I just found and signed on to the forum yesterday - looks like a great place to share experiences.
A couple of months ago I was diagnosed with acute aortic stenosis due to a calcified bicuspid aortic valve. The reason I went to the Doctor in the first place was that I had experienced tightness in my chest and tingling down both arms during a brisk walk. I am 55 and, on reflection I had experienced some symptoms at least 10 years ago. I did a lot of long haul flights and almost every time I came off a flight and was walking through the terminal I would feel some tightness and tingling - I always just thought it was the result of sitting in a pressurised tube for 10-13 hours!!. I had an echocardiogram and an angiogram and my valve is down to 0.6mm and I am now waiting for an appointment with the surgeon to schedule a date and make the decision on valve type. All the other bits of my heart are working perfectly so I am expecting a pretty routine surgery.
What I experienced was more like feeling indigestion - a discomfort similar to when a piece of food goes down the wrong way and feels stuck. Tingling in BOTH arms similar to when you wake up having pinched off the blood flow. I also had one experience when I woke up feeling that I was having trouble breathing and was easily made out of breath all the rest of that day - I am borderline asthmatic so again I first attributed the problem to that rather than the heart thing.
I have never experienced what I would call pain - just discomfort and tightness and occaisionally this occurs while simply couch potatoing - of which I do a lot! I also have stopped any exercise regiment until I have the surgery.
So far I am OK with the process and the diagnosis and the approach of the docs involved i.e. you have a problem, your heart is not yet under too much strain, better to get the procedure done before the heart is damaged. Mentally I am OK as I don't have any second guessing to do about "I could have done" or "I should have done" - it's the luck of the draw and I am looking forward to feeling better - having had this progressively worsen over at least the last 10 years the Doc says have gradually adjusted to the reduced function and will be surprised at how much better I will feel going forward. Looking forward to it and now hoping to get the date set and get to moving on.
Cameron
A couple of months ago I was diagnosed with acute aortic stenosis due to a calcified bicuspid aortic valve. The reason I went to the Doctor in the first place was that I had experienced tightness in my chest and tingling down both arms during a brisk walk. I am 55 and, on reflection I had experienced some symptoms at least 10 years ago. I did a lot of long haul flights and almost every time I came off a flight and was walking through the terminal I would feel some tightness and tingling - I always just thought it was the result of sitting in a pressurised tube for 10-13 hours!!. I had an echocardiogram and an angiogram and my valve is down to 0.6mm and I am now waiting for an appointment with the surgeon to schedule a date and make the decision on valve type. All the other bits of my heart are working perfectly so I am expecting a pretty routine surgery.
What I experienced was more like feeling indigestion - a discomfort similar to when a piece of food goes down the wrong way and feels stuck. Tingling in BOTH arms similar to when you wake up having pinched off the blood flow. I also had one experience when I woke up feeling that I was having trouble breathing and was easily made out of breath all the rest of that day - I am borderline asthmatic so again I first attributed the problem to that rather than the heart thing.
I have never experienced what I would call pain - just discomfort and tightness and occaisionally this occurs while simply couch potatoing - of which I do a lot! I also have stopped any exercise regiment until I have the surgery.
So far I am OK with the process and the diagnosis and the approach of the docs involved i.e. you have a problem, your heart is not yet under too much strain, better to get the procedure done before the heart is damaged. Mentally I am OK as I don't have any second guessing to do about "I could have done" or "I should have done" - it's the luck of the draw and I am looking forward to feeling better - having had this progressively worsen over at least the last 10 years the Doc says have gradually adjusted to the reduced function and will be surprised at how much better I will feel going forward. Looking forward to it and now hoping to get the date set and get to moving on.
Cameron
