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viral infection/ myocarditis
by banglamom, Dec 29, 2008 05:26PM
To shed some light on viral illness problems....
I used to think of viruses as... "just a virus", like a cold. There are a couple viruses that caught my attention to some degree. AIDS and Hepatitis are "just a virus". Later, I came to be terribly aware how bad a virus can be simply because there are no antibioics that can solve the problem. It was "just a virus" that changed my life and made me fit into a community of people with heart problems that are long term and serious consequences. It all came from trying to be done being sick and get back to the work I wanted to be doing.
In 92, I had typhoid fever. I was sick for a couple weeks... really sick. As soon as the fever went away and I was feeling a bit better, I was back at language school and about my business. A couple months later, I relapsed HARD with typhoid. I was sick nigh unto death- temp 106.8, bleeding, sepsis, sloughing intestines.... I was septic for more than a month. Amazingly, I lived. When I got a bit better, I went back to running my clinic. If only I had known, I would have gone back to the USA and laid low for a few months. The next time I got sick, I was trekking in Nepal. I got back home to Bangladesh and kept about my business with only a low grade temp and feeling slightly under the weather. When the virus abated, I was left with really fast heart rate that just wouldn't go away. Eventually, when my rate wouldn't go below 200, I went to the md. They said I had viral myocarditis. Oh well, it was just a virus. For the next 6 months, my rate rarely went below 200. I rarely went below 180 even when I slept. I didn't always feel too bad though, mostly tired. Nobody can say for sure, but I may not have gotten that sick if I had rested more with typhoid and the Nepali virus. I may not have gotten the Nepali virus if my immune system hadn't been so shot from the typhoid.... and if I had done a better job with the viral myocarditis... I might not be where I am today.
The virus left more and more scar tissue being laid down throughout the whole thickness of the myocardium. The conduction was eventually destroyed. The valves too.. like when a balloon is inflated, it can never go back to what it once was. Turns out heart valves are that way too, go figure. As the valves and conduction were more problematic, the muscular function started slipping too. It has been a flat spin that I can not stop.
Now, I look for answers how to deal with a failing heart. I am almost completely paced by my pacemaker. I take about 30 pills/ day to try to maintain the rhythms. That to say, in answer to a question... when you have a viral illness, be careful to rest as ordered to prevent long term consequences to something that might not have to be that serious. I hope that helps some.. and now you know what puzzle I am trying to solve with ... whatever I can do.
God's blessings and good health to you all in the New Year!
I used to think of viruses as... "just a virus", like a cold. There are a couple viruses that caught my attention to some degree. AIDS and Hepatitis are "just a virus". Later, I came to be terribly aware how bad a virus can be simply because there are no antibioics that can solve the problem. It was "just a virus" that changed my life and made me fit into a community of people with heart problems that are long term and serious consequences. It all came from trying to be done being sick and get back to the work I wanted to be doing.
In 92, I had typhoid fever. I was sick for a couple weeks... really sick. As soon as the fever went away and I was feeling a bit better, I was back at language school and about my business. A couple months later, I relapsed HARD with typhoid. I was sick nigh unto death- temp 106.8, bleeding, sepsis, sloughing intestines.... I was septic for more than a month. Amazingly, I lived. When I got a bit better, I went back to running my clinic. If only I had known, I would have gone back to the USA and laid low for a few months. The next time I got sick, I was trekking in Nepal. I got back home to Bangladesh and kept about my business with only a low grade temp and feeling slightly under the weather. When the virus abated, I was left with really fast heart rate that just wouldn't go away. Eventually, when my rate wouldn't go below 200, I went to the md. They said I had viral myocarditis. Oh well, it was just a virus. For the next 6 months, my rate rarely went below 200. I rarely went below 180 even when I slept. I didn't always feel too bad though, mostly tired. Nobody can say for sure, but I may not have gotten that sick if I had rested more with typhoid and the Nepali virus. I may not have gotten the Nepali virus if my immune system hadn't been so shot from the typhoid.... and if I had done a better job with the viral myocarditis... I might not be where I am today.
The virus left more and more scar tissue being laid down throughout the whole thickness of the myocardium. The conduction was eventually destroyed. The valves too.. like when a balloon is inflated, it can never go back to what it once was. Turns out heart valves are that way too, go figure. As the valves and conduction were more problematic, the muscular function started slipping too. It has been a flat spin that I can not stop.
Now, I look for answers how to deal with a failing heart. I am almost completely paced by my pacemaker. I take about 30 pills/ day to try to maintain the rhythms. That to say, in answer to a question... when you have a viral illness, be careful to rest as ordered to prevent long term consequences to something that might not have to be that serious. I hope that helps some.. and now you know what puzzle I am trying to solve with ... whatever I can do.
God's blessings and good health to you all in the New Year!
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