Hi,
I had a viral infection for 7-8 days in second week of June 2020. Symptoms during the infection were:
1) Low grade fever - 98.4 F in morning, 99F in evening, 99.6F at night
2) Intense fatigue for the duration of the infection
3) Restlessness
4) Mild loss of smell
I did not have any cough, sore throat, did not have any other symptoms. So I did not get tested for COVID 19 (I was indoors as it was lockdown in my country anyway so I didn't have exposure to COVID either).
On consulting a doctor, I was told I had viral flu so I took paracetamol and my fever subsided after 7-8 days.
It is mid-august 2020 now. However, I have been struggling since mid-june, for the last 2 months:
1) Feeling of fatigue has persisted. I feel always tired, lazy, not functional at the level I was earlier. My will power and determination has been strong so I still continue office work, but its difficult.
2) I am not able to exercise as vigorously as I used to before. Earlier, my usual was 1 hour of HIIT high intensity aerobic training for upto 45 mins a day, 3-4 times a week. Now, I have to really push myself for a 20 min run once or twice a week and it leaves me very tired.
3) Most importantly, since the fatigue has been endless and non-stop, I decided to check my BP during one of the fatigue bouts recently - and found out that I had low BP. My usual resting BP before viral infection was around 115 / 70. However, average diurnal reading over last 4 days has been 108 / 64, with the lower number going to 55-60 at night.
4) I am a severe sufferer of allergic rhinitis for the last 10 years, so I am a constant mouth breather and my nose is always blocked. So, it is impossible for me to tell if I am having actual shortness of breath or is it just due to mouth breathing / speaking at the same time?
I am now extremely frustrated and scared, as I read that I could have gotten viral myocarditis due to the viral fever, which is causing the fatigue and the low BP.
Initially, in the first 1-2 weeks, I attributed my fatigue to a sever vitamin D deficiency (it was 16 while the range is 75-210). I have had supplements for 2 months now to no improvement.
If I did indeed get myocarditis, I have only been making things worse for my heart by vigorously exercising 20 mins 1-2 times a week.
I am going for the following tests tomorrow - CBC, Troponin I, LFT, RFT, hsCRP, ESR, Lipid panel, Thyroid panel.
My question is - How worried should I be? Is this a classic case of myocarditis? Apart from the above, what other test do I need to rule myocarditis out? How much further damage have I caused by continuing vigrous exercise? I have generally been very stressed about this - has my heart had permanent damage because I couldn't recognize my own fatigue / link it to low BP over 2 months?