r/mitralvalveprolapse

I (55 M) had this surgery done last week (Robotic Repair). The surgery itself was expertly done and the result has been a fully repaired valve . But In the hospital bed for several days afterwards, I struggled to remain free of intense pain when trying to relax and sleep. The mix of the different medicines caused mild nausea and my appetite was not good. What worked for you after this surgery to allow you to sleep safely and relatively free of pain? I've read that generally you should not sleep on your side for several weeks after the surgery. How did you navigate the early phase of recovery from this procedure?

My surgeon said that between 20 to 30% of people who undergo mitral valve repair surgery need a pacemaker. Anyone have experience with this?

I started taking 12.5mg metoprolol for NSVT and it makes my chest feel so tight. Has anyone else experienced this? Did it go away for you? Trying to avoid other beta blockers as my blood pressure is already quite low.

In July of this year, my primary care doctor heard a murmur and sent me (41 F) for an echo. It was the first time I had ever been told I had a heart issue. The echo was technically difficult but showed a normal EF, mildly dilated left ventricle, and a MVP leaflet with severe anterior jet regurg. Is it possible that with a technically difficult echo that the regurgitation could be overestimated? I feel a pounding and flopping of my heart when I lay down but my resting heart rate is mid 60s, normal EF. I was getting migraine auras without headache, newfound anxiety in work group settings, and my blood pressure is all over the place, but I’ve been managing the high BP. Not out of breath and can walk up and down stairs fine. Do I really need to do OHS for this?

For those of us still in the early-ish days of recovery (my surgery was a month ago), it’d be helpful to hear from folks a year or more past their surgery to get a sense of what’s to come in the longterm.

Before my surgery, I was mostly interested in learning about the immediate recovery days in the hospital bc those were the scariest. Now that that’s behind me (phew), I’d find it helpful to learn more about long-term recovery to help me stay patient with myself as I continue to feel the impact of the surgery (decreased stamina, general weakness, numbness, occasional bouts of pain, anxiety, etc.)

Thanks 🌻

I’ve had a diagnosis of mild MVP and MR since I was 18. I’m 26 now, but I’m genuinely scared. In this situation, how likely is it that I will never need surgery in my lifetime?

Backstory: 74(M) - I was diagnosed with severe mvp with regurgitation 17 months ago (March 2025) and had minimally-invasive robotic-assisted mitral valve repair with annuloplasty on June 5th - 14 months ago. I had a heart murmur since a young age, but was asymptomatic until 2 years ago - running / lifting weights most of my adult life - no problems. Then - even walking up stairs became a problem.

I have a family history of high blood pressure - my grandfather had several strokes and heart attacks, my father started taking bp meds when he was 40 and my mother started taking them when she was 70. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure when I was 50 and have been taking Losartan ever since (until the surgery last year anyway).

After surgery, I was put on Metoprolol. I know it was necessary, but I was not a fan - slowed my metabolism and I gained some weight no matter how much I worked out and dieted. I talked to my cardiologist about it in February and switched back to Losartan but this time it was Losartan HCTZ (Hydrochlorothiazide) - basically the same blood pressure medication I was on before but with an added diuretic / water pill to further reduce edema and blood pressure.

In order to help lose the weight I gained on the beta blocker, my PCP put me on Wegovy (the pill form). For those of you over 65, there is a new Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program that lowers the cost to $50 per month if you qualify - instead of a 35 BMI, you still qualify with anything above a 28 with an underlying cardiac diagnosis. I've dropped 11 pounds in the first 5 weeks.

All was well until a couple of weeks ago and I noticed my blood pressure was starting to get a lot lower than normal - down in the 96 over 65 range - maybe a little higher in the evening. This may have been helped along with the fact that I've dropped most of the weight I gained on the metoprolol beta blocker. On a regular checkup visit with my PCP, she noted that my blood pressure was significantly lower than previous visits and wanted to know if I felt dizzy - I did not. She then suggested something that I 100% did not expect. She said, 'Let's see what happens if you stopped taking any blood pressure medicine at all.'

A week has gone by and my bp all week has been very consistent - this morning it was 116 / 78 and pulse rate was 68. Unbelievable!! After 24 years of taking blood pressure medications, I no longer have hypertension! I'm keeping a close eye on it - hoping it's not temporary.

