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British Heart Foundation
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Myocarditis or heart attack

So three doctors say ive had a heart sttack and the cardiologist says its myocarditis

Due to have a mri now in a few days but has anyone ever not been sure if it was hesrt attack or myocarditis

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Haven’t heard of Myocarditis

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It's an inflammation of the myocardium (heart muscle) unrelated to lifestyle. Most make a complete recovery but sometimes the muscle may be damaged not unlike a heart attack!

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Hi, I had viral myocarditis at 38 years of age after having flu. I did have some aching pains in my left side and arrhythmia - on beta blockers short term. Also had time off work for recovery. Discharged from Cardiologist and told I had a slight heart murmur (mitral valve). Went back to work and enjoying my life at present on holiday in Dubai. Rest and get yourself better.

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Its so lovely to heat your story of recovery. I am still recovering from myocarditis since end of August. I still get a lot of chest pain, fatigue and cant do much. I'm just wondering how long it took till you could go back to work?

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I took 9 months off work and I did take things easy. At the time I worked for the health service in intensive care. You need to make sure you are fit enough to make a return to work and with the help of your GP and possibly Occupational Health you should be ok to resume your employment in the near future with help from the Professionals. I now work in Occupational Health and if you have any issues with the above please don’t hesitate to contact me.

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Thank you. wow 9 months. I can see why. I thought I was doing well and started doing more normal things then my chest pains got a lot worse, it put me back to square 1. I'm back on the road to recovery but taking it a lot slower this time. Did you just know when you was ready? has your fatigue gone? xx

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Hi, Yes I got back to normal - now travelling abroad and hectic hobbies. Just look after yourself and take things slowly. I was also careful with certain food and alcohol as I found some foods/drink gave me arrhythmia.

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It's been so useful for me to read your post. I'm one of those people who 'powers through' and being rushed to hospital a few days before Christmas was a bit of a shock. Had an angio, echos and blood tests, which appear to be suggesting myocarditis as the two procedures found no clues as to why I am getting the discomfort in my chest. Now at home and having an MRI in a couple of weeks. No meds prescribed yet. Thought I was doing fine and was going to talk to GP about returning to work on 'light duties' - I mostly work from home sitting at a computer. But not feeling so good today, so perhaps not a good idea. Before this I was very active and was given a clear bill of health at an MOT a few weeks before the event. Taking my dog for a short (for me anyway) walk is all I can manage as exercise.

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Just take your time as your body will let you know when your tired and if you feel ok to start doing some work from home try to integrate yourself back into this. I find when go to work I have more time as I have to organise myself better and on my days off it goes so fast and I can end up feeling more tired. Also I would advise drinking more fluids. My Cardiologist told me I didn’t drink enough. He explained the heart is a pumping system and if it was your central heating boiler and it didn’t have enough water going through its system - it would become sluggish and not work as efficiently as it should. I now drink more fluids and I do feel much better after taking his advice. My favourite is coconut water and this hydrates you quickly.

Good Luck on your return to work.

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Thanks for the tip about drinking more. I had a nasty head pain for 2 weeks after the angiogram and they said it was an unusual reaction to the contrast die. Drinking more water really helped.

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So it was a mi with no cornary disease and clear echo

Scarring and high troponin.not sure whether ive been unlucky or lucky either way the diagnosis changed three times which wasnt good

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Hi, please feel free to read my myocarditis story posted on this forum. I am 5 months down the line and back to work full time. I still get tired, but am 100% better than I was. Best wishes

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Hi, how are you doing? Ive posted a few times on here about my journey so feel free to look it up. Im just over a year from diagnosis of acute myopericarditus which just means i had both myocarditis & pericarditis at the same time. The virus was sobad itcaused me uo have two heart attacks 1 at home & 1 in hospital. Im now back to work but have chosen to reduce my hours due to fatigue. I have some longterm damage to theheart muscle but feel so much better now. Walking the dog is the most exercise I do as my heart rate still races on slight exercise - i am on bisopronol to hopefully control this but its a slow process gradually increasing the dose. I would advise not to rush, this illness takes a long time to recover from and if you have complications even longer. Ensure your GP & cardiologist keep a close eye on you along the way ECG, 24hr BP & 24 ecg may help too. Good luck it takes time but you willget there. Rushing and having set backs cause anxiety so try to avoid if you can. Heart anxiety is very real and something lots of us suffer from - keep chatting on here it really helps x

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I'm starting to get proper fed up a boared of this illness now! I am such an active person and sitting and resting is driving me mad! I'm 5 months down the line now still can't work and now they are giving me formal meetings. I still get chest pains and can't walk far or carry things. Put it like this I'm proud I can hold a cup of tea in my left hand and walk around the house confidently! I hate this and had enough!

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Hi, Still early days for you and yes I used to get left sided aches after having had Myocarditis at the age of 38. Just increase a little at a time and you will get there. It was 9 months after flu with compilations (viral Myocarditis) before I felt ok and had the confidence to do normal activities.

At the beginning I could hardly walk up my garden as it had a slight incline and hanging out washing was so difficult for me especially the large items. Washing my hair made my arms ache and I struggled with daily chores - now I have no problems and I feel back to normal. Wake up to the Wonderful things around you and start to enjoy what you have. Your stamina and strength will come back just take it easy as it’s still early days after this illness.

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Thank you Frenchi. It's good to talk to someone who has had this. It's starting to get me very down now. I went for coffee with a friend today to try and pick my mood up and got really bad fatigue my legs felt like weights and had to drag my self around and lay down rest of the day. Think I'm over doing it but hate being stuck at home. What kind of things did you do when you was off with this? Your right, I know I'm lucky to be alive and getting better. I will look out for the positives around me. X

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Hi Goldfish, We had a large garden and I used to walk slowly around the garden and enjoy the wonderful things nature had to offer. I would rest as often as I needed and didn’t stay up too late. Reading a book or just relaxing also helped me. Taking things easy will help you recover and you will eventually be able to do the things you want to. After nine months I managed to fly to Portugal and have a lovely holiday - still feeling tired after climbing lots of steps from the beach. It takes time to get your confidence back after this awful illness. Certain foods can be so beneficial I have dark cherries and these help to release melatonin which helps you sleep. Be positive and you can beat this illness.

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