I have a bad heart murmur what should I do?

I have had a heart murmer that comes and goes since I was 10, now I am 21 and it isn't as frequent and when it comes it is fast. I had one recently that really scared me it made me really dizzy and I blacked out. I have been to many Dr.'s about it and they just send me home saying that it is a harmless murmur. What should I do?

A murmur, similar to a fever, is simply a sign that indicates something MAY be going on. Other than that, they are meaningless by themselves, as it is simply a sound created by turbulent blood flow. What is causing the turbulent flow is the issue.

Your usage of the word is also puzzling. People usually don't have dizziness from murmurs, they have dizziness from palpitations or not enough blood being pumped to the brain. The palpitations may also be accompanied by a physiologic (aka functional) murmur from the increased blood flow of the faster heart rate.

Inotherwords, you don't have a murmur that gives you a faster heart rate; your faster heart rate is making you dizzy AND creating a murmur.

You need to go back to your doctor and suggest getting Holtered. This is a portable EKG recorder that you wear for a specified time duration in hopes of catching the palpitations that you feel and recording their electrical readiings. This is serious as you had a syncopal episode (you blacked out). By choosing and describing these symptoms to your doctor as a murmur, you're misleading him into thinking that you had an innocent childhood murmur that is clinically meaningless.

Do this, next time you see him (and it should be soon), DO tell him that your heart was racing and you then blacked out. Do NOT say a word about the murmur. Now watch how differently he will react.

Ralph

If a doctor is telling you that it is a harmless murmur then why are you still worried? There is probably nothing wrong with it, so stop worrying and live your life.