Unusually LOUD heartbeat

[KLS39]

I am just over two years post OHS - ON-X aortic valve 19mm, ascending aortic aneurysm and innominate artery aneurysm repaired. I hear a clicking on very rare occasions if I am laying in the right position. I still hear a thump quite often if I am in a quiet environment. There are times when I also see my shirt move when it is really thumping. No rhyme or reason to when I feel the loud thumps. My cardiologist and other doctors remark at how loud my valve is. I'm used to it now. Luckily I don't notice it when I am trying to sleep.

 

[tom in MO]

I am 12 years out and "fleshy". I haven't really noticed my mechanical aortic valve for several years. I did at the beginning. But them I'm now 65 and have lost some hearing...see the good our afflictions can bring

 

[ckeogh]

I had the same surgery as you and I can't believe how loud it is. I constantly have to have a conversation where someone stops and looks around the room and says"sshhhh can you hear that". Then I've to tell them it's my heart and it's OK......I think

 

[vitdoc]

I have zero proof for this but I have attributed the thumping sound to the position of the heart relative to the sternum. It seems like the sternum is like a sound board in a piano. I suspect that after open heart procedures that fat, pericardium,and other tissues are removed or disturbed allowing the heart to be directly under the sternum. It would be interesting to measure sound from TAVR cases to open heart tissue valves. When I had my aneurysm surgery they had to be extra careful in opening since the aneurysm was directly under the sternum.
Food for thought.

 

[70sdiver]

Mine is really load but only when I'm in a quite area do I notice it that much. Tissue valve

 

[pellicle]

Food for thought

Scar tissue adhesion

 

[Justin Bendell]

Shortly after my surgery in 2018 (valve, root and ascending aorta replacement and repair to an aneurysm) my heartbeat seemed unsettling loud. I asked for a chest X-ray which revealed nothing unusual. It is so loud I told the doctor I didn’t think they replaced the heart where it should be. No joke.

It isn’t the “click-click-click” of the St. Judes valve, but a VERY loud thump-thump-thump. Heart rate is fine. Nothing unusual there, no a-fib. My cardiologist acknowledged it’s unusually loud but is not concerned.

I’m a TV reporter and every day I need to adjust my recorded audio to lower the sound of the beat. Even when the microphone is several feet from my body. My wife and daughter hear it even in a crowded restaurant. My mom says she’s seen the beat move my shirt! I’m happy to have a healthy beat, but with the thump and tick all I need is a keyboard to make some really nice music.

Has anyone else noticed something similar post-op?

Yes. I'm dealing with this as well. The loud thump is not constant. Sometimes, the heart is calm except for the ticking.

But when it chooses to thump, it's the kind of thump that makes it near-impossible to sleep. Not sure if it's a stress & anxiety thing, or a this-part-of-the-healing-process-thing, but I wish I could get an answer.

 

[KLS39]

I commented on this thread back in April but here is a cute story regarding this issue. I was watching my 2 year old granddaughter recently. My heart was particularly loud that day for no reason at all. She is all about using her doctor's kit. She was putting in her stethoscope and before she even put it on my chest she said "whoa, what is that noise?". I haven't had anyone else comment but I also feel like when I am with other people it isn't necessarily quiet.

 

[newarrior]

Yes. I'm dealing with this as well. The loud thump is not constant. Sometimes, the heart is calm except for the ticking.

But when it chooses to thump, it's the kind of thump that makes it near-impossible to sleep. Not sure if it's a stress & anxiety thing, or a this-part-of-the-healing-process-thing, but I wish I could get an answer.

What do the doctors say?

 

[cooperman]

After my first surgery (Ross procedure) my heart thump and pulse was so extreme that my limbs pulsed and caused the hospital bed shook a little and caused the frame to squeak. Even now, when I am very still and the room is quiet the thumping is still pronounced (as well as the clicking from my new ON-X valve). I am used to it.

 

[Justin Bendell]

What do the doctors say?

My docs said it's normal. When I asked if it would quiet after the pericardium healed, I was informed that the pericardium would never heal, but that I would likely get used to the thump.

 

[pellicle]

My docs said it's normal. When I asked if it would quiet after the pericardium healed, I was informed that the pericardium would never heal, but that I would likely get used to the thump.

I often wonder out aloud here if hypnosis would help with this sort of thing.

Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 patients undergoing surgery. We found that hypnosis used with patients as an adjunct to conscious sedation and local anesthesia was associated with improved intraoperative patient comfort, and with reduced anxiety, pain, intraoperative requirements for anxiolytic and analgesic drugs, optimal surgical conditions and a faster recovery of the patient. We reported our clinical experience and our fundamental research.​

[Hypnosis and its application in surgery] Faymonville ME, Defechereux T, Joris J, Adant JP, Hamoir E, Meurisse M, Service d’Anesthesie-Reanimation, Universite de Liege, Rev Med Liege. 1998 Jul;53(7):414-8.

 

[Justin Bendell]

I often wonder out aloud here if hypnosis would help with this sort of thing.

Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 patients undergoing surgery. We found that hypnosis used with patients as an adjunct to conscious sedation and local anesthesia was associated with improved intraoperative patient comfort, and with reduced anxiety, pain, intraoperative requirements for anxiolytic and analgesic drugs, optimal surgical conditions and a faster recovery of the patient. We reported our clinical experience and our fundamental research.​

[Hypnosis and its application in surgery] Faymonville ME, Defechereux T, Joris J, Adant JP, Hamoir E, Meurisse M, Service d’Anesthesie-Reanimation, Universite de Liege, Rev Med Liege. 1998 Jul;53(7):414-8.

It might!

 

[pellicle]

It might!

if you try it out, please do report back.

Myself I've decided to like my biofeedback system, its handy.