Aortic valve backflow

@ryman Everyone is welcome on Connect, and we are all different in what health issues we have. The important thing is that you have addressed your heart symptoms with a doctor, so good for you on that. I would guess that you have been seen by a cardiologist and had some testing that showed blood flow through the heart such as an echocardiogram. Has your doctor suggested a pacemaker? My dad was a heart patient and I would see the ultrasounds done on his heart at times when he was in the hospital and see the valves opening and closing. He developed electrical problems where the heart rate was irregular because the part of the heart that initiates the electrical signal to start the heart beat was not working properly. He took medication for that for awhile, and eventually they did an ablation to normalize the heart rate.

My dad had heart disease for many years and his cardiologists did a good job of keeping his heart functioning. Even though this may not seem like much, it is important to have regular cardiology visits to monitor for changes, and to follow a heart healthy diet. By speaking about this on Connect, you are also setting an example for other patients who may be wondering why they have irregular heart beats. You never know who could be influenced to seek medical advice and to act on that. Sometimes something doesn't seem like much, but we as patients shouldn't try to judge what is or is not serious. I know that I saved my dad several times by sending him to the emergency room when my mom didn't think there was a problem. She had seen my dad collapse on the floor, and then recover and seem just fine. That was the electrical problem I mentioned, and his pacemaker had fired and restarted his heart. We would not have known that without a trip to the hospital, and they almost missed it too. He was in for observation, and it wasn't until my dad got up to use the restroom when they were getting ready to release him that it happened again while they had the heart monitors on him. They raced in with their paddles to shock his heart back into a normal rhythm.

So applause applause for advocating for yourself with a cardiologist. Sometimes it takes a first heart attack for a person to seek the advice of a cardiologist, and any possible heart related symptoms should be taken seriously and discussed with a doctor.

I have a pacemaker and it is checked every 6 months. I am scheduled for a checkup next month and plan to discuss these things with him. Thank you so much.

One of the many general things I have learned during my cardiac enlightenment is that cardiac problems rarely get better on their own, and everything is interconnected. Leaky valves get worse, can cause decreased ejection fraction, chamber enlargement. I was diagnosed with a leaky aortic valve. Cardiologist said we needed to keep an eye on it. It later took backseat to Afib. I wasn't aware of the normal limits of EF and chamber enlargement, and for whatever reason, my cardiologists were zoned in on my fib, but never paid much attention to my valve problems. As a result I have a low EF and an extremely enlarged L. atrium and ventricle. Could have been avoided by replacing aortic valve early on. Now I am finally getting it replaced, but it's kind of like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out, and I have a much harder afib to treat because of the lowered EF, and the chamber enlargement.
You are correct - anything concerning the heart is serious, and small problems can become large quickly.
Keep learning everything you can about your heart, because your life can depend on it!