Anyone Have Herbal Treatment for Mitral Valve Prolapse?
Question by wishywashy: Anyone have herbal treatment for mitral valve prolapse?
My doctor told me I would have to be on beta blockers for the rest of my life, but I don’t want that option. Are there any homeopathic things I can do?
Best answer:
Answer by Richard B
Mitral valve prolapse is a structural and functional issue surrounding the configuration and shape of the mitral valve. It is not a disease, like strep throat, where a dose of something can help to make it go away.
The beta blockers aren’t meant to be any kind of a cure, rather are to help prevent problems that MVP may cause.
There are no homeopathic remedies that can address this issue successfully.
Answer by Kimandy F
Western medicine is all about $ . They DO NOT care about you or my mom who has MVPS, so they just increased the drugs (cost) she ‘needed’, put her on oxygen and sent her to a convalescent home, frankly, to die in a sedentary lifestyle. Here’s the good news…the info I squeezed outta the internet & books about holistic treatments for MVPS were so effective and simplistic, my mom is off oxygen, living back at her apartment AND exercising again.
Here is the LIST that saved my moms life:
1. Do NOT blindly accept a doctors directives get a 2nd (naturo-pathic) opinion, LISTEN to your body then pick & choose what works best. (I am attaching good info 4 U)
2. Find simple, everyday ways to MANAGE anger, stress, irritability. Apply yourself to babystep-stress blockers for ex.:-
Leave 10 minutes earlier to work, appts., school, dates….
Replace little nuisances like breaking shoelaces, faulty windshield wipers, poorly cut keys,
When you feel IT welling up…stop, take some time for YOU to count anywhere from 1 to 1,000 while taking deep breaths..this is 4 U, your health and you should not feel guilty or rushed when taking care of YOU…shut down & don’t sweat the small stuff…and its all small stuff, I bet that a count of 20 w/deep breathing will change your whole perspective.
A good multivitamin (there;s a script your doc can write that will benefit you) Not a storebought supplement, you need complex B vitamins & prescription types are MORE effective than OTC .
MAGNESIUM, MAGNESIUM, MAGNESIUM 1500mgs a day in 3 – 500mg increments. (This is CRUCIAL to recovery)
Exercise (babysteps, again) 3 times a week or more. Walking, isometrics or chasing your kids. Until you feel tired then cool down for a day, pick it up the next day and add 5 minutes, 5 reps or five more blocks to the amount you did prior. Increase every week until fitness level is achieved AND it will get better and feel better soon. Your shortness of breath, heart palps, etc. won’t increase w/nominal extra activity..they eventually decrease. EXERCISE IS GOOD for MVPS. Sedentary lifestyles KILL us all.
. RECAP:
1. Get holistic 2nd opinions on your MVPS
2. Manage all extreme emotional responses and remember the BIG picture.
3. Magnesium
4. Move (exercise slow & build up)
Here are some AWESOME info sites AND the MVPS club member site.
This Is From Village Total Health.com
Mitral Valve Prolapse
Things react differently to pressure, but they always react. Squeeze a toothpaste tube, and toothpaste squirts out. Put pressure on a balloon, and it pops. Push hard against a mitral valve, and you’ve got a case of mitral valve prolapse. This is not due to high blood pressure, however. It happens because there is something wrong with the connective tissue of the valve.
The mitral valve is located between the two left chambers of the heart. Usually it works fine, letting blood flow from chamber to chamber when the heart compresses, then shutting off like a clever trapdoor when the heart muscle expands. In some people, however, misshapen connective tissue causes real problems. When the heart compresses, the valve pops upward, almost like a parachute being snapped in the wind.
Although you may not feel the difference, a doctor can detect that slight popping sound with a stethoscope. It means that one of the fibrous cords holding the valve in place has stretched too far or that one of the two leaflets that make up the valve has become elongated, thickened, or floppy. Often it’s an inherited disorder.
The valve problem may be accompanied by mood and body changes such as jumpiness, irritability, and muscle stiffness. These symptoms seem to be associated with hyperactivity in the body’s autonomic nervous system, says Sidney M. Baker, M.D., a physician in Weston, Connecticut. The autonomic nervous system works without conscious control and governs the glands, the heart muscle, and the tone of smooth muscles, such as those of the digestive system, the respiratory system, and the skin, Dr. Baker says. “People with mitral valve prolapse may have a hard time adjusting to changes in their environment. They may be sensitive to noise and light, for instance.”
To treat mitral valve prolapse, doctors want to reduce pressure on the valve, which is best done by keeping blood pressure normal or slightly below normal, says Decker Weiss, N.M.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix. They also caution people to avoid stress as a way to help the heart work as efficiently as possible. Treatment may also relieve symptoms of irritability and anxiety.
Pharmaceutical drugs can help with all of these approaches, but natural remedies can have fewer side effects, Dr. Weiss says. If you’ve been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and want to try supplements, talk to your doctor about the following treatment options.