According to AI:

- fixing the mitral valve regurgitation permanently lowers your heart's pumping workload making it the biggest factor in my lowered bp is the mitral valve repair - likely responsible for a 20 - 30 mmHG drop.

-Wegovy (and probably other oral GLP-1's) is 'heart protective' and lowers systolic blood pressure by an average of 5 - 8 mmHG in clinical trials by relaxing blood vessel walls and reducing systemic inflammation - this is independent of any associated weight loss. Clinical trials show that oral semaglutide relaxes the smooth muscles of your blood vessel walls, reduces systemic arterial inflammation, and prompts your body to naturally excrete slightly more sodium

-weight loss- for every Kg (2.2 lbs) of weight lost, systolic blood pressure typically drops by about 1 mmHG. - so losing 11 lbs means about 5 mmHG reduction

In other words, this triple-threat combo is not a 'cure', but it shows that you can structurally and metabolically optimize your body to achieve and maintain a healthy blood pressure irregardless of your genetics.

This is my 'Silver Lining' to having an MVP diagnosis.

For at least the past decade I’ve had a fast/tachycardic heart rate of around 106-116 at rest.

A few months ago, I learned I have about 8.9% PVC beats and, especially worryingly, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. I was prescribed metoprolol when this was discover and have been on it since.

I had MVP repair surgery about a month ago, and my heart rate has so far remained tacky (but I know it’s still early days). I’ll wear a heart monitor again in about six months once I’m more healed to see if there’s been any effect on the PVCs or NSVT.

I’m wondering if anyone else has saw improvement in any of these areas after their MVP surgery? And if so, when did your rhythm start improving?

(I’ll add for more context that I had bileaflet MVP, which likely caused a small amount of scarring in my heart that could have impacted my heart rhythm.)

Thanks for sharing ❤️‍🩹

Has anyone used this service? It’s a flat fee of $590.

Hi, I had a successful robotic mitral valve repair in June. I’ve now had three episodes of tachycardia where my heart rate goes from normal to around 160 in a few minutes. Has anyone else experienced this?

I am a 22 y/o who has recently started noticing heart issues, especially when I was using edibles from 100-200mg (my tolerance had gotten quite high) and now experience these same heart issues just in my day to day life without thc usage.

When I was actively taking edibles, I had noticed my chest felt weird whenever I had gotten too high, but around a month ago I had an episode that looked a lot like a seizure but it started with my heart feeling very wrong, i'm not sure how to describe it. In this episode, I passed out/blacked out, lost consciousness, postured and open-eye snored (my legs stiffened out in front of me and I shoved away the table without my knowledge). Since this episode, I have had several panic attacks which are insanely random and brutal in nature.

Apparently, my mother has Mitral valve prolapse which was only discovered via ultrasound. I have been on a heart monitor before and nothing was discovered because despite the irregularities and palpitations I have, it always reads as normal. It is not confirmed that this is the root cause of what is going on with me, but if anyone in this subreddit has had any experience with heavy use of thc and mitral valve prolapse, please please reach out to me with your experience. I am in the process of asking my GP for an ultrasound so we could potentially see if this heart condition might have some impact on what's happening to me. It's just very scary not knowing what's going on and I've since quit the edibles because i'm horrified to have something like that happen again. Thanks.

I am 26F. About a year ago I was referred to a cardiologist for chest pain and heart flutters. They did a week long heart monitor and an ultrasound and didn't find anything major. Cardiologist told me that it is a mitral valve prolapse (might have thrown in a "likely" somewhere) but did not really go into much detail about my results.

As I was walking out, the nurse asked him if she should put it in my chart, and he said something along the lines of, "No, don't give her insurance something else..." to charge me for? I didn't think much of it but now I am having an unrelated surgery in a month and have to go under anesthesia and I feel like this is something important for me to have on my records.

I still deal with frequent chest pain and am constantly exhausted and lightheaded. I also have lupus. I tried metoprolol for about a week but it lowered my blood pressure too much so I don't take it now.

I called their office and left a message asking them to actually give me the results of my ultrasound and such, as well as the severity of my supposed MVP. I was never told if I had regurgitation, if it was mild, etc.

I don't understand why he wouldn't just put it on my medical records and show me all of my results? Is it possible I have something else and he's just guessing that it's MVP? Any insight / opinions?

