Loud heart beat 9 years after surgery?

[coryp]

Hello All,

Im still here but ticking louder than ever!!! I do NOT have a mechanical actually an edwards magna valve put in 2005. Health good valve still seems fine. Recently i feel like my heart is beating stronger and louder. I had the issue like many of you after surgery where i could feel it in the back of my neck and that stuck to me for sometime. I am avg build and size so the dr always thought this was normal. It never kind of went away but i just dealt with it. Dr said you were a VW and now a porchse!!! Great. Recently i can feel and hear the beat right at top of my sternum even as i write this email, it was only apparent before at night, not during the day as things go on.

Now i have just done blood work, and ekg, all checked out ok. Tried a 24 hr holter but the results were not good as the machine was not working correctly (waste of time). Checking my blood pressure and i only take atenolol 100 mg at night daily, it has been 116/75 on avg. Now i have been drinking more red wine and other alcohol over past few months which could lead to palpitations (i rarely get) and alot more salt with these great jalapeno chips (tims, they are the best in the world). Im thinking maybe poor diet and alcohol playing a roll?

LAst week for about a week i felt a flutter (i was diagnosed with svt prior to surgery as well) for about 5-7 days kind of like a skipped beat but not, more like a shake, i did not feel great but really did not feel bad and no other symptoms. Although i can hear and feel the strong pulse and beat my RP is 60-64 everytime i check, almost feels like it going much faster but it isnt?

Anyone with any insight and suggestions? I am not going to drink and alter my diet for next 5 days and see what happens with that.

THANK YOU

 

[Paleowoman]

Whenever a doctor listens to my heart they comment I have a "loud S2 sound" (my aortic valve was replaced nine months ago). "S2" is the sound of the aortic valve closing. I can hear it louder too. When I had bicuspid aortic valve it would have been very quiet the more and more stenotic it became and a "soft S2" sound is an indication of stenosis. I had assumed that the louder sound was because a) the valve is new and crisply working - I have an Edwards CE Magna Ease but it's obviously newer than yours, and b) because I am thin, and c) I have a slightly depressed sternum so my heart is sitting snugly right behind and against my sternum - I have seen that on CT scan too. Are you thin or have a depressed sternum ? I am due to take part in an exam for doctors who want to progress up the medical career ladder on Friday - if any comment on the reason for my loud S2 sound I will let you know.

 

[Duffey]

Hey, Cory! Long time, no see! You mention having an EKG and bloodwork. Did you have an echo? I think your plan to limit the salt and alcohol is a good one. I've learned over the past nine years that fluid retention can cause unwanted heart symptoms.
Mary

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Coryp - I was in the exam today, eleven doctors listened to my heart. What was interesting was that they all heard a loud S2 sound,and an "aortic flow murmur" which happens with a bioprosthetic valve (apparently). Also one clever guy noticed it was louder when I leaned forward - YES that's something I've always noticed, how my heart sounds even louder when I lean forward. So, with me, it's normal but the sound of a bioprostetic valve which is louder, apparently, than a 'natural' heart valve….I don't know if that is always the case. The doctors who made a 'mistake' (failed the exam) were saying I had a "pan-systolic murmur" which they put down to mitral regurgitation. I haven't got that, but that is something that causes a similar loud murmur I suppose.

 

[neo]

Did you ever find out why it got loud again?