One of the carditis's?

[Bobkins99]

So background. 3 years ago I had endocarditis and a mitral valve repair. I am diagnosed with heart failure with an EF of just under 50%. Until now, apart from some mild shortness of breath, everything has been good. A few weeks ago I was recovering from a nasty chest infection, then one night I had a severe pain under my sternum, which I attributed to my gall stones. Subsequently I found it harder and harder to take deep breaths and there is a tightness feeling in my chest, but no arm pain etc.. It definitely feels heart rather than asthma type symptoms. As I'm away from home I scheduled an emergency appointment with a local GP, who sent me for a fall blood screen including troponin and bacterial markers. The results all came back as normal, which is reassuring, but also does not explain the shortness of breath. I will be home next week and intend a follow-up appointment with my own GP but in the meantime I would be grateful to know if this could be perhaps myocarditis. Would myocarditis infection show up in blood tests? The temporary GP did mention that my mitral regurgitation was very noticeable through the stethoscope

[Art-99]

Perhaps a chat with one of the BHF nurses might be useful ?

[fishonabike]

Nasty chest infections can leave you with breathing problems for quite a while - also if this also caused a bad cough you might have strained some chest muscles - this happened to me a few times with really bad coughs and I had pain when I took deep breaths

But if in doubt get medical advice from GP, BHF helpline or 111

[Anon2023]

I'm not a medical professional but I'm sure the doctor would have undertaken a crp (C-reactive protein) test which would highlight any immflamation such as that caused by myocarditis or endocarditis etc. It was my elevated crp test that indicated that I had endocarditis along with a persistent fever. Crp is a non specific test, however, and could still be a little raised after your chest infection but if it is quite elevated the doc should be referring you for further tests such as an echo . I would think that myocarditis would come with a host of symptoms. You know your body better than anyone so if you feel poorly then pursue further tests. Good luck.

[Bobkins99 in reply to Anon2023]

I had a full range of tests. Unfortunately because it was a temporary GP they don't appear on my NHS app. But they were all normal. I know one was Troponin and that too was normal.

[Anon2023 in reply to Bobkins99]

Hi. I know that I feel very anxious whenever I am ill because I fear the return of endocarditis. The cardiac team tell me that lightning isn't likely to strike twice but I still worry. I would think that if all of your blood tests are normal, particularly troponin, then that's very reassuring. You could ring the GP surgery and ask for your results but as crp is non specific it might cause more anxiety than it's worth because the chest infection may have slightly elevated it. When my crp was raised recently, due to a uti, they retested after a week so I would think that if there were any concerns they would have told you to get another test. Maybe go to your own gp when you are home just to be checked over, more for reassurance. If you haven't got a fever etc it could well be a muscular strain from coughing etc. I hope you feel better soon 😊

[HHH2017]

She sorry to hear this.

I believe if it was Myocarditis your blood tests would have shown elevated troponin levels as per heart attack.

Drfinitely worth giving the BHF nurses a call. Hope you get sorted & feel better soon.