Rhumatic Fever

[piggyssmith]

I had rhuematic Fever when I was 34 years old after several postive strep infections from Oct -December.  I took 6 months of one shot a month pencillin. and 6 weeks bed rest.  I had several years of swallen joints & now have a mitral valve regurgition valve.  For several years now (possible 6-7) I have had spells of extreme fatigue with shortness of breath and chest pain.  If I rest for a few days this passes but now it is accuring more often and the last spell being this past Saturday with swelling in my knees and my feet hurting.  I slept all day Sunday and today am still feeling very tired and having some thightness in my chest still today.  I have talked to my doctor and relayed this informtion to my heart doctor three years ago and both seem to just shrug this off as not being able to figure out why this is happening.  Up until now I did not really think it was related to my Rhumatic Fever but this last spell was so much like the way I felt when I had Rhumatic Fever that it concerns me.  What should my plan be to get to the bottom of why I am having such fatigue?

[rockchalk76]

I had rheumatic fever as a child (1960) but don't know if there are differences in how the disease effects children or adults.  I remember all too well some of the symptoms you mention like the aching joints and not having any energy.  I had a heart murmur as a child but it hasn't been heard for at least 20 years.  I was on once a month Bicyllin from age 6 - 25.  I became a medical technologist, partly because of the testing that I had to have done back then.  Do you know if they ran an ASO titer or Sed Rate on you?  When I was still a med tech, those were standard tests for suspected rheumatic fever.  

You may want to check out the following link.  I've copied in a section about rheumatic heart disease:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rheumatic-fever/DS00250/DSECTION=6
Complications

"Rheumatic heart disease. During a first rheumatic fever attack, about half of people develop heart inflammation, but this doesn't always result in permanent damage. Most people with rheumatic fever recover fully after six weeks. In some cases, however, one or more of the heart's valves may be scarred. Permanent heart damage due to rheumatic fever is known as rheumatic heart disease. In many cases, heart damage isn't discovered until years later."

[jack091956]

ask your doctor for a blood culture test. Rule out bacterial infection or indocardio...