I was also scheduled for an echocardiogram, to see if I have mitral valve prolapse. (i think i spelt that right.) What is the mitral valve?

Mitral valve is one of the valves of the heart, whose function is to keep the blood flowing in one direction through the left side of the heart, and to prevent backflow of blood when the heart contracts. It's named for its shape, which resembles a tall bishop's hat called a miter. It's made up of two triangular-shaped fibrous membranes, thin but tough, which are attached to strong cords like parachute cords, in turn attached to muscles. When the heart contracts, the two leaves billow up to close off the opening between the upper atrium and the lower ventricle on the left side of the heart. "Prolapse" means that the two leaves are a little loose, a little floppy, so that the valve doesn't close as firmly as it might. It may close with a faint click, or may permit a tiny amount of blood to leak through, producing a heart murmur.

I guess I should have just said that I have a "floppy" valve. errg

People with mitral valve prolapse seem somehow to be wired differently. Their autonomic response can be much more volatile and unstable, as if set on hair-trigger, so that normal stresses and surprises set off an exaggerated response, flooding their systems with stress hormones called the catecholamines. In fact, there may not be a specific stressor--autonomic fluxes may occur unpredictably like internal weather changes. In some ways this could be defined as a catecholamine disorder. The principal catecholamines are epinephrine and adrenaline. People with mitral valve prolapse are intermittently and unpredictably awash in their own catecholamines. This leaves them alternately innervated and exhausted--"wired but tired" is a common feeling.

Now how would you like to use that as an excuse to get off the phone with a tele-marketer. "Excuse me but I am awash in my own catecholamines, so I must get off the phone."

I guess that one is better than saying that my house is on fire.

heee