Been Doing Great for 16 Years, Now Wondering...Am I symptomatic or just getting old?

MA Bell · Mar 9, 2016

I just rejoined this group. I was very active back in 2000 when I found out I was facing mitral valve replacement surgery and then during my recovery. It was a lifeline. I continued checking in for a while but as the months became years, I turned my attention elsewhere and have had an amazing 16 years of continuous good checkups and wonderful life experiences. For the past several weeks I am plagued by a continuous dry, hacking cough. I am also experiencing increased fatigue, maybe malaise. Yesterday I had a sort of foggy out-of-body feeling while shopping. BUT I am also nearly 70 years old, still working, maintaining houses in two locations, and leading a pretty busy life. I wonder if there is anyone out there like me, who is having some changes and trying to decide if they are related to aging or symptoms that i need to be concerned about. My last annual checkup was 4 months ago and I was fine. I have a St. Jude's Mitral Valve, my surgeon was Dr. Ott at St. Luke's in Houston, and my cardio is Dr. Hogan. My present plan is to give it a couple more weeks and see if I get better and if not, maybe I should contact the doc. Right now I'm feeling fine but the coughing comes and goes and I've been working today but sedentary. It's easy to feel good when you work from your recliner! (I teach online)j. Cheers, mabel

honeybunny · Mar 10, 2016

Dr. Ott! Wow! Lucky you

Regarding the coughing, it could be symptomatic of a number of issues that have nothing to do with your heart. If it's been several weeks, my recommendation is not to wait any longer but to have it checked by your doctor, who should do some x-rays. Do a mental inventory of any changes to your lifestyle, particularly exposure to toxic materials or allergens or medication changes and report those to the doctor. And keep us posted.

epstns · Mar 10, 2016

Hi, Mabel! Gosh, you were here before I joined. . . Long time.

Another thing to consider with respect to your cough could be medications. Certain meds (like beta blockers, etc.) can also cause chronic cough. I have an on-again, off-again cough that we attribute to my beta blocker. For me, the cough is manageable, while the beta blocker does its intended job. For others. . . who knows?

Also, IIRC, chronic cough could be an indication for pulmonary hypertension, which is more common among valve patients than it is among the general population. We used to have a member who was the all-knowing lady with respect to pulmonary hypertension, but she jumped over to another site (can I mention it? heartvalvepatients.org). Her user name is Nancy, and her late husband Joe was the patient.

I think many of us have "good days and bad" but each of us has to evaluate when the bad ones have significant meaning. For me, the last couple of weeks have been rougher than normal, as I always add a few extra pounds over the winter when I can't be as active as I'd like, and the weight and general malaise of late winter takes its toll. I keep an exercise journal and if it doesn't turn around within the next few weeks, I'll call the cardio and go visit. Usually, though, it sorts out by early spring and I'm off for another summer. I'm about your age (now 68), still working, and just trying to live life. It doesn't get any easier, does it?

Duffey · Mar 10, 2016

If you had an annual check up with your cardiologist four months ago and everything was fine, then I wouldn't worry about your symptoms being valve related.

dornole · Mar 13, 2016

If your cough becomes much worse when lying down, that would raise the chance of possibly being congestive heart failure related to the mitral valve (I would not describe the cough I had as "coming and going" though & I coughed up bright red blood the size of a quarter after a few weeks of it). I agree with the above, why not at least see your primary care doc to start with to check your lungs?

MA Bell · Mar 16, 2016

I am very grateful for all responses. Yes honeybunny I feel very lucky to have had Dr. Ott and to be treated at St. Luke's in Houston. I really like my cardio also and am grateful to have near the Houston Med Center. I was treated at MD Anderson for breast cancer in 2010 as well but the big deal for me has been the heart valve and I am so happy to be ticking away 16 years out. Epstns, I am pretty sure I remember Nancy and Joe. I feel a little sad that I lost contact with all my fellow members back in 2000. I did get to meet several...one came to see me in the hospital, I went to visit another, and a 3rd I met for coffee in San Antonio. Anyway, I don't think it's meds because I've been on all of them for years without problem. A big likelihood is that is allergies again, a common malady in the Texas Hill Country. And I have to confess to being a little scared, I think because I've been feeling puny for a while and it's getting me down. Again I am soooooo grateful to you guys for taking time to respond to my posting. I felt a little presumptuous signing up and asking for help right away after being absent for so long. This is a wonderful group that was a lifeline for me. Dornole, once you have the surgery, you will start to feel tons better. It took a while to get over the operation but since then I've been able to do so many things that would have been impossible without it. Every day is a gift! Right now it's spring, and here in the Texas Hill Country the wildflowers are popping out. They are going to be gorgeous after the rains we've had this past year. I hope everybody else is looking forward to the joys of spring as well.