Myocarditis without symptoms?

I have a myocarditis diagnosis. Currently no running to prevent that whole "drop dead in the middle of a race" thing. I also have a diagnosis of anxiety disorder, so if I didn't have a panic attack so bad that a police officer called an ambulance, resulting in a hospital admission and lots of cardiac tests, yeah I probably could have kept running and not known something was wrong until it was too late. I actually ran 7 miles that morning before I was admitted to the hospital.

I would surmise that most people assume any related symptoms would be related to any illness-when they illness is gone, they resume regular activities, without knowing there is internal damage that isn't gone yet.

Heart issues could be a lot of things, BUT for healthy people myocarditis is often caused by a virus. If this is something that concerns you (or anyone) I'd suggest talking to your doctor about exercise while on antibiotics, definitely bring it up if you feel like crap for weeks in a row, avoid excessive amounts of caffeine especially while training and later in a race, and never underestimate your body's need for rest.

thanks for the post!

so were there really no symptoms? could you go out on an easy run, do your usual pace at very little effort and feel fine the rest of the day like you always have? was your resting heart rate normal?

In general - yes, really no symptoms. I've never had heart issues and never had reason to suspect it. To clarify, I had a lot of flu symptoms, and treated the flu, but what runner ever thinks the flu can damage their heart? I had the flu in September and except for that time (I think I took three sick days), my heart rate was normal and I felt like I recovered from workouts fine.

Everything that lead to my hospitalization in November happened really quickly within like 15 hours. My doctor doesn't know when the damage to my heart actually happened- they seemed to think it was at least a few weeks prior to the diagnosis, due to the elevated levels of enzymes in my blood, which is why they mostly have it pinpointed on my September flu. To be honest I had a race in May when I felt totally crappy, so there is a chance that something was starting even months prior but again, who thinks to blame a healthy runner's heart?

I could speculate on this forever. It sounds like more research is being published about how the heart acts during cardio, along with factors like illness and caffeine use. If any runner has any reason to be concerned, seriously just ask your doctor for a referral for a cardiologist, all you need to do is a blood draw, an EKG, or an echocardiogram to see if anything is wrong.

so is there a chance that those flu symptoms actually weren't the flu but actually were symptoms of a myocarditis? what were those? did you have high temperature?

did you make any progress in training from September to November(/May to November)?

thanks for the answers. i hope recovery is going well and you will get back to racing at some point in the near future!!

Try not to worry about things too much mate.

You are most likely fine. There are 1001 diseases and ailments that have no symptoms, you cannot go through life worrying you may have all of them for no reason.

If you think you've got any real problems go see your doctor. But don't let yourself slip into hypochondria.

Thanks for the well wishes.

I definitely had the flu before the myocarditis diagnosis. Fever, body aches, nausea, the whole deal. It was viral-induced myocarditis, so yes the flu was real and what caused it. Again I speculate that it could have perhaps been an earlier flu, but still, definitely flu.

I didn't make much progress in training, but I had a lot of other life things happening at the same time (moving and grad school) so I decided not to sign up for some summer races I otherwise would have, so no real feedback there.

I think PP is right too, but I think it's also good to educate yourself. Ryan Shay was healthy, until he died. It seems like almost every major marathon these days has a death or at least a hospitalization due to heart issues of otherwise-healthy people. If you are healthy and then you get sick and you are worried about symptoms like weird heartrate during/after exercise, shortness of breath, etc, go to your doctor. A blood panel will show if enzymes in your blood are abnormally high and an echo or an MRI will show if there is damage in your heart causing those enzymes to enter your bloodsteam, or other issue like irregular beat, thickening of heart wall, etc.

Agree, PP. Don't freak out, but also be informed and ask your doctor if you should be checked out.

Nothin to worry about

An inflamed and sick heart won't let you get any fitter. At the very best it will let you run at your current abilities for some time before declining.

So if you feel fine and you set a new PR a month after you've had the flu then there's nothing wrong with you.

Right to previous poster. Don't be a hypochondriac.

What can I say, I set a over 50 + PR for a mile swim (under 22 minutes)

with a snorkel and fins a week ago. And this is coming from somebody who has an enlarged heart with a max HR of over 220 during heavy cycling.

The rule?

Have no fear. If I croak doing something I l o v e to do so be it.

Also, it helps to be under the care of a good Cardiologist.