Panic/anxiety attacks/mitral valve prolapse?????

[Marge]

I've been having what I think are panic or anxiety attacks.

They are really wierd -- general feelings of impending doom for no rational reason. (And I'm fully aware at the time there is no rational reason.) Not associated with a specific phobia, btw. They usually pass in about 10 minutes or so. I can usually distract myself& make them go away, by taking a walk or something. Worse than the attacks themselves is the fear of recurrence .... !

Since they are not truly disabling, at this point, I want to avoid them becoming so -- so I called Kaiser mental health & I have an appt early next month with a psychologist.

Their procedure is to have a telephone interview with a psychiatrist when you first call, so I did that, and he asked me a slew of questions. He raised the issue of mitral valve prolapse. He suggested maybe I should be checked out for MVP.

Well, I told him, sure, I've had mitral valve repair for a malfunctioning valve, but I was never diagnosed as having mitral valve prolapse.

Looking up mitral valve prolapse on the net I find that, in fact, panic/anxiety attacks are often one of the symptoms of MVP. MVP symptoms include palpitations, rapid heartbeat, etc.

But I have a rapid heart beat anyway (have had it since shortly after the surgery) & I have palpitations, although they do not necessarily (as far as I'm aware) show up when I get the panic attacks or whatever they are. The anxiety is in my mind rather than reflected by any physical symptoms.

I've been diagnosed as having atrial flutter, and it's always been implied these symptoms are related to the atrial flutter. (My cardio has me on coumadin for the flutter but otherwise he has never seemed to be worried about either the rapid heart beat or the palpitations -- which have never really bothered me either). Nobody's ever suggested I had MVP before! Do I now call my cardio's office & try to get them to check me out for MVP before I see the psych? I really do not feel the panic attacks (or whatever they are) are related to any heart condition.

 

[Georgia]

"feelings of impending doom" is a classic symptom of heart trouble - particularly for women. Suggest you contact your cardio asap and get checked out.

 

[carista]

I also have anxiety and panic attacks and if I feel there "could" be an issue with my health it will make my anxiety worse. If I were in your position I would make a doctor's appt. just to be safe or to at least calm your anxiety in that area. The symptoms you're having do sound like anxiety, but like you already mentioned anxiety can be one of the symptoms of a health condition. Better safe than sorry...

Carista

 

[Karlynn]

I had panic attacks w/ my MVP prior to my replacement.

 

[aussiemember]

I have MVP and 2 years ago had episodes which one cardiologist thought were panic attacks. I would get a feeling of impending doom - my heart would race and I would feel like I was about to pass out. This happened twice while I was driving and really freaked me out so much that I became afraid to go anywhere on my own. They tried to catch them on an event monitor but were unable to and even though I went to emergency twice they had finished by the time I got there.

However, another cardiologist thought these episodes were related to my MVP and referred me to an electrophysiologist (spelling??) cardiologist. He decided to perform an ablation and was not able to get an incident to start while doing the ablation but apparently still treated an area of my heart where these impulses typically occur. Since then I have not had another episode. However, I have always wondered - did the ablation fix my problem or did the fact that I knew I had had the ablation convince my mind that there was no longer a problem and therefore stop the attacks. I'll never know I guess.

I would definitely get it checked out - do you have them frequently enough that a halter monitor would be able to track one???

 

[Karlynn]

I have MVP and 2 years ago had episodes which one cardiologist thought were panic attacks. I would get a feeling of impending doom - my heart would race and I would feel like I was about to pass out. This happened twice while I was driving and really freaked me out so much that I became afraid to go anywhere on my own. They tried to catch them on an event monitor but were unable to and even though I went to emergency twice they had finished by the time I got there.

However, another cardiologist thought these episodes were related to my MVP and referred me to an electrophysiologist (spelling??) cardiologist.

Up to the point quoted - it's exactly my story with panic attacks. The EPS doctor didn't find anythng to ablade. Pluse the EPS was done because I was having so much arrhythmia - not just with panic attacks. I continued to have panic attack up until about 3 months of recovery from VR. I didn't have them often, but it was scary. Learning to talk yourself through them is a big help.

 

[bvdr]

Marge, a MVP will show up on an echo. Is it mentioned on any of your past reports? When was your last one? My mom had MVP and panic attacks as well. She had a couple on overseas flights and ended up being moved up to empty seats in first class to try to quiet her down. She laughed about it later but I know it was scarry for her. She was a high energy person and in between the attacks functioned very well. She was never treated for it until she was in her 70s. You are wise to nip it early and seeking help for it is exactly the thing to do.