Hi a month ago I had mitral valve repair, aortic valve replacement and Tricuspid valve repair. Last Wednesday they did a Cardiac Ablation to get my HR down. It was in the 70' rest of Wednesday Thursday Friday And Saturday. Sunday afternoon it climbed to the hight 90's then in the evening to 102-104 Then his morning 113. Called and went to my Electrophysiologist who will do a cardiac aversion Tomorrow. Hopefully that will bring it back down and keep it down. Anyone else experience this issue with heart rate and these 2 procedures. TIA

My elderly mother is in need of a re-repair of her mitral valve. She just had a successful ablation last week to remove scar tissue from her last mitral valve repair a decade ago, but currently still has severe leakage of the valve. She lives about an hour upstate of NYC, so I have been looking at different surgeons.

I am considering making an appointment with Dr. David Adams as I see her specializes in re-repairs. Has anyone had experience with Dr. Adams? Would they recommend him? Are there any other surgeons you would recommend for a re-repair of the mitral valve in the NYC/Westchester/Dutchess area?

TIA.

Edit - I forgot to add she is not eligible for the minimally invasive repair due to the prior repair. Something about the ring size was already the largest used so they cannot use the minimally invasive, it would need to be full open heart surgery.

I just turned 21 and i have severe mitral valve prolapse i got it did at 17 but it just got worse. Surgery is recommended but i am really scared and i have severe depression and high anxiety i’m on antidepressants and antipsychotics it just sucks.

Hi everyone,

I’m 33F and had a mitral valve replacement due to endocarditis (strep-related, though the underlying cause remains unknown). At the time, my surgical team opted for a bioprosthetic (tissue) valve.

As I look ahead, I’m feeling a lot of anxiety about long-term complications and the inevitable reinterventions that come with a tissue valve at a young age. My primary goal for the future is to minimize overall health risks and surgical complications.

When my current tissue valve eventually wears out, I’m trying to understand how to approach the next step:
Option A: Valve-in-Valve (TMVR) transcatheter procedure via the groin.
Option B: Full redo open-heart surgery to replace it with a mechanical valve (to avoid future surgeries, acknowledging the lifelong blood thinners).

For anyone who has navigated this choice or had a tissue mitral valve in their 30s:

1. What factors did you or your cardiology team prioritize when deciding between a valve-in-valve procedure versus open redo surgery?
2. How did you weigh the trade-offs between repetitive catheter procedures vs. open surgery and lifelong anticoagulation?
3. Any personal insights or questions you wish you had asked your structural heart team earlier?

Thank you so much for any thoughts or shared experiences, it means a lot! :)

Hi all! I've got my valve repair surgery scheduled for the end of October, and I'm starting to gather supplies in preparation. I've read about people using wedge or other special pillows while recoving from other surgeries, but I'm not sure if their useful after a valve repair (or replacement). Anyone here have experience or advice?

Thanks!

I have MAD 10mm with mild regurgitation and mild prolapse (20F, nonsmoker/drinker) They gave me metoprolol but unsure i should take it bc I have a relatively normal heart rate and normal bp (my heart rate gets up to 140 when doing really slow yoga upside down but when I sleep its in 50s and 70-80s at rest). I have had rare PVCs and PACs, done an MRI and CT, awaiting another 14-day monitor, and the kicker, a sibling who had SCD in mid 20s though the cause is unknown atm (I will update when I can). I am having chest pain, shortness of breath, and slight dizziness/lightheadedness that been getting worse over the past maybe three years (with a sudden surge in symptoms) but I am also the most anxious i've ever been because of doctors recently telling me the risk is high bc of my sibling. Ive also lost my appetite but that's probably anxiety Im pretty sure the only thing left is to do an implant although I haven't talked to an EP yet (the only way ill be able to soon is to go to the er and I went recently for breathlessness but I had a terrifying experience and I left before long, I know but it was too much at the time). Are they right? Am I at a really high risk? Im terrified of surgery and a life-altering change. An implant would mean I am at high risk forever and it wouldn't even help my symptoms right? Just shock me in case? what should I do, I feel helpless and I dont want to go yet.

So I recently had a 2 month echo after mitral valve repair surgery and they found “mild residual regurgitation”. Now I have read that this is normal and that it should remain mild if the repair is stable. My surgeon has not yet reviewed the results. Does anyone else still have mild regurgitation after surgery?