VIRAL MYOCARDITIS

[lgrass94]

Wondering if anyone here would know the prevalence of viral myocarditis?

I cant seem to find anything online really. I exercise a lot, maybe 6 days a week, and have had 2 viral infections close together. One a tonsil and throat inflammation, and the other a stomach bug for 48 hours. Both wore me out to be honest. Both cleared. But I fear maybe myocarditis may rear its head in the next few weeks. Would I have symptoms, any way to rule it out? And finally, anybody else feel the need to worry about this after every little snuffle they get?

[achillea]

Have you ever had myocarditis?  If not, do you have any particular reason to think you might be likely to get it?

[lgrass94]

I haven't as far as I'm aware. I have had intermittent chest pain for 3 maybe 4 years. It's not brought on by exercise though. I had my imaging tests and ecgs done 2 years back. All was normal. But since then, I had a nasty strep throat with a fever temp of 40.2!, and hospitalized for 72 hours. I have just had 2 more viral illness's this year and now I am starting to worry that perhaps it may develop or should I be ignoring it. I never used to worry after an illness but now for some reason I do.

[achillea]

Viral mycocarditis is a rare disease.  Lots of different viruses can cause it--respiratory, gut, etc-- but it is still very rare.

There are almost no known risk factors, and of the people who do get it, most are perfectly healthy.  We just have to live our ordinary lives being slightly aware that we might be one of the few to get hit by lightning or run down by a bus, or something equally unlikely.

But the brain is a funny thing:  it is susceptible to obsession, and if that happens, we have trouble getting rid of goofy and troubling ideas.  If you find yourself obsessing about this, please talk to a mental health counselor, so that you don't waste valuable years of your life on something pretty much irrelevant.