibrilation - PAF. My heart takes a little pause and a rest, and then goes into an Animal from the Muppets drum solo for 3-4 hours. Not the most fun in the world, have to sit down and try to take it easy during that time. Been up the hospital during such events, heart rate easily in excess of 160bpm, they managed to capture the trace once and the diagnosis was PAF. Apparently it's an irregularity with the electrical wiring of the heart, I've had ultrasounds done on the structure of the heart and it's all fine. It's usually triggered by excessive caffeine or alcohol, or by stress and anxiety - unfortunately even thinking about it makes me anxious, so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
OP I would try not to worry, it's almost impossible not to get stressed out when it comes to your ticker, but believe me I spent the thick end of 20 years stressing myself out and worrying about dropping dead. It doesn't get you anywhere, and the chances are it's very unlikely to happen to you. Listen to your doc, if you can find yourself a tame cardiologist and get a batch of tests done to confirm all is well.
OP I would try not to worry, it's almost impossible not to get stressed out when it comes to your ticker, but believe me I spent the thick end of 20 years stressing myself out and worrying about dropping dead. It doesn't get you anywhere, and the chances are it's very unlikely to happen to you. Listen to your doc, if you can find yourself a tame cardiologist and get a batch of tests done to confirm all is well.
NorthDave said:
cliffords said:
I am sure the OP feels reassured now.
It could be worse. I read it as the chap died twice which seems quite good in the scheme of things!OP - better to find out now and be treated than be oblivious and fall down dead in a few years!
OP: This will sound odd but you may well have had a little lottery win here.
My Dad had a genetic heart condition; a fact only discovered when he had his first heart attack at the age of 42. Subsequent investigations revealed the issue which was then addressed through some moderate diet changes, regular check-ups and two pills a day. He lived to his mid-70s. When he had his heart attack, he was young enough and fit enough for it not to be a game ender. Had he had it 10 years later, I suspect the outcome would have been very different.
Similarly, at 15, my daughter (now 27) was diagnosed with a highly rare, non-malignant but potentially lethal type of neuroendocrine tumour. This was determined as a result of a faulty gene and subsequent investigation found my wife to also have this same faulty gene (as her mother did who died at the age of 52 with the same thing my daughter had). As a result of this, both have a full annual MOT: MRI, Blood Tests, the works. This is primarily to spot any signs that relate to the faulty gene but will also flag up anything else. And as a result of this, they will both likely outlive any of us.
It's not nice to find out stuff like this but finding it out at a young age can be a blessing and sometimes, an advantage.
My Dad had a genetic heart condition; a fact only discovered when he had his first heart attack at the age of 42. Subsequent investigations revealed the issue which was then addressed through some moderate diet changes, regular check-ups and two pills a day. He lived to his mid-70s. When he had his heart attack, he was young enough and fit enough for it not to be a game ender. Had he had it 10 years later, I suspect the outcome would have been very different.
Similarly, at 15, my daughter (now 27) was diagnosed with a highly rare, non-malignant but potentially lethal type of neuroendocrine tumour. This was determined as a result of a faulty gene and subsequent investigation found my wife to also have this same faulty gene (as her mother did who died at the age of 52 with the same thing my daughter had). As a result of this, both have a full annual MOT: MRI, Blood Tests, the works. This is primarily to spot any signs that relate to the faulty gene but will also flag up anything else. And as a result of this, they will both likely outlive any of us.
It's not nice to find out stuff like this but finding it out at a young age can be a blessing and sometimes, an advantage.
Thanks all.
I wasn't expecting a diagnosis by posting, but then I am not sure what I was expecting :-)
All I can do is wait for this appointment and hope for the best. Hopefully the fact that I feel normal/fine means I am not going to drop down dead in the immediate future and whatever is causing my heart to be "weaker than normal" is treatable in some way. And as some have suggested, if it has been caught early, maybe it is a blessing in disguise.
One of the things that annoyed me the most about this was receiving a generic text message from my doctors telling me my heart was weaker than normal, a phone call to discuss it would have been nice. I promptly called them the next day to talk it through but the GP didn't really help much other than to give me this 50% ejection fraction number. I then googled it and decided I was basically dead. I am good at worst case scenario.
I wasn't expecting a diagnosis by posting, but then I am not sure what I was expecting :-)
All I can do is wait for this appointment and hope for the best. Hopefully the fact that I feel normal/fine means I am not going to drop down dead in the immediate future and whatever is causing my heart to be "weaker than normal" is treatable in some way. And as some have suggested, if it has been caught early, maybe it is a blessing in disguise.
One of the things that annoyed me the most about this was receiving a generic text message from my doctors telling me my heart was weaker than normal, a phone call to discuss it would have been nice. I promptly called them the next day to talk it through but the GP didn't really help much other than to give me this 50% ejection fraction number. I then googled it and decided I was basically dead. I am good at worst case scenario.
Gary C said:
I am on Amplodapine (or however you spell the bloody things), for elevated blood pressure.
A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
I;m on them as well as simvastatin and Lisonpryl!A friend of mine who's dad I worked with, retired and within 2 years had a heart attack and died
He then at ~43 had one and died on the table during surgery despite being fit and active.
His brother is now on a cupful of tablets every day.
Look after yourself and good luck, but the treatments do seem to work, just a pain to remember to take it.
MrSmith901 said:
Had an echocardiogram recently due to some chest pain that turned out to be muscular and went away.
However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
How many covid jabs and boosters have you had? However the echocardiogram came back saying my ejection fraction was 50% which is apparently low and now I have to be referred to a cardiologist.
This is pretty scary. 39 years old, 2 young kids etc. I am not overweight, exercise regularly, I eat ok, fairly healthy but with treats for sure. I also like a beer or two at the weekend.
So when am I going to drop down dead? Assuming I have some kind of heart disease or heart failure. Haven't been able to think about anything else since and the earliest cardiologist appointment I managed to get was in the 1st week of April.
I appreciate lots of other people have it worse but this has really knocked me for 6.
Unless I’m reading this wrong the result has come back on the low side of ‘Normal’.
So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
Armitage.Shanks said:
Unless I’m reading this wrong the result has come back on the low side of ‘Normal’.
So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
Depends, some places say 55% to 70% is normal. Some say 50% to 70% is normal. The NHS are saying I am borderline low and that the result is lower than expected. So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
MrSmith901 said:
Armitage.Shanks said:
Unless I’m reading this wrong the result has come back on the low side of ‘Normal’.
So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
Depends, some places say 55% to 70% is normal. Some say 50% to 70% is normal. The NHS are saying I am borderline low and that the result is lower than expected. So the result is ‘Normal’ so what’s the problem? Let the medical expert advise and get on with life.
That the trouble with testing procedures these days you go in for one thing they run some tests and they then pick up something that’s incidental to what you went in for and knew nothing about.
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