what causes a heart murmur?

Question

I have been healthy all my life, recentkly I haver been having edema in my ankles so a few weeks ago I went for the f=irst time to an internal medicine dr. he said hears a heart murmur thru his stethoscope no dr ever told me that before and so a week ago i went for an echocardiogram and Monday a liver ultrasound (i have hep c) which I have not heard back about yet . what causes a murmur is it a serious thing? should I get another opinion. I don't like this dr, he won't do any meds for the edema except tell me to ear compression stcokingas I am NOT an old lady and don't wanna spend my summer in old lady stockings.

Answer 1

Any noise produced by the pumping action of the heart is called a heart murmur. It can be benign, as in my case.

Answer 2

It seems like you might have new heart failure, based on your new ankle edema, so it is very possible that you have something new going on in your heart at this time. As the other posters have said, murmurs can be caused by many different things; some are serious and some are not. Here is a site with a list:

http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/4/1675_51122.htm

The good news is that your doctor did detect it and did order an echocardiogram. That was the right thing to do. If you are worried that you have not heard back yet about the echocardiogram results, just call the doctor's office. They can track down the results and the doctor can tell you what was found. If you really don't want to wear compression stockings, just tell him. Maybe he can come up with a better plan.

It doesn't sound like you need to get a second opinion yet, but you do need to talk to this doctor again about the two issues above. If you are not satisfied after that next discussion, then you can think about seeing a different doctor. You could even ask your doctor for a referral to a cardiologist.

I hope you feel better soon.

Answer 3

A heart murmur is caused by turbulent flow of blood in or around the heart. Sometimes it can be caused by leaky valves, sometimes it can be caused by valves that don't open enough, and sometimes for other reasons.

It's good that you've had an echocardiogram. Basically, when a physician hears a murmur, he/she tries his/her best to decide what's causing it (based on the sound), but an echocardiogram is the test that really tells you how the blood is flowing through the heart.

If you've had edema in your legs, it can be a sign of problems with the heart, but it can also be a sign of problems with your liver (especially considering you have hep c).

It sounds like your physician has done an excellent job ordering the right tests and treatments. I'm sure you don't like the idea of wearing stockings, but believe me, it's much safer to treat leg/foot edema with stockings than it is to treat it with medicines. You may wind up needing medicine for your edema, but if you don't have the results of an echocardiogram yet, then your doctor doesn't yet know for sure what's causing the edema. In that case, for the time being, stockings are the perfect choice.

If the stockings are the only reason you don't like your doc, then I think you should re-think your position. He's the one who's had the training, and you're forming an opinion about the expert based on the social acceptability of his recommendations, and not the medical appropriateness of his decisions.

Now, if you've got other reasons not to like him (not mentioned in your question), then, of course, that's different.

Hope you get good news from your tests!

Answer 4

a murmur is usually caused when a heart valve doesn't shut all the way, causing a some blood to flow backwards and that will cause your heart to have to work harder. I have one and I was diagnosed at 12. I am now 29. Some people have to take medicine for the symptoms if they have any. Some people do not have to. A lot of people actually go all their lives without knowing they have one at all. Murmurs are usually not life-threatening. I hope that this eases your mind. I would demand more answers from your doctor though so that you aren't left in the dark about all of this. Take care and have a nice day.

Answer 5

I was diagnosed with a slight murmur a few years ago, and what I was told the most common cause is a faulty valve, where it doesn't seal all the way and allows a little blood back into the heart chamber. Some murmurs are more serious than others, but if you don't like your doctor, find another one.....very important.
mine isn't serious but you may want to get it checked out anyway, anything to do with your heart is important so i'd check it out if i were

Answer 6

You have hep C? Your doctor needs to have more information like your test results before he prescribes any meds. Is your edema from your impaired liver function or your heart? Fluid overload from your liver probs can cause a heart murmur from excess stress on the valve, or your could have a primary problem with a valve itself causing CHF. He needs to determine which is the cause of the problem to give you the correct treatment.

Answer 7

There are several things that can cause a heart murmur. My son was born with one, I had two doctors check him out and luckily they both agreed that it wont cause him any problems. I would go to another doctor if you arent comfortable with the one you are currently seeing, just because a patient should always be comfortable talking to his or her physican. The murmur could be a lot of different things, but have it checked out by another doctor, and good luck to you.

Answer 8

well i dunno how one is caused but my bro, sises and i were all born with one. mine healed up when i was 7.