Question:
Since I had my exercise test and repeat echo about 4 weeks ago I have been experiencing what appears to be poor circulation in my legs/feet. When sitting/standing I feel a fluid like sensation running down my leg from the groin area across the thigh and then around down the calf muscle. My veins in both feet then become a lot more engorged than usual, sometimes with a hot flush / pain sensation, however if elevated they appear fine. My doc is undecided as to whether its circulatory or nerve problems and has asked me to wear some surgical stockings for a couple of days to see if it improves the situation. After day 1 it seemed less and as soon as I got them off (OK so they are designed to be tight!) I had a sudden rush/ sensation so it would appear circulatory. My problem/question is although I have Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy all tests only 4 weeks ago shown fine, septum wall is only slightly enlarged, EF around 60%, valves are clear of obstruction and working OK. Exercise ECG up to 180 BPM no abnormal ECG readings. The only thing is that about 2 days after the Exercise test I had severe angina for about 3 days that then disappeared and has not returned. I had an ECG after and that was still fine. Could something have happened post Exercise ECG i.e damage to valves under the increased workload and would that have shown up on the ECG or could my condition have deteriorated so quickly within 4 weeks?? Once I'm walking its fine and I daily walk about 1.5 miles without any other problems such as breathlessness.

Answer: -It just sounds like varicose veins to me...did anyone say anything about that? Walking probably makes it go away because of more muscle contraction and more blood flow through arteries (both of which are contributing factors to getting blood back to the heart). Superficial varicose veins can be removed with little to no problems. The blood will find another way back to the heart. -If my interperation is correct varicose veins are when the tiny valves in the veins stop working correctly causing the pooling effect. However as I am only 27 years young :) and it only started after my exercise ECG it would add weight to my original thought. On the treadmill I was sustaining a heart rate in the 180s for several minutes until the end of the test, this obviously would have probably been the fastest its been in its life, not been overly active and since diagnosed with HCM my doc has advised me to stop all strenous exercise so all I do is brisk walking about 1-2 miles a day which takes my heart rate up to the 80s. So I guess the new question is how tough are the valves in the veins at undertaking these extremes, the other thing that worrys me is that one of the cuff BP measurements was something like 220/150 which the doc discounted as a electronic glitch/movement, all the other BP readings during the test were in the 150s/100s