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After 4 months will an EKG detect a bout of suspected myocarditis?
Otherwise healthy 35 yo (had a perfectly normal EKG / stress test 1 year ago). 4 months ago I had sudden chest pains, slighly sharp and left sided, which left me feeling a bit breathless and have been tired and fatigued since. I feel as if my breathing has changed a bit and my pulse is heavier & faster. Dull aching chest pain persists, even at rest. I'm not that comfortable lying down to go to sleep, prefer to lie on right side whereas before I was comfortable on my back.. Not really been tempted to do any vigorous exercise. I wasn't **** anything particulary stressful or vigorous when pains first came on, although had just come in out of the cold and did have a nagging viral-like sore throat in the weeks prior ... Could I have just suffered from a bout of myocarditis? Could it have left me with some mild heart failure symptoms? Will these be detected if I were to undergo another EKG now, almost 4 months later? Will I get better? Thanks...
Dear drjsingh
Thank you for your kind comment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache, experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excercise levels. Painkillers don't seem to help much. I still need to prop myself up with pillows now in bed, in order to sleep comfortably ( lying flat on my back is no longer comfortable for me as it seems to add pressure to my chest ache).
I had a chest X-ray done at the A & E department, and no adverse comment was made about it, so I assume it was normal. A recent ECG was normal too.
I have just had a new Stress Test (treadmill) EKG / ECG which the cardiologist interpreted as normal. I noticed that the new stress test (Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08. I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist I met thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he reluctantly agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
Painkillers didn't help really. Growing impatient, I took it upon myself to try propranolol. I took a 40mg dose before breakfast and a 40mg dose before bedtime and this appeared to alleviate my symptoms almost completely. I haven't told anyone about this but the medicine appears to help. Am I putting myself in any danger?
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
Thank you for your kind comment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache, experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excercise levels. Painkillers don't seem to help much. I still need to prop myself up with pillows now in bed, in order to sleep comfortably ( lying flat on my back is no longer comfortable for me as it seems to add pressure to my chest ache).
I had a chest X-ray done at the A & E department, and no adverse comment was made about it, so I assume it was normal. A recent ECG was normal too.
I have just had a new Stress Test (treadmill) EKG / ECG which the cardiologist interpreted as normal. I noticed that the new stress test (Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08. I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist I met thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he reluctantly agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
Painkillers didn't help really. Growing impatient, I took it upon myself to try propranolol. I took a 40mg dose before breakfast and a 40mg dose before bedtime and this appeared to alleviate my symptoms almost completely. I haven't told anyone about this but the medicine appears to help. Am I putting myself in any danger?
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
Dear BrokenPen
Thank you once again for your previous comment. I have had a new resting EKG and a Stress Test (treadmill) EKG and both have been interpreted by the cardiologist as normal results. I noticed that the new stress test ( Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08, and unfortunatley I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist I met thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he reluctantly agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache, experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excersise levels.
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
Thank you once again for your previous comment. I have had a new resting EKG and a Stress Test (treadmill) EKG and both have been interpreted by the cardiologist as normal results. I noticed that the new stress test ( Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08, and unfortunatley I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist I met thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he reluctantly agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache, experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excersise levels.
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
Dear Grendslori
Thank you for your kind comment. I have had a new resting EKG and a Stress Test (treadmill) EKG and both have been interpreted by the cardiologist as normal results. The new stress test ( Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08, and I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he has agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excersise levels.
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
Thank you for your kind comment. I have had a new resting EKG and a Stress Test (treadmill) EKG and both have been interpreted by the cardiologist as normal results. The new stress test ( Aug 09) is not identical to the one of July 08, and I don't have the details to hand, but I recall from reading the analysis on the printout that there was some comment about one of the waves, and I remember seeing the word hypotension, but nevertheless the test was interpreted as a normal result.
The cardiologist thinks everything is fine - he is confident that heart attack can be ruled out, but owing to my concerns about myocarditis and cardiomyopathy he has agreed to an echocardiogram and I am now waiting for this appointment.
My symptoms remain: continuous dull left sided ache experienced on the left side of my chest and under my left shoulder blade, mild breathlessness even at rest, unusual fatigue and intolerance to normal excersise levels.
Many thanks for your interest. Andrew
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi,
I’ll suggest you to get not only an ECG but also an X-ray chest to rule out the possibility of pleural effusion which can also present in a similar way in which there’s a collection of fluid on the outer layers of the lung and can result in sharp left sided chest pains and the patients prefer to lie down on one side rather than on the back to get relief from the chest pain.
Usually, the changes in the ECG of myocarditis don’t last that long but still there’s no harm in getting it done.
Meanwhile, you can take some painkillers to get relief from the pain.
I sincerely hope that helps. Please do keep me posted. Kind regards.
I’ll suggest you to get not only an ECG but also an X-ray chest to rule out the possibility of pleural effusion which can also present in a similar way in which there’s a collection of fluid on the outer layers of the lung and can result in sharp left sided chest pains and the patients prefer to lie down on one side rather than on the back to get relief from the chest pain.
Usually, the changes in the ECG of myocarditis don’t last that long but still there’s no harm in getting it done.
Meanwhile, you can take some painkillers to get relief from the pain.
I sincerely hope that helps. Please do keep me posted. Kind regards.
See the cardiologist, Andrew, just to be on the safe side. If there is damage to the heart muscle an EKG should be able to show it; however, an Echo is still better.
Thank you very much for your reply. What you say is very reassuring, however I will make an appointment with a cardiologist to get it checked out. I'll let you know how i get on.
If you are still in chest pain, you need to have an EKG done to exclude any kind of ischemia or as you suspected myocarditis. Doing an echocardiography would put you in the safe side, since myocarditis can be associated with some degree of pericardial effusion. Once the myocarditis is treated, the effusion will subside slowly by itself. It’s unlikely that you would have developed a heart failure, especially at this age and if you have no predisposing factors.
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