Hi everyone,

My first posting since my episode last March.

I have been diagnosed (on a 2nd opinion) with Neurohumural (SP?) Myocardial Stunning AKA Broken Heart Syndrome. I had never heard of it before and have found very little information since. I'm hoping to find someone else with this disgnosis so I might compare symptoms, medications and the like. I won't bore anyone with the details per se but I would like to at least list some of my concerns and see if anyone else is having/had the same issues;

I'm on two heart medications: toporal 50mg and the other escapes me right now. I was told that the toporal was specifically to prevent another episode of the NMS. The other was for High Blood Pressure. My Cardiologist said that he didn't think I had high blood pressure but left me on the meds anyway because that's what the first Cardiologist prescribed. He said we'll take a look at going off of them at our next visit.

Since the episode I have had heart pauses. The onset of the pauses was about 2-3 months after my NMS. At that time I was only taking 12.5mg of Atenelol and the other med that I can't remember (darn it!). This was from the first Cardio's prescription so my new Cardio said to change over to the Toporal which is commonly prescribed for the NMS and we slowly went up from 12.5mg's to 50mg's. Then the heart pauses came right before my menstrual cycle. They were so severe that I was afraid to go to sleep. I have worn 2 types of monitors but nothing ever showed up. I saw an Internal Med Doc and found that I had low iron (which I was also told in emergency at the onset of the NMS) but otherwise I was really pretty healthy. My Cardio promised that I wouldn't die (and I made him swear to it!) from these pauses and that they were commonly known as PVC's (?) and that I probably had them all my life and didn't notice them before this episode occured which made me hypersensitive to my heart. Not really the case but as long as it's not life threatening then I'm fine with that. BUT - I usually have the pauses at the beginning of my cycle.

I also have swelling in my left ankle and pain in both heels although more painful in the left. Don't know if there's any correlation. I also periodically wake in the \middle of the night with what I guess would be called mild panic attacks - I'm actually laying there scared to death about dying! But never had this before all of the above happened.

I had an inverted T wave for about 8 months after my episode of NMS. That has corrected itself. I had a stress test and passed with flying colors.

I think that's the long and the short of it. Anyone else have these symptoms or opinions. I'd be glad to answer any questions if the above wasn't clear about something. I just want to talk to someone who really understands what I've been through and how it makes me feel. I've nver had ANY health issues until this. It tends to freak you out and I'm calmer now but still have so many doubts about my diagnosis.

Looking forward to your responses...........:wave:

I don't have it...since I haven't had my heart broken for several decades.

Anyhoo, it is from an extraordinary release of stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine that can STUN the heart and make it look like a heart attack is occurring.

Beta-blockers are precisely the best way to comat/control the situation and thus the atenolol or the toprol were good treatmment choices.

For the PVC's why not add some magnesium supplementation...like 250 mg Mg++ from magnesium oxide... or magnesium citrate (so I don't get an argument from timber. :D :wave: )

hi....ive been having miss heartbeats for 20 years on and of,i get scared to death,but the last two months ive had them none stop,i think its down to stress,the more you think about it the worst it gets.ive even tryed valium to calm me down,it does seem to ease by night time tho.

hi....ive been having miss heartbeats for 20 years on and of,i get scared to death,but the last two months ive had them none stop,i think its down to stress,the more you think about it the worst it gets.ive even tryed valium to calm me down,it does seem to ease by night time tho.

Thanks for your input - I'm so glad I found this site. It's comforting knowing that I'm not alone and not crazy! I know now that there are so many people that have the same response to their issues. I thought I was being a big baby and keeping quite with family so as not to sound freaked out. I like that I can really say what I feel here!

Still hoping to find someone who's been diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome. I wonder if I should post it another way like under it's clinical term?

Thanks again!

linda,

You found your condition becasue you had a couple of SUPERB doctors willing to look deeper than most cardiologists and ANY GP's commonly will.

I think your condition is FAR more common...but the proper diagnosis is just VERY likely to be missed. I doubt that renaming it more clinically will get more responses.
I thing "broken heart syndrome" is an ADORABLE name for what is unfortunately probably not so adorable to live with.

<I have always suspected that my angina attacks were ALWAYS tied to a huge outpouring of epinephrine thus something like "semi-broken heart syndrome.">

Thanks Lenin - I do love my Doctor, he really was the only one who listened, ran tests, actually gave me literature on my condition and was really genuinly excited about my progress after my heart episode. I think having this site with people like you to answer concerns and make me smile at the same time is pretty great too. :)