what is best exercise for a person with leaky heart valve?

I think it depends on how bad the leakage is, and which valve it is. If the leakage is moderate to severe you should speak with your doctor before you do any exercise. Just my humble opinion :)

The doctor says the leaky heart valve is nothing to worry about. I went in to the doctor for SVT (superventricular tachycardia) and was told from the reports of my stress test that I had leaky valves which were not bad and nothing to worry about. Easy for him to say, I have been worried ever since, my Mother passed away with a heart attack at 69. He told me to walk 30 minutes a day, didn't say at what pace or any thing. So I have been looking up information to see. I am over weight 5'6 280 lbs. and in need to lose weight real bad. AS of last week I walked 15mins a day on tread mill mon.wed and fri and on saturday walked through the neighbor hood for an hour. This is a start. He didn't put me on a special diet. I don't have any other problems like high cholesterol or diabetis but it runs in my family. I just want to live.............I quit smoking about 3 years go had a hysterectomy and broke my any a year ago. And now I am overweight has asthma and SVT and want to know a workout regimen that won't kill me, because I know nothing about heart disease if this is considered heart disease. Just a little afraid. I go to doctor again friday any suggestions on what I should ask. I know this started witha leaky valve and now I have given you my whole history sorry ....................thanks for your reply, Sincerely

You never said if you were having any symptoms, ie - light headiness, breathlessness or papitations, i was recentley diagnosed with 2 leaky valves aorta and mitral, my symptons are very erratic i can go for weeks with nothing, then for no reason at al they come back but only briefly, i was in complete shock when i was told like you my mum had a heart attack at 52, a triple bypass at 54 and died with a ruptured aorta at 70, so when i was told i fhought my life had ended at 45, my gp arranged an echo following hearing a murmur, the consultatant told me about the leaky valves but also said i was clear from the type of heart disease that plagued my mum, so that was reassuring, You need to keep your self fit, congrats on giving up the ciggies, try to eat a low fat diet, but dont deprive your self completely, life is for living not for worrying about the day you might die, think positive x

Thank you for youre response, my SVT I too can go for periods of time without anything happening but this time it was a little bit different. SinceI have been walking and exercising I get a little lightheaded at times but I just sit still for a bit and it goes away. I get breathlessness when I do steps. I am working towards losing weight through diet and exercise and I am doing it to live. Do you exercise at all. I have tried to run a few times and thought I was going to pass out i felt like it. So i went back to walking, actually i am probably too heavy to actuall run at the present time. Again thanks for info i will ask more questions when i go to doctor. I didn't get lightheaded until exercising
Sincerely




You never said if you were having any symptoms, ie - light headiness, breathlessness or papitations, i was recentley diagnosed with 2 leaky valves aorta and mitral, my symptons are very erratic i can go for weeks with nothing, then for no reason at al they come back but only briefly, i was in complete shock when i was told like you my mum had a heart attack at 52, a triple bypass at 54 and died with a ruptured aorta at 70, so when i was told i fhought my life had ended at 45, my gp arranged an echo following hearing a murmur, the consultatant told me about the leaky valves but also said i was clear from the type of heart disease that plagued my mum, so that was reassuring, You need to keep your self fit, congrats on giving up the ciggies, try to eat a low fat diet, but dont deprive your self completely, life is for living not for worrying about the day you might die, think positive x

Dont excercise as much as i used too, probably cos i am scared in case it makes me feel ill, i have a horse so am pretty active mucking out and riding, thats what i was doing when i first felt light headed, I am seeing the cardioligist on Thursday, this has been arranged by my GP to enable my questions to be answered, i need to know what level i can excercise, how bad do symptoms need tp be before i will need medication, and if everybody with leaky valves eventually need surgery. You didnt mention your age, not that it matters its a shock to be told any thing is wrong at any age.

I am 54 and pretty much healthy. Are you born with leaky valves or does it just happen one day? How old are you? Keep me posted on what your cardiologist says. You are not on medication? Again thanks for chatting with me.

I am 45yrs old, according to my GP he said my valves were congenital, which means i was born with a problem, but acccording to the net it doesnt show until you are in your 50's or 60's, so mine has shown early, i will find out more tomorrow, thanks for showing an interest and letting me chat, take care

Cool, let me know what doctor says tomorrow. I thought is congenital. And I guess it is showing up at the right time for me or this is the first t ime someone has mentioned to me. Because the cardioologist told me and my primary care doctor had my stress test results 6 mths ago and just said i passed. Then when I go to Cardiologist for SVT he mentions the leaky valve and tells me i am not up to speed for my age. Wow.

take care and good luck with doctor visit tomorrow



I am 45yrs old, according to my GP he said my valves were congenital, which means i was born with a problem, but acccording to the net it doesnt show until you are in your 50's or 60's, so mine has shown early, i will find out more tomorrow, thanks for showing an interest and letting me chat, take care

Hi, had my appointment with the cardioligist, i was a little cross as i saw her understudy, had to have another E C G which was fine, my blood pressure was fine but he was confused when he looked at my Echo so he asked the consultant to have a look, she came and saw me and appeared excited stating i was special, coz it is rare for someone as young as me{flattery works every time} to have a leaky aorta, and she needs to find out the cause so i have been sent for blood tests to see if it due to infection, and i have to go and have a camera down my throat so she can tell if its a birth defect, she has put me on tablets 1 daily for high blood pressure, even though my bp is fine she wants to reduce the pressure of blood going through my heart, and i tab daily for colestral 5.5 i didnt think that lvel was too excesivebut you have to hope that they know best. Didnt get to ask all the questions i was going to ask as i didnt thinj there was much point until they have determined the severity she did say my laekage was significant, i did ask about excercise and she said yes it was fine to continue to excercise as long as i felt ok, just have to listen to your body really.
I hope you are ok where are you up to with your treatment ? are you on any meds ? speak to you soon

Yes I am on medication for SVT but not for leaky valves. I am on flecainide (I hope I spelled it right) used to be on Toprol. When you say significant what do they mean? Do you feel ok?

I just walk for exercise but i am also overweight need to lose weight. I am in the process of changing my diet which is a lifestyle change that I am working on. Slow process but getting there.

I think significant is the middle one, mild, significant, acute, she wont be sure what treatment to offer me until i get the results of the endioscope, but i am waiting for the appointment, i think she might say surgery but thats just me being pessimistic, i feel really well, even more so now i am on the bp tabs and the collestral medication, i am trying to change my diet as well, low salt and fat but i am only 5ft 2 and only weigh 8st 7, so weight isnt really an issue, but i refuse to give up my chocolate, as i dont drink and i sadly said goodbye to the cigs 18 months ago maybe just as well, if you just change 1 thing in your diet or try low fat options it should make a differance, but life is for living isnt it, and if we fancy cake we should eat it occasionally shouldnt we?
take care ;)

My only problem at the moment is overweight. I do not have high blood pressure, or high cholesteral and I am not a diabetic. It is just my heart races, but it may just be my hormone replacement patch. I am not sure. I will ask the doctor next time I am there.

I am in agreement with you if you like cake you should be able to eat cake. I quit smoking 3 years ago and had a hysterceombmy and gained all the weight.

take care