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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Many years s/p Viral Myocarditis . . .
Answered by
Cleveland - OH
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Many years s/p Viral Myocarditis . . .
by FranciscanFlowers, Nov 24, 2005 12:00AM
Reading your forum, I feel incompetent to even bring this up, as most of your readers seem professionally well~versed in the terminology regarding their conditions, able to rattle off diagnostic lingo and stats, so I apologize for the plainness of speech...
In 1984 I contracted a viral myocarditis, when I was young(24) and burning the candles at both ends. After a month in the hospital it took another 14 mos before I was able to return to work part time, working up to full time over another 6 mos. I was on Inderal for another 4yrs for BP and ectopic beats, both of which eventual resolved. A s/p echocard showed moderate ventricular hypertrophy and a slightly sloppy MV. Yrs passed uneventfully, heart~wise, although a later lumbar injury required fusion followed with an intrathecal morphine pump.
Recently, though, my longest and dearest friend, w/whom I have cohabitated for 25 years, died suddenly from metstatic bone cancer that was asymptomatic until some back pain which brought us to the ER 2 weeks later, and 2 CT-scans revealed the cancer throught his body. He died in my arms at home 8 days later.
Recently I have been having some pain in my chest, through to my back, jaw & teeth, that comes and goes. I went to the family MD and told him I was having anxiety attacks. He drew blood and RXd valium, which I take for muscle spasms anyway, and that helped. But they called and said I should go to the ER because 2 enzymes in my blood mean I've had a heart attack a week or so ago. But I can >NOT< go back to the ER, after the trauma of my friend's death... What should I do?
In 1984 I contracted a viral myocarditis, when I was young(24) and burning the candles at both ends. After a month in the hospital it took another 14 mos before I was able to return to work part time, working up to full time over another 6 mos. I was on Inderal for another 4yrs for BP and ectopic beats, both of which eventual resolved. A s/p echocard showed moderate ventricular hypertrophy and a slightly sloppy MV. Yrs passed uneventfully, heart~wise, although a later lumbar injury required fusion followed with an intrathecal morphine pump.
Recently, though, my longest and dearest friend, w/whom I have cohabitated for 25 years, died suddenly from metstatic bone cancer that was asymptomatic until some back pain which brought us to the ER 2 weeks later, and 2 CT-scans revealed the cancer throught his body. He died in my arms at home 8 days later.
Recently I have been having some pain in my chest, through to my back, jaw & teeth, that comes and goes. I went to the family MD and told him I was having anxiety attacks. He drew blood and RXd valium, which I take for muscle spasms anyway, and that helped. But they called and said I should go to the ER because 2 enzymes in my blood mean I've had a heart attack a week or so ago. But I can >NOT< go back to the ER, after the trauma of my friend's death... What should I do?
Doctor's Answer
by Cleveland Clinic, Nov 24, 2005 12:00AM
, Nov 24, 2005 12:00AM
FF,
Thanks for the post.
There are a lot of causes of chest pain. Given the temporal relation of your friends death, your physician probably thought that stress was playing a role in your symptoms. However, this anxiety and stress induced chest pains do not cause heart damage.
If your blood test did show positive heart damage, you should seek medical attention, such as your local emergency department right away.
Thanks for the post.
There are a lot of causes of chest pain. Given the temporal relation of your friends death, your physician probably thought that stress was playing a role in your symptoms. However, this anxiety and stress induced chest pains do not cause heart damage.
If your blood test did show positive heart damage, you should seek medical attention, such as your local emergency department right away.
I am wondering though why your GP didn't give you an EKG considering your age. From what you posted I can assume you are in youe late 40s to early 50s at the very least.
I am guessing he did not do so because I walked in the door saying I was assuming I was having anxiety attacks, that I had been having them on and off for the 3 weeks since my friend died, and I guess he just took me at my word, and told me to use the valium that I already had at home for a muscle relaxant. I know that anxiety can mimic cardiac symptoms, so I didn't bore him with the details, other than to say it was a heavy crushing weight on my chest. Like Dr.CCF-M.D.-bkj, I just assumed it was anxiety because of the stress of the current circumstances, so I didn't mention the odd ache in the jaw/teeth, I guess, because I honestly did not dream it was anything other than anxiety, because it came and went, like anxiety can, although there were a couple of times that it took a while to go away.
Now that I think about it, it wasn't until I was getting ready to leave the office that they called me back in to do the blood draw, so perhaps he changed his mind at the last minute, he said because my BP had been high (196/105) and HR=108. When they called me this Wednesday, they told me to go to the ER but would not tell me why, I guess not wanting to alarm me. I replied I couldn't go there, after the trauma of my friend's death, and that I felt okay at that moment, so why would I go if I felt okay? Still not wanting to tell me exactly what was going on, the doctor told me to tell the ER intake nurse that my LDH and troponin were both elevated.
But since I felt okay, although I've been really tired since my friend died, and because I just could NOT go to that or any hospital after the trauma of my friend's death, I decided instead to get on the Internet and look up what troponin and LDH were, which is how I found out that they could indicate cardiac cell death from several days ago, without an elevated CPK to indicate a recent event. And that would make sense to me, because the worst pain was 3 or 4 days after the funeral, which was 2 weeks ago now. Every time since then it has been less and less in intensity, and has not occurred since I started taking the valium regularly instead of just for muscle spasms in my back, so I assumed that confirmed it was just anxiety... until they called me on Wednesday.
And so just thinking about going back to that place, the hospital, brings with it more anxiety, which I figure I don't need, either way ~ so I'm inclined just to seek out a cardiologist to see on an outpatient basis, instead, to see what may have happened and if I need medication, as you suggested, LukeL. But it will have to wait until Monday now, because of Thanksgiving, but if anything happens in the meanwhile, I will consider the ER.
And thank you, cuaco, for the support. I'm sure Dr.CCF-M.D.-bkj thinks I'm a wimp for my inability to face a hospital right now, even in the face of possible danger. I guess it just takes losing someone terribly like that to understand the trauma it can bring. I am sorry for your loss of your baby daughter.