Magnesium—A Mineral for All Symptoms
Several studies indicate that many people with mitral valve prolapse are low in magnesium. Moreover, in one study by researchers at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, people with mitral valve prolapse who took 250 to 1,000 milligrams of magnesium daily had a 90 percent decrease in muscle cramps, a 47 percent decrease in chest pain, and a definite decrease in blood vessel spasms.
This study revealed other benefits, too. People had fewer heart palpitations, the rapid or irregular heartbeat that’s accompanied by a fluttering sensation. Magnesium also helped to regulate heartbeat in those with a type of arrhythmia called premature ventricular contraction. People taking magnesium also reported fewer migraines and less fatigue.
It’s reasonable for people to take 350 milligrams a day of magnesium, Dr. Weiss says. You have your choice of mixtures. If magnesium citrate or gluconate tends to cause diarrhea, you can take the glycinate or orotate form instead. “I’ve recommended as much as 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams a day to some people with severe symptoms” he says.
Magnesium has a body-wide calming effect, Dr. Weiss says. “In addition to being jumpy and irritable and nervous, many people with mitral valve prolapse also have muscle fatigue and stiffness throughout the body, and magnesium helps with all those things.”
People who are going to respond to magnesium generally do so fairly quickly, within a week or less. If you have heart or kidney problems, check with your doctor before taking supplemental magnesium.
More Pump Power with CoQ10
Along with magnesium, Dr. Weiss always recommends coenzyme Q10 (coQ10) for mitral valve prolapse. This vitamin-like substance is made in the body, particularly in the cells of the heart muscle. It provides an energy boost to the muscle.
If you get additional coQ10, it seems to pour even more energy into the muscle cells. That means that the heart contracts more effectively, Dr. Weiss says.
CoQ10 also seems to help reduce stiffening of the muscle, says Peter Langsjoen, M.D., a Tyler, Texas, cardiologist who has been using the substance in his private practice to treat heart disease since 1985.
The diastolic, or filling, phase of the cardiac cycle actually requires more energy than the systolic, or contraction, phase, Dr. Langsjoen notes. “This stiffening of the heart muscle returns to normal with supplemental coQ10, and many of my patients have less fatigue, irregular heart rhythm, and chest pain.”
How much you need to take depends on your symptoms. Dr. Weiss starts with a minimum dose of 120 milligrams a day, divided into three 40-milligram doses. To aid absorption, he suggests taking coQ10 with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. (For the doses of these fatty acids, see page 552.)
Dr. Langsjoen starts people on twice that much, 240 milligrams a day, and he may go as high as 360 milligrams a day divided into three doses if symptoms are severe. CoQ10 is expensive, so you’ll want to stay with the lowest dose that relieves your symptoms, but there are no apparent side effects or toxicity related to the supplement, says Dr. Langsjoen.
Because blood and tissue levels build slowly, it takes about four to six weeks to notice improvements. “In a month, most people can tell if they’re wasting their money or not,” says Dr. Langsjoen. “Improvement in stamina is usually very obvious to the person and does not require any fancy testing or blood work.”
CoQ10 is a fat-soluble supplement, and gel caps are more easily absorbed than tablets. If you do opt for the tablets, chew them with a fat- containing food such as peanut butter or essential fatty acids to maximize absorption.
Heart-Smart Fats
Dr. Weiss recommends that you cut back on the fats that can harm your heart—saturated and hydrogenated fats—and get more of two essential fatty acids that help to protect your heart. You’ll need some omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are found in various proportions in fish oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil, and cold-pressed safflower or sunflower oil.
People with mitral valve prolapse should get 1,000 to 3,000 milligrams a day of a mixture of these two fats, says Dr. Weiss, which are available as gel caps.
Herbal Heart Helper
When someone’s heart is additionally weakened by cardiovascular disease or congestive heart failure, Dr. Weiss may add hawthorn, an herb long known for its heart-strengthening effects. Hawthorn contains bio flavonoids, compounds that, like vitamins C and E, act as heart-protective antioxidants.
Although hawthorn is relatively safe, you should take it with medical supervision, especially if you have low blood pressure or are under doctor’s orders to take other heart medications, Dr. Weiss says. The amount you’ll need depends on your symptoms and the type of hawthorn you’re using. For capsules, a typical dose would be 150 milligrams three times a day.
Kava Calms Jittery Nerves
If anxiety and irritability continue to be a problem even after someone has been taking magnesium for a few weeks, Dr. Weiss recommends kava, a South Seas herb. Kava eases anxiety but doesn’t leave you feeling spaced- out or produce a hangover effect, he says.
Kava’s talents shine in several European studies. In one, people taking 100 milligrams of kava extract three times a day for four weeks had fewer signs of nervousness. They were also less likely to report symptoms of heart palpitations, chest pain, headaches, and dizziness than people taking an inactive substance (placebo).
Dr. Weiss recommends 100 milligrams two or three times a day. Take one dose before bed to help you sleep, he suggests.
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