Anyone experiencing post covid heart issues?

I am a 37 year old Ultra Marathon Trail runner. I contracted Covid 19 eleven months ago (November 1, 2021) after completing a 50K just 3 weeks earlier. I still struggle with cardiac-like symptoms including: chest pain, left arm pain, chest tightness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and occasional elevated heart rate at rest. I am not symptomatic during exercise, but have post exertional malaise and increased symptoms following exercise.

I am now being seen by a cardiologist at Vanderbilt, after multