I'm quite a hypochondriac and perhaps am worrying about nothing, but reading this site has made me alarmed. I apologize if this post is long, but I'd appreciate any advice you can offer.
I am a 27-year-old healthy male. I have no symptoms of HCM, but was diagnosed with an innocent murmur at 18. Doc didn't feel an follow up was necessary. I saw a nurse practitioner three years ago for upper-respiratory virus and she didn't mention hearing a murmur at all. I am worried because my grandmother was diagnosed with HCM in her 30's. She is 71 now and doing okay.
When I recently started freaking out about HCM I asked my mother if she'd ever been screened. She said that she had an echo at 35 because of a murmur detected during pregnancy, the results showed no problems. She's now 55 and has no symptoms of HCM. My father (53) recently had a bout of atrial fibrillation which could not be traced to any cause. His tetsing ran the gamut (ECG, echo, angiogram). The AF couldn't be traced to any heart abnormality.
I have four other siblings (range in age from 16-29), most have had innocent murmurs along the line, with some having echo, ECG testing that came up negative for heart disease. Other than the murmurs, there is no familial history of heart disease, sudden-death or HCM. One early death (50) from coronary artery disease on my fathers side. Other than that, longetivity is pretty typical.
Am I unecessarily freaking out about this? I know that I should just go to the doctor to be checked, but I'm terrified of doctors and diagnostic testing associate with HCM freaks me out as well. Have I mentioned I have anxiety issues?
If anyone can offer any words of advice I'd appreaciate it.
I am a 27-year-old healthy male. I have no symptoms of HCM, but was diagnosed with an innocent murmur at 18. Doc didn't feel an follow up was necessary. I saw a nurse practitioner three years ago for upper-respiratory virus and she didn't mention hearing a murmur at all. I am worried because my grandmother was diagnosed with HCM in her 30's. She is 71 now and doing okay.
When I recently started freaking out about HCM I asked my mother if she'd ever been screened. She said that she had an echo at 35 because of a murmur detected during pregnancy, the results showed no problems. She's now 55 and has no symptoms of HCM. My father (53) recently had a bout of atrial fibrillation which could not be traced to any cause. His tetsing ran the gamut (ECG, echo, angiogram). The AF couldn't be traced to any heart abnormality.
I have four other siblings (range in age from 16-29), most have had innocent murmurs along the line, with some having echo, ECG testing that came up negative for heart disease. Other than the murmurs, there is no familial history of heart disease, sudden-death or HCM. One early death (50) from coronary artery disease on my fathers side. Other than that, longetivity is pretty typical.
Am I unecessarily freaking out about this? I know that I should just go to the doctor to be checked, but I'm terrified of doctors and diagnostic testing associate with HCM freaks me out as well. Have I mentioned I have anxiety issues?
If anyone can offer any words of advice I'd appreaciate it.
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