Help!!:((( New Panic Attacks and Arrythmias with BAV

[Guest]

Hello All!

New member of this wonderful forum. I’ve been getting some much needed help from everyone in here as I’m battling some serious psychological barriers through panic attacks and constant anxiety. Looking for some re-assurance.

Im 27 years old with BAV(mild to moderate regurgitation), 3.6 dilated root and “sinus arrythmias”. All things I’ve had since birth.

i have already addressed my worry over BAV and the root dialation (so happy to find out from you guys im at stage 2 of 5 when it comes to regurgitation, and that 3.6 dialated root isn’t an anuyerism.)

But now my occasional arrythmias are terrifying me. Again, if had them as a kid, but only now am I really aware of what they could be and could cause... I’ll give a rundown of my episodes and everything below:

* Episodes can last for seconds, 1min, 5mins or very rarely 30mins. They usually occur a couple times a week, but can happen several times a day, or very infrequently like 1 in 3 weeks. My bpm goes somewhere between 120-150.

* They almost always occur at night, when laying down they may be triggered by a change in posture, exertion, emotional anxiety/panic, coffee or alcohol(I don’t really every drink coffee or alcohol) I also think they happen often if I eat a big meal to close to when I go to bed. It very very rarely occurs during the day or from physical activity.

* recently I have gone about 5 days straight getting them in the middle of the night. I wake up in a slight panic with heart racing and then the episode really clicks in.

I recently came to the cardiologist with my concern, who said that we can’t officially classify these episodes as I’ve never had one during our testing, but she said it IS NOT AFIB. It surprises me she said that cause I was under the impression it was impossible to rule it out unless I was having an actual episode during testing. She said that during my 24 hr heart monitor, ekg, echo, stress test that she would be able to see signs of anything concerning. She said it’s most likely just “sinus arrythmia”.... she isn’t worried about event monitor or additional testing to find it.

but the amount of indecision around it makes me uncomfortable. Are we sure it’s not dangerous for my BAV or aortic root? Does her rational seem logical to you guys? Should I seek a second opinion? I feel silly doing that if they say the same thing. How successful are treatment options like ablation?

ANY HELP OR GUIDANCE WOULD BE A LIFE SAVER

Best,

Josh

 

[jjay32]

hi Josh, a couple of things to cover here. The high bpm you experience is from your heart trying to get back to a normal sinus rhythm. I also get episodes of heart flutter, last time I had a 24 hour monitor on it tracked about 200 episodes of extra beats per day; these are benign. I have gone into AFIB a couple of times, last time it lasted 18 hours, my cardiologist was not concerned, if long episodes happen then they will come up with a game plan. Sounds like you have a 24 hour monitor tracking coming up and that will give them a better picture of what is going on. There are drugs that help with AFIB if it comes to that, ablation is usually the last thing they do. In fact many people live with AFIB without any type on intervention. so in summery, most arrhythmia's are benign, just can feel weird, not life threatening.

Having a BAV isn't a disease in itself, just means you have 2 flaps instead of 3 in your aortic valve. Up to 50% of BAV folks never have an issue of any type. Sounds like you have some regurgitation of your aortic valve so they will be tracking that. I checked out average root sizes and the range is 2.1 to 4.3, with males being on the larger size, also you overall size was a factor, larger person-larger average root size. All my echos show a dilated root size but my cardiologist has not been worried about it. When I met with my surgeon he brought up the root by saying when I am in there i will make a decision about whether to replace that or not. Your BAV is just a statement of what type of aortic valve you have, your regurgitation is the condition, I don't think the arrhythmia effects the regurgitation issue. It sounds like you have some tests coming up that will give your medical team a game plan for your future. It sounds like we have very similar issues (just my valve has stenosis) You are at the beginning of your journey and I am at the end with surgery in 10 days. I just learned to relax and enjoy the scenery during my journey, I wish you peace.

 

[WillieR]

BAV here...Severe regurgitation... will be having AVR soon. I have had very similar symptoms in the past, they come and go, and like you I almost only notice them at night. It was scary, I'd get out of bed and just sit up until it calmed down. At the time I was a heavy coffee drinker, and probably consumed a few sodas each day as well. After I found out that caffeine could lead to palpitations I cut it out from my diet and since then I have had almost no symptoms. Additionally if you are not on a Blood Pressure medicine you may want to talk with your Dr. even a low dose of Lisinopril can help your hear function.
Your situation could be different but I think you should know this isn't uncommon with BAV and all cardio's I've talked to have told me not to worry about it. I know it can be scary at first but odds are that it is not life threatening.

 

[Zoltania]

I’ve been getting some much needed help from everyone in here as I’m battling some serious psychological barriers through panic attacks and constant anxiety. Looking for some re-assurance.

Hi Josh,

I don't know if you've been getting professional help for your panics and anxiety, but help is definitely available. Kaiser in my area offers a class called "Panic Recovery Group" as well as a class focusing on general anxiety. The workbook for the Panic class was "An End To Panic," by Elke Zuercher-White, which I found helpful even though I didn't have panic attacks as such.

One interesting thing I learned from the book and the class is the variety of physical symptoms that panic can cause, including not only the obvious ones like rapid heartbeat but also things like vision disturbances and numbness/tingling in the extremities. It's amazing what our brains and bodies will do in an effort to protect us. Of course it's difficult when you have a heart issue to know which symptoms represent real health problems and which don't.

Don't be afraid to shop around until you find a cardiologist whom you like and trust. Having a reassuring partner in this journey will help a lot.