Virus or some thing else

[Cokopops]

few weeks ago went to the surgery for blood test. Next day the start of sore throat that lasted over a week. Since then strange pains in clavicle, chest and back. Was taken in hospital as they thought it could be my heart. Had ECG. more blood tests… nothing wrong. So gastric problems was mentioned. Discharged for hospital. Now have a cough and woke up absolutely drenched in sweat two nights in a row. Got appointment at surgery this morning.. not happy but the choice was that or hospital!! If E T changes into something else, what symptoms would I have? As you can see in feeling sorry for myself.. Any one ever experienced the same? What a palaver! Thank you for reading this. Any clues welcome

[hunter5582]

My GP says "The simplest explanation is the best explanation." What you are describing does not sound like a change in the ET. It sounds like you picked up a bug, maybe while at the surgery. Having said that, it is a good thing to have checked out for cardiac issues if the pain spread from chest to shoulder and back. I have landed in the Emergency Room a few times with severe reflux that causes significant heartburn/chest pain. It would also be worth checking into whether GERD is present. Note - the informal confirmation for me is when they gave me a GI Cocktail (Maalox + lidocaine) the symptoms vanished immediately.

Hope you get it sorted ASAP.

[Cokopops in reply to hunter5582]

Hi Hunter

A follow up from my last post. I saw a lovely kind doctor that was a bit disgusted at the treatment I had at the hospital. She said « so they checked if you’d had a heart attack and then chucked you out » That’s how I felt! So more tests were ordered and another ECG. She wrote to my haematologist and they suggest more bloods and a FAT test. She also started me on isosorbide. Heavy chest feeling has disappeared now. The ECG does show a bit of A F. Blood test this morning showed platelet shot up to 798 from 437 last week. ALP increased by 57 to 177. Have not spoken to Doc since results. To me it looks like some kind of infection. What do you think?

Kind regards and thank you for taking the time to read this

[hunter5582 in reply to Cokopops]

Glad to hear you had a better assessment experience with the other doctor. Sounds like you have some appropriate follow up scheduled. It will help when you have a better picture of all that is going on. It seems likely more than one thing.

If your ECR is showing any form of arrhythmia, A-Fib or anything else, that needs a proper assessment. In the context of a MPN, it definitely needs to be addressed. I had to have a catheter ablation for atrial tachycardia. I still monitor HR using a smart watch since I still have had some minor tachycardia incidents. I also use a Kardia device that gives a 6-lead ECG if I flag any HR anomaly. This gives my cardiologist better information.

amazon.co.uk/KardiaMobile-6...

The bump up in PLTs could be reactive thrombocytosis from an infection. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a liver function test. It could be reactive to an infection. It is diagnostically significant if ALP goes up but the other LFTs (ALT/AST) remain stable. It would be best to get expert medical advice on these tests.

I generally do not get too concerned about an anomaly on any one set of labs. Things may shift on the next set. It is the trend that matters. It sounds like your care team is already following up on that.

Hope you get answers ASAP.

[Cokopops in reply to hunter5582]

Thank you Hunter for your reply. I’ll just have to stay calm and wait for all the results now, Keep well

[Loubprv Volunteer]

HiI agree with Hunter

Probably a bug, so many ghastly things around

I ve had a recurring sore throat throat, gravelly voice, but of a cough, blocked nose and mucusy throat for over 6 weeks

A friend got me on to ginger shots ( moju) which I m hardly daring to hope are having a positive effect!

Hope you feel much better soon

Louise x