Recovery Myocarditis

Hi im 18 years old and recently i had a flu which turned into a viral infection and suffered what the paramedics called a 'heart attack' three times within two days. this happened one week ago Feb 29th 2012 and was out of the hospital on March 4th 2012. since i have been released the idea has been that i should take it easy. i was diagnosed with Myocarditis, with thickened aortic and mitral valves with regurgitation. Im going to the doctors again in three weeks to get an ultrasound update and a new white blood cell count for the viral infection. was wondering what other peoples recovery time has been, or what i should be expecting (just asking for another opinion other than doctors and parents) as a little history. i am incredibly healthy, 8% body fat 5'10 160lbs, work out to the point that nothing should be wrong basically, amazing diet all my vitamins, omegas... no deficiencies in anything... this seemed to have been solely based on the viral infection and I'm hoping that once its gone that i will be 100% recovered. anyway, feedback on myocarditis would be great! thanks

[ed34]

Myocarditis can be very serious indeed and only a few make a full quick recovery after the infection has been controlled. There is no way to tell what damage will be done until things settle down because everything is inflamed up until that point. With regards to the valves, I could be wrong, but I think they will stay thickened because they are damaged. They are a hotspot for infections. So, I'm very much afraid, this is a wait and see scenario for which nobody can predict the outcome.

[Bradski]

Thank you for the response so quickly. I went to my family doctor and his input on the situation was that because of my health, it is most likely that once the viral infection is gone i will be back to 100% because of my previous health. But this may be a naive question but, I'm in a fraternity and a lot of events are coming up and have passed already. I have abstained from drinking or smoking, but i was wondering what the harm would be if i had a little to drink, not much but just a few beers over the course of the night? At this time i feel back to normal but doing anything to fatigue my body may be bad, and could cause long term damage... Thanks!

[ed34]

I sincerely hope your Doctor is right. I don't think he's right about the valve leaflets though. I think once damaged, they will remain damaged but hopefully the regurgitation is just mild.
With regards to the alcohol, I would refrain until you know the infection has gone. You have many more years to party.

[jonf9]

Hey I'm also 18 and I was told I was having a "massive heart attack" early last month, and then ended up in ICU and was diagnosed with Myocarditis.  It's now been about a month and a half since I was diagnosed, and I'm almost fully recovered. I had an ultrasound done a couple weeks ago and the doctor said it looked great but my EKG was still abnormal but better than the last one. So I'm almost fully covered and I'm back to exercising now which is great. But I'm also in college and I used to party almost every weekend and I was chain smoker. It's been tough having to quit both but you should definitely refrain from doing both. Your health is a lot more important than partying and all that, it is really disappointing though and I know exactly how you feel. But best of luck to you in recovering! I'm sure it'll be a quick recovery!