18 mths old diagnosed with heart murmur..

[Comma2]

...and of course I am freaking out. :( She was also diagnosed with dangerous peanut etc allergies, and I am still a bit traumatised from hearing those bad news. The doctor said its most likely begnin, and she seems happy and healthy (besides eczema). She's due for a follow-up in 4 weeks. Does anybody have experience with this??

I know my best friends wee boy had a heart murmur at about 2 - it was diagnosed after a series of febrile convulsions caused by throat infection. 3 weeks later it was gone.

Both of my kids had murmurs and both had outgrow them by 2 and 3.

I totally freaked out when I was first told too - that's normal!

I was a little PFB with DD and told off family members who made her jump or startled her in case it put strain on her heart

Both of mine were healthy and happy babies and you'd never have known. DD's was found at her 6 week check by a trainee doctor who had just done a cardiac rotation so was peeked to hear these things I guess. She had an echo and the found a teeny lower left ventricle leak which has completely closed up now.

DS's was found at the same 6 week check but I didn't panic at all this time. The consultant thought it sounded 'significant' but the scans and tests showed it to simply be a 'noisy heart'. A recent doctor could hear nothing at all so we are assuming he's outgrown his too. He'll get a check-up at 3.

You will worry until the check up but honestly, if she's happy and healthy try not to let your imagination run wild.

It's perfectly normal to worry when you're told your child has something potentially wrong with them. My Ds was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 9mths when I took him to the GP with a cough. The Doctor said it was common to hear a heart murmur when a child is poorly and most have gone when rechecked. In Ds's case, when I went back to the GP 2 wks later, the murmur was still there so we were referred to the Cardiologist at the local childrens hospital.

Ds had an ECHO and an ECG and was diagnosed with aortic stenosis which was obviously upsetting at the time. He had 6mthly checks until he was 2 and is now on yearly checks. He's luckily shown no symptoms yet and is a happy, hyper active, 3yo. He will need a procedure at some stage but we'll deal with that when it arises. TBH, most of the time I forget he has a 'condition'.

A lot of murmurs are 'innocent' and require no treatment. Hopefully your DD has one of those but if not, there's so much they can do now.

Thank you! DD had an unrelated doctor appointment today, and that doctor said she couldn't hear anything. She didn't try very hard, but I put that down on the good side anyway.

Will I now check out aortic stenosis? I think I will....

I wouldn't google anything! Whatever you google will come up with the scary side of things I speak as the mother of a daughter who was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 6 weeks. Dd2's is caused by pulmonary stenosis. She is 10 now and we are due to go back for review next year - 5 years after her last review. She has always been fine. However it was very upsetting for me when she was young. Anything with the heart seems very scary. 1 in 100 children are born with a heart defect though - there is a huge range of these things and even if your dd does have an abnormality the fact that it's taken this long to show indicates that she is in fact very well. Try not to worry.

For several years I thought I had a mermaid in my heart

The 'mermaid' was only mentioned once and was never mentioned again.

I found out when I was in my mid 20's that I was born with a heart murmur. Really freaked me out as my Dad had one which required surgery. My heart murmur sorted itself out, so no one ever told my family. It did return when I was pregnant, then sorted itself again.

Dad found out about his when he was 40, he'd had it since he was a child, probably due to having rheumatic fever. Our GP knew Dad had it, but also knew about his problems with stress so just kept an eye on it. When he was 40 Dad started seeing specialists about it, who said they'd operate if/when he needed it, probably in about 5-10 years. Dad finally had the operation when he was 65. He's never shown any symptoms of having a heart problem.

Don't google, you'll just get horror stories, believe me, there are lots! Wait to see what the GP says.

My little boy had a heart murmer picked up at 6 weeks old. after ECHO was diagnosed with mild/moderate pulmonary valve stenosis. It is now just classed as mild and he is considered normal. Consultant said lots of people have them without knowing about it and most need no treatment.

Thank you all very much for your responses! I will set up her follow-up tomorrow. Will let you know what happens, but all the good stories have cheered me up!