@bbuck During the early 2000's, I was in my 50's, my family doctor (now we call them a primary care provider), noticed a mitral valve murmur which had not gone away on its own at the next visit. Referred to a cardiologist, fortunately, one who was well versed in HCM, in fact had trained at a place in MA that is now a COE. I had a list of tests and was diagnosed with HCM. Looking back, my dad most probably had it, maybe grandma did too. Over the years I had echocardiograms yearly, sometimes a stress test, too. Over time the thickness grew, I was Mrs. Denial, though! I was/am active (walk, gym, bike), started slowing down a bit around 2018. Doctor was getting concerned, wanted me to have surgery, Mrs. Denial was still here. (ME? Open heart surgery, you gotta be kidding!) Then in Feb 2022, I woke up during the night feeling ill, passed out on the way to the bathroom, first ambulance ride ever ... heart attack ruled out (your arteries are pretty clean), echo revealed thickening at a dire point. Cardiologist made it clear that "Your family will miss you" if I did not have the surgery. Whoa! This is really serious! The surgery took place in July 2022 at Mayo; I was 3 weeks away from my 76th birthday. Yes, went there from Upstate NY. From Feb to July, before the surgery, I had extreme shortness of breath which put a wrench in my style. I was prescribed a highly increased dose of Verapamil; side effect was something Metamucil and a high fiber diet and much water did not alleviate. I am so, so, glad I put on my badge of courage and saw this through, within 6 months I was doing everything again. Now, always keep in mind that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT! Some have the shortness of breath from the get-go, some take meds such as Camzyos which may/may not help the condition - one can ask 100 people and hear 100 different stories because we are all unique. Please be sure to read https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20350198 and https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy-clinic/overview/ovc-20442502 to start. I also recommend looking at 4HCM.org, an excellent nonprofit. The people at this organization help people by steering them to contacts to care/treat HCM. I am a Face of HCM (Linda standing on a boat). I hope this helps! How long have you known that you have HCM? Please tell us about your experiences with this inherited disease. I see that you have been a part of the discussions for quite a while!

@bbuck I had an afib-like episode, heart rate all over the place according to my chest monitor for doing exercising. I've always been a little short of breath, but that was diagnosed as asthma. Other than a "spell" here and there, I am completely asymptomatic. Although, things like being light headed or doctor's telling me I had a heart murmur, but it was "nothing to worry about" probably should have been a signal that maybe all was not really well after all.

One good thing that's come of it is that I have a fitness watch now and it's amazing what those things can tell you about your heart rate and sleep habits. It says I have sleep apnea, so things are just really going downhill in a hurry here, but I do get about 10,000 steps a day.