I'm looking for someone who has had my awful experience! One year ago I was a 56 year old woman with a a slow heartbeat (Usually 50-60 BPM) and low blood pressure (90/50) Saw a cardiologist twice in 4 years, he said no problem just ectopic beats (2000 per hour). I did not want meds, because they made me tired. Healthy otherwise (in spite of a bout of breast cancer)

I was visiting a friend, thought I had the flu, went home and stayed in bed for 3 days, could not move. Finally, my husband called an ambulance (after I fainted) Turns out I had an infected heart valve (endocarditis), the infection kept growing in spite of antibiotics (I was in the hospital on IV antibiotics) Finally, they operated and repaired the heart valve. I almost died! post op pain was unbelieveable. It was a staph infection, not the usual strep, as from dental work.

My problem is this: The trauma of the emergency open heart surgery keeps returning, nightmares, etc., a shrink won't help (been there, done that). I would love to communicate with someone who has had a similiar experience, just talk on this board. Thanks!

Just out of curiosity..did you have any of the endocarditis risk factors prior to you getting a valve replacement?

tattoos
recent dental surgery
IV drug use
heart valve disease
recent surgery on your heart valve
recent vascular surgery.

What you are describing, as you probably already know, is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Are you serious that your psychiatrist won't help you? That's a real shame, because that's kinda his/her job!!! What I say you do is try to find another person who WILL help you.

When you say your shrink wouldn't help you, what was it that s/he actually did?

searcher,

Sorry, no experience with endocarditis. Such a shame that they didn't get the right antibiotic...something Staph specific.
On the other hand maybe there was other damage to that valve before and replacement may enhance your life ecpectancy.

It sounds like you went though Hell.
I got a staph infection from a fly bite on my ankle....Next day red and swollen but I went to work....by noon I was in the ER with purple lines going up to my knee and a calf the size of a watermelon!
Huge penicillin shot cleared it up in a day!

One year of trauma...God, what a weight to carry. I'm having a lousy little angiography on Mopnday and I am terrified....seems there's something fearfully special about the heart!
The old saw is 'Time is the great healer'....I hope it works for you.

Think of the alternative whenever you panic- another day and you would have probably been dead.....you're alive and have today to enjoy...and many more!

Actually, I did have heart valve disease that was undiagnosed until they opened my chest, turns out I had major regurg. It's funny, because a about 6 months prior to this event my oncologist told me my heart had an 'interesting' murmur and maybe I should see a cardiologist, being a person who hates seeing docs, I ignored her (she was not too emphathic about it). I guess I should try a shrink again, I realize that the symptoms are PTST.

Yup, I found out that the kind of infection is common to IV drug users, but that is not me.

Hey searcher! So you did have major regurg eh? Well, though aortic stenosis is the most common murmur associated with SBE, any valvular pathology can predispose you to it.

Oh, and about all of those risk factors I listed, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had to have all of them to be at risk for SBE....just any of them.

Usually SBE associated with IV drug use is from the ever present Staph aureus...luckily, staph is not the most likely organism when it's due to heart valve abnormalities.

What did they open your chest for by the way? To repair the valve?

Hi Butterfly!

I was not offended by your reference to IV drug use, since my cardiologist mentioned that Iv drug users are the folks who most often get a staph infection in the valve.All the physicians involved in my care are puzzled as to where the staph came from, perhaps a small sore, etc. I did have Mitral valve prolapse, but since the surgery, I have been told that there is no further need to worry> HA!!! No one found the prolapse in the first place or I would not have been near death, with my 3 daughters and husband sobbing at my bedside, I think it hurt them as much as it hurt me!

They opened my chest to take the infection off the valve, since it had grown inspite of IV antibiotics, that is when they repaired the valve as well. The odd thing again, is that no one knew about the mitral valve prolapse prior to opening my chest!

My husband has had two bouts with endocarditis (fungal and bacterial). I know it can be quite frieghtening.

I was curious was the infection on your native valve or did you have a prosthetic valve?

Had you had any recent surgeries?

Had you been in the hospital recently?

It is quite unusual for someone to develope endocarditis without any of the predisposing factors listed.

You may not realize it yet but you are really lucky. Sometimes left untreated you can develop what is called a vegetation which can cause a stroke. That happened in my husband's case.

Best of luck to you








I'm looking for someone who has had my awful experience! One year ago I was a 56 year old woman with a a slow heartbeat (Usually 50-60 BPM) and low blood pressure (90/50) Saw a cardiologist twice in 4 years, he said no problem just ectopic beats (2000 per hour). I did not want meds, because they made me tired. Healthy otherwise (in spite of a bout of breast cancer)

I was visiting a friend, thought I had the flu, went home and stayed in bed for 3 days, could not move. Finally, my husband called an ambulance (after I fainted) Turns out I had an infected heart valve (endocarditis), the infection kept growing in spite of antibiotics (I was in the hospital on IV antibiotics) Finally, they operated and repaired the heart valve. I almost died! post op pain was unbelieveable. It was a staph infection, not the usual strep, as from dental work.

My problem is this: The trauma of the emergency open heart surgery keeps returning, nightmares, etc., a shrink won't help (been there, done that). I would love to communicate with someone who has had a similiar experience, just talk on this board. Thanks!

Actually, I did have vegetation on the valve and I kept hoping the antibiotics would get rid of it (waited 5 days) It did not, so the surgeon went in to clean the vegetation off the valve and he repaired it, so no replacement, it was my natural valve, no previous anything.

You have me concerned. How far apart were your husband's bouts with endocarditis? Did he have any of the predisposing factors? If so, which ones? I am scared it will happen again

I know I was taking a chance on having a stroke, I did have an embolis, but it went to other organs, not my brain, which is of course the most dangerous. How is your husband? What were the circumstances of the cardiac event for him?