Mitral valve prolapse symptoms and conditions

Oh and btw...I am a 46 year old female, originally diagnosed with MVP (mitral valve prolapse) and ectopic atrial tachycardia at the age of 25 1/2 years old. I am getting ready to start nursing school in 2 weeks and really don't want to deal with all this crap, as school will be all I can handle. Thanks for listening to me. :)

I began taking Atenolol/Tenormin for about 3 months now for Mitral Valve Prolapse. At first I believed it was working at indeed felt a lot better. Up until about 2 to 3 weeks ago I have experienced SWOLLEN ANKLES, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, EXTREME TIREDNESS, SORE MUSCLES, LACK OF ENTHUSIASM. If you are currently taking this, stop now. It is just a downward spiral. I recommend daily walking, healthy diet, and lots of water. My mother did this when she was diagnosed and stopped taking the drugs and it worked wonders.

Does anyone know if Singulair can cause heart valve problems? I just found out that I have Mitral Valve Prolapse, and have never had any problems until after taking Singulair. Any info would be greatly appreciated...especially from Concerned Citizen if he's out there...

Thanks,

K.

hey...ok so this is my STORY!....
MY FIRST BC PILL WAS ORTHO TRYCYLEN LO. IT WAS GOOd but i started to notice that i was feeling like a rollercoaster.. so i decided to go to my gyno...she changed me to YAZ(HORRIBLE PILL) IT MESSED UP MY HEAR VALVE..I WAS TO ANXIOUS AND GOING CRAZY NOW I HAVE A MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE..WHICH IS COMMON BUT I HAVE ALL THE BAD SYMPTOMS ....I ENDED UP GOING TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BECAUSE IT WAS TO EXPENSIVE( NO INSURANCE) THE CARDIOLOGIST GOT ME OF OF YAZ AND SEND ME TO A GYNOO... WELL THEY ENDED UP PUTTING ME THE IUD (COPPER)..HAD TO GET DILATED AND IN TO SURGERY (I WAS TO SCARED) THE FIRST MONTH I WENT CRAZY STARTED VOMITING IT WAS HORRIBLE THE SECOND MONTH I BLED FOR THE WHOLE MONTH.....GOT TIRED OF IT AND WENT TO A GYNO N GOT IT OF IT WASN'T TOLERATING MY BODY....GOT ON LOESTRIN 24 ON MY THIRD WEEK OF IT I MISSED A PILL TOOK IT IN THE MORNING HOURS PASSED AND STARTED BLEEDING TOOK THE SECOND PILL RIGHT AFTER THAT...I STARTED BLEEDING WITH FOR PILLS LEFT..NOW II DIDN'T TAKE THE IRON PILLS AND STARTED THE NEW PACK THINKING IT WOULD STOP IT...BUT NO! TODAY IS MY SEVEN DAY BLEEDING WITH HEAVY CLOTS.. HEAVY BLEEDING... AND LOTS OF CRAMPZZZ ...I NEED HELP ....I THINK IM JUST GOING STOP ..TAKING BC! I BEEN THROUGH HELL THE PAST MONTHS!

Hi, ladies. I have been on and off birth control for nearly 8 yrs now. I am 26. I started when i was 17 d/t very heavy menstrual bleeding and cramps. I've been on several different kinds. I just started Yasmin (actually the generic) 3 days ago and have decided to come off of it already. After reading some of your comments I have def decided I'm going to take a break from the pills. I have experienced severe depression and anxiety within the past two days and my heart racing really rapidly. I have mitral valve prolapse and was surprised my nurse practitioner prescribed this for me. I have also been very sleepy. Not sure if this is one of the side effects or not. But please be careful to all of you out there when choosing birth controls. I've decided to take my chances w/ the cramps and just suck it up. No medicine is worth causing your body harm. I don't recommend Yaz or Yasmin to anyone!

I'm 44 and have taken Vytorin for several months. Having a lot of the symptoms listed. Has anyone had a problem with the heart skipping beats? I took myself off the stuff yesterday and already I feel a lot better - not great yet but I'm hoping thats to come.

Both my 19 year old daughter and my 30 year old step daughter were put on Yasmin. Both began having heart problems. The eldest had heart palpitations, a racing heart and dizziness. The doctor discovered that her potassium level had shot up and her magnesium was down. They put her on magnesium to help control the racing heart. It helped, but then she became pregnant and had to lower the dose. The 19 year old has had the worst side effects. She was fine on ortho tricyclene, but when her doctor switched her to Yasmin her blood pressure shot up to 170/118. She began having chest pain. We pulled her off the Yasmin, but she has continued to have uncontrollably high blood pressure. The doctor ran several tests and has found no underlying cause as of this writing. She began taking 5 mg. of Norvasc, but was increased to 10 mg. to manage the high blood pressure.

Was put on Cymbalta after taking Prozac because I just did not feel "myself". While on the Cymbalta, I could not sleep at all and my psych tried Rozarem first, then Lunesta and then Ambien CR instead of taking me off the Cymbalta! Still did not keep me asleep. Within two weeks of using this drug (with the Cymbalta) I had a "medicinal black-out" - one of the side effects. I apparently thought my husband was walking the dogs and went out garage where I fell down steps, cracking two ribs. I walked in and told my husband I think I fell. He thought I was drunk and just put me to bed. I have absolutely no memory of any of this. Also had three pychotic breaks while taking the Cymbalta and finally took myself off of it. This is day 17 of withdrawal. I don't hate anyone enough to wish this on them. You have brain zaps (like a cattle prod), vertigo, pain in your joints and muscles that make you scream. I would not let anyone go on either of these drugs, ever! I just went to a specialist yesterday in St. Louis that told me all my symptoms were related to my Mitral Valve Prolapse and that I have MVP Syndrome and I'm not crazy at all. For all of you suffering from panic attacks, depression, eating disorders, heart pain, insomnia, etc., have yourself tested for MVP. I have known I've had this heart defect since my late teens and I'm now 48. No one has ever told me that these symptoms are related to my prolapse just psychological issues!!

PEOPLE, PLEASE DO NOT DISCONTINUE THIS MEDICATION SUDDENLY, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS!!!

I have been reading about this medication here for some time, and I feel concerned when I read about someone deciding to just quit taking it suddenly. I personally intend to quit as soon as I find a doctor with enough knowledge to help me wean off of it in a safe manner. I've been on it for two years, and the side effects have grown worse than my original health problem, so I understand wanting to just up and quit taking it, but after learning the hard way, I've found out it's not so easy.

Do your homework, read and learn about the potential 'rebound effect' and by all means, talk to your doctor before doing something that may cause you to be in danger ( as in having a heart attack)...if you don't believe me, learn for yourself, the information is easily researched.

Blessings, and good luck...

I am 29 and i have been taking Toprol XL for 3 yrs. now and i was amazed when i seen what everybody had to say about this med. I had been on other meds for Anxiety, Panic Disorder. I was on Paxil CR and also Klonopin. I had gain 70 pds in 5 yrs and thought this is from the Paxil so i decided to come off of that and the Klonopin. Well, I'm still taking the Toprol XL and i am still haveing problems and it's just like alot of the same things i have read from other people on here. I am concerned about this med. And i hope everyone can find something that works great. If any one has any good luck with a different med please post it. I'm looking for a different way to deal with the rapid heart rate without all the nasty side effects of Toprol.

Femcon Fe gave me a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lung) when I was barely on it for 3 months. I spent four days in the hospital and went home on coumadin for about a month.

Hello to you all. I have been on Toprol XL for 8-10 months. I have "palpitations" which is why I was placed on this med. Also a diagnosis of Mitral Valve Prolapse. My doctor told me that the MVP can trigger the palpitations and that Toprol is the drug of choice. It helped for a few days. I felt like a new person at first. Then the palpitations gradually started to come back. I have gained 10 lbs. I am 50 years old and assumed that my wt gain was menopause. Now I think that is NOT the answer. I am an RN and I intend to wean myself off of the Toprol after reading the messages here! Why do I need to keep taking a medicine that is causing me to get fat and is NOT controlling my symptoms? Good luck to you all.

hi kate,
just reading your post and i am shocked your doctor would consider puting you on yasmin. Because any bcp will thicken your blood surely it cannot be safe for you given you suffer from mitral valve prolapse.
please reconsider your choices. and certainly do not take yasmin or yaz.
i dont think either of them are good.
So many women here have suffered from anxiety and other problems from those pills. Is there another choice for you to help with the cysts.
Maybe if you log onto flowerbabies new site one of the women on there might know or have experience with this.
The link is posted below.

If i could just stop one more woman from starting on ths pill l i would be happy.
I hate to think of any body else suffering the way i did.
Research your choices first kate.
Good luck.
muph70

My DR recently gave me samples for yasmin. I was told YAZ is bad, but Yasmin is ok. I was on ortho tricyclen but am getting cysts again. I asked for a change but after seeing this, I may call for something else. I have low blood sugar, mitral valve prolapse, and ANXIETY as it is...any suggestions. thanks! I am supposed to start that pack in a week.

Kate

Anxiety and Psychiatric Disorders

Magnesium deficiency causes increased levels of adrenaline, which can lead to a feeling of anxiety. Rats who become magnesium deficient have an increased level of urinary catecholamine excretion (a by-product of adrenaline).

People who have mitral valve prolapse have also been found to have an increased state of anxiety and have an increased level of urinary catecholamine excretion, the exact same condition found in rats who are Mg deficient.

It is not surprising then, to find that people with mitral valve prolapse are usually low in magnesium, and that magnesium supplementation alleviates the symptoms of mitral valve prolapse and reduces the level of urinary catecholamine excretion, i.e. it also reduces the anxiety symptoms.

Researchers in Spain found a correlation between anxiety disorders and hypermobility. In fact, they found that patients with anxiety disorder were over 16 times more likely than control subjects to have joint laxity. If you put the study results together, then there's a link between anxiety and hypermobility, a link between anxiety and mitral valve prolapse, and a link between mitral valve prolapse and hypermobility.

These studies tell us that anxiety disorders occur in many people who simply have mitral valve prolapse and/or joint hypermobility, meaning anxiety disorders are not specific to EDS or any particular connective tissue disorder. Marfans also have mitral valve prolapse and joint hypermobility which would lead one to conjecture that they, too, have anxiety related disorders. As it turns out, a connection between Marfans and anxiety related disorders has been noted.

A study in Bulgaria also found magnesium abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia and depression. The authors thought the schizophrenia and depression caused the magnesium deficiencies, but I disagree that that was necessarily the case. When you look at this study within the context of all the other studies mentioned in this section, it is more likely that the magnesium abnormalities caused the mental illness. (There are quite a few studies on magnesium and mental illness on Medline. I just included a few to highlight my points.)

In a study from England, there was a strong association for more disturbed and excitable patients to have abnormal (either high or low) magnesium levels. The authors thought that the patients who seemed most disturbed may have some abnormality of magnesium metabolism.

To read up on the link between cholesterol levels and anxiety and depression, see my web page on low cholesterol levels.

For more on this topic, see my section on Anxiety and Depression - overlooked nutritional causes.

I have been taking Toprol for 7 days. I have been extremely irritable. I am normally an easy-going person with an outgoing personality. I have Ventricular Tachycardia and Mitral Valve Prolapse. The episodes have decreased but I seem to be "lost in a fog" and irritable. Any advice from anyone????

I am taking periactin to increase my appetite because I fell like I am under weight, and cause me anxiety, so bad, specially in the night when I am going to sleep. But help me to gain weight. I am a person with Mitral Valve Prolapse and I am taking Toprol 25mg. and Elavil in the nights, but when I take periactin I do not take Elavil, so I don't know what to do, if keep going with the periactin or stop taking it.

I'm on several medications for high blood pressure and heart palpatations due to mitral valve prolapse. I am on Cardizem 240mg, Enapril 20 mg, and now Toprol (1/2) of a 25 mg. a day. (in the morn.) Now I've begun to have temporary hearing loss. My ears will ring and then it's as if I'm in a tunnel for the rest of the day. At night my ears clear up and I can hear normally again. Is anyone else out there having hearing problems?

I take it for Mitral Valve Prolapse

Shortness of breath - It feels like my lungs are too small to take a big breath that I need, especially when yawning.

Lethargy

Difficulty sleeping as sound as I used to before taking 25mg a day.

Higher body temperature, especially while sleeping.

I was on propranolol for 3 years for mitral valve prolapse and hbp. When I developed symptoms of hypothyroidism I finally convinced the dr. to take me off it and I was put on 20 mg of lisinopril. My thyroid function went to normal range after one year but after 2 years the symptoms are returning. Has anyone seen a connection with this medication and thyroid function. I'm having twitches, cramps, indigestion, some lightheadedness, cold feet, tingling in hands, increased ringing in the ears.

20 yr old. i have mitral valve prolapse. my doc put me on toprol 25 mg, and i hate it. i have no energy i feel like i'm gonna through up, hot flashes, like an anxiety attack that wont go away. i dont know if toprol is helping me or makin me worse. the symptoms seem to be so bad i dont want to take the medicine. but reading these responses i'm not the only one experiencing these horribl;e symptoms.

I have been on Toprol XL (25mg) for about a month and a half. It was perscribed because I was getting more frequent bouts of rapid heartbeat from mitral valve prolapse. After taking this drug, the immediate first effect was tiredness. Then after about a week I had more pain in the right calf area of my leg. I had some pain in the leg previous to this, so I didn't think much of it. But it got rapidly worse within a couple weeks. In addition, I started to develop severe pelvic/hip/buttock pain on the right side. I was having trouble getting up from a sitting position, getting in and out of cars, and trouble standing on my feet for more than 5-10 minutes. When I asked the cardiologist about it, saying that these symptoms seemed to coincide with the beginning of taking Toprol, he told me that it sounded like sciatica and had no correlation to the medicine. So I went to a different doctor who perscribed anti-inflamatories and physical therapy. But none of it helped, and, in fact, the symptoms got worse. After about a month and a half of all of this, essentially alot of pain and not being able to walk, I decided to wean myself off of this drug (a week of 1/2 dosages). The pain is virtually gone and I can now stand on my feet and walk again (all within the span of a couple days).

Wow. I was on Yasmin for three and a half years, and am on my first month of not taking it anymore. Even though I have been depressed, anxious, and experiencing heart palpitations ever since I went on the pill, the only symptom I've ever associated with Yasmin was breast tenderness. However, I found out a lot in the past few months about the connection between BCPs and these symptoms, and from what I'm reading, I think some other women here might be in the same boat. It's kinda complex, but here goes: I had a heart murmur at birth that was not detected again till I was 19, shortly after the first time I went on BCPs (ortho). Suddenly the murmur was back, and I was noticably moody and generally an emotional wreck. I went off the pills, yada yada, heard about the "Miracle Pill" Yasmin, and went on it again. The anxiety and depression deepened, I've been on Zoloft, my skin sucks, and the fluttering heartbeat got even worse this past fall. I did some research on heart murmurs, and it turns out that there is a whole syndrome related to this, Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome. Most doctors either don't know about it or don't believe it exists. I swear to you, and many others would too, it DOES exist. So here's the kicker: there is a connection between MVP syndrome and low magnesium. And guess what BCPs can do? Lower your magnesium. (know how you can't take Naproxin and Ibprophen on Yasmin? It's because Yasmin raises your Potassium and so do those medicines, and when your Potassium is too high it depletes your Magnesium- at least that is what my unscientific and not-medically trained self has understood.) Why else would my heart murmur suddently become so overt again? The other thing with Mitral Valve Prolapse is that it makes you extremely sensitive to medicines. I am really concerned that some of the people who have posted here might have a similar condition. Even though MVP is not life-threatening at all, the anxiety, depression, palpitations, IBS symptoms, and general confusion as to why you feel so lousy drastically reduces your quality of life unless you take measures to keep it under control. For those of you who have listed anxiety and depression (both related to MVP because it causes you to have too much adrenaline in your system, hence the panic attacks) and especially heart palpitations to your side effects of Yasmin, I STRONGLY encourage you to get your heart checked out by a doctor- no need for any serious testing, it generally just takes a stethoscope and a good ear. Taking magnesium supplements helps some people; more about this issue can be found in The Miracle of Magnesium (can't remember author) and Natural Therapies for Mitral Valve Prolapse by Ronald L. Hoffman.

As for me, no more hormonal BC. Good luck to you all and beware of Yasmin!