Know aneurysm with visible pulse in neck

[mrsak87]

Hi,

I posted on here a while back with health anxiety, the heart naturally, I had an echo after everything appeared normal and hey found a 4.2cm root aneurysm which gave me the worst time of my life. The guy Who did even said there were only minor changes!!! That was about 10 months ago. I’m only 30 so they tested me for Marfan syndrome which came back negative so I’m currently undergoing more genetic testing to see if they can find anything or if I’m just a freak of nature. The aneurysm is too small for surgery as the risk of dying in the surgery is greater than me dying now so it’s just been monitored

I had a second echo only last month which revealed no change, good heart with well contracting ventricles (apart from partial RBBB) no regurgitation in any valves apart from the pulmonary which is only trace.

Through time I’ve learned how to stop freaking out about it and I’m leading a pretty normal life after changing my job slightly apart from no longer doing heavy weight training.

Yesterday however I looked in the mirror whilst brushing my teeth and I can see my pulse in my middle neck on both sides of my throat - where you’d take your pulse. I googled this and all the answers are to do with valve problems (a fear that is real) or heart failure which is related.

This is obviously freaking me out. Should I see the doctor? My echo came back only last month and showed both my heart and valves to be fine? I don’t have any shortness of breath or any other symptoms and I’ve seen a few posts on here with visible neck pulses. I also had an ecg which was exactly the same. What you reckon?

[au Lait]

I'm pretty sure it's normal. It's just your jugular veins. I can see mine too. Plus you just had everything tested and it was all normal. I wouldn't worry. I'd think if there was cause for concern something else would have shown up on your most recent tests.

[mrsak87]

Yea I know it should be fine especially as I’ve just been tested! Complete relapse on the anxiety front. I’ve seen as well poker players look for this as a tell. I get tested again in 5 months so might as well wait unless it gets worse I guess

[O_O]

Yea I know it should be fine especially as I’ve just been tested! Complete relapse on the anxiety front. I’ve seen as well poker players look for this as a tell. I get tested again in 5 months so might as well wait unless it gets worse I guess

I'm not surprised you're anxious given your previous diagnosis. Being diagnosed with something like an aneurysm is a health anxiety sufferer's worst nightmare. I think you're doing incredibly well to take everything in your stride. Much braver than most of the rest of us who haven't even been diagnosed with anything yet and are still terrified!

I would agree with au Lait that the pulsing neck vein is pretty normal. However, given your concerns I don't think it would be excessive just to mention it to the doctor. On the other hand, since you've just been tested like you said and everything is fine then... you're probably fine! And waiting a few months won't hurt.

[Hypomean]

See if I were in your position I would be on freaknout mode. 24/7
Do things change when you are actually dealing with a diagnosis? And you worried about the heart! How? If i do get insurance i worry about finding out the unknown.

My nephew has a 5cm in his brain. They were able to reduce it to that so it was bigger and now they are just monitoring it. And when I see him grabbing at his head I get nervous. (He’s two years old :( )

[mrsak87]

Do things change when you get a diagnosis? As in anxiety wise? I’d say definitely. I think it helps massively because you know you’re not crazy. The wondering if it’s this or not spiralled me into anxiety. At one point I thought I had brugada syndrome and would die at any minute. My main anxiety now is thinking I have a specific type of gene which I’m getting tested for - I have a 20 % chance of it being that and it means the aneurysm wouldn’t be only worry because I’ll also have a heart attack or stroke probably in my40’s!

Saying that though I haven’t had a panic attack since like February-March and I can do that thing again that’s called sleepingz. I’m sorry to hear about your nephew, that’s awful luck and I can sympathise completely. Is that why you have anxiety? What do the doctors say about it?

O_O thank you for the kind words! I think it’s probably sensible to book an appointment with my GP which would take about 2 weeks anyway. I’m less worried now but i won’t feel like an idiot going in

[Thelegend27]

i'm sure this is normal, in fact i've seen many peoples pulses in their neck, even in movies i've seen people laying in bed and with the close up shot you can see the oulse very clearly in the neck, me and my girlfriend laughed about it for some reason. also if you dont have much fat on the neck then these veins will be closer to the skin which makes the pulse easier to be seen.

[mrsak87]

Thanks for that it’s made me worry less with how common it’s appears to be, just strange how drastically awful the Internet doctors make it out to be

[lofwyr]

I am in your exact boat. I am 4.8 cm root aneurysm, with a bicuspid valve. I am being monitored and now being tested for Marfan. You need to talk, let me know.

For what it is worth, I am getting checked for blood vessel abnormalities in my brain and carotid given my left ear pulsatile tinnitus.

As an aside, my anxiety basically vanished the second I got a diagnosis. It is the oddest thing, but I have faced this with the minimal, normal worry. Not the obsessive compulsive fear of the unknown.

[mrsak87]

Ahhh mate I’m sorry to hear that. Are you English or American? I’d check out PEARS surgery, it’s what I’m going for when the time comes and I’ve spoken to the inventor already

What’s your pulsate tinnitus like? I can sometimes hear an almost clicking in my ear when I lie in bed with my right ear pressed against the mattress but usually only when I’m anxious and I’ve not had it for a while. Also I’ll get about 10 seconds of ringing in the same ear but again only when anxious so I’ve been getting it lately. As a side note too I get nose bleeds constantly

How old are you? How long have you known?

[lofwyr]

Hey there, checked the other post first. I am American. This is a great time to need this surgery, it has a fairy low risk rate with a great, very optimistic recovery. The techniques and technology are both coming a long way, and quickly. There are so many options now, it is pretty reassuring.

My pulsatile tinnitus is like a soft roar to the beat of my pulse, only in my left ear, but it is so quiet it only is noticeable during the night when the background noise is more or less gone and I am laying down to sleep, or when I wake up in the morning.

I am 47 (just) and have only known about the aneurysm since July of this year, though as it turns out, I have had it since 2010 at least, but my doctor at the time never told me. Glad to have a new doctor now who caught it again, and got me up to speed.

With the nose bleeds, is your blood pressure under control? My dad got them all the time when he BP was bad. Keeping your BP low is apparently the best thing we can do to keep our aneurysms from growing.

[mrsak87]

Theres an American (English person who lives in American with American insurance ) Who had the surgery and there’s a video at the end of the thread on this forum below. The outlooks are getting better for sure!

I can’t believe your doctor! I’d go ballistic if I found that out and I never lose my head. How big was it in 2010?

Yea it’s weird my BP is 105/(I cant remember the second number I think 65) and when I was in A&E the guy on call thought I was on beta blockers. My dad has them all the time too but it’s down to him having a low platelet account so I’ve assumed it’s always been the same.

I’ve got doctors on Tuesday. See what they think

---------- Post added at 20:19 ---------- Previous post was at 20:18 ----------

The link

http://www.marfanlife.net/bb3/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=1812

[lofwyr]

Wow, with a BP that low, and no Marfan's is seems like there must be something else going on, doesn't it?

I am getting tested for all of the TAAD (Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Disease) genetic markers, as there are quite a few other than Marfans itself. Are you getting looked at for those too?

[mrsak87]

Yea I’m getting a 12 panel test that’s comig back around Christmas time. It’s weird as well because of how athletic I was, now I’m confined to gentle biking

I thought it’d be marfan because I have two cousins with it but my grandad and Dad don’t have it and neither do I. I have no syndromic features so there’s one test I’m particularly scared of. When are yours due?

My dad is late 50’s, still athletic and his aortic root is 3.9 which is borderline but at his age they’re not worried about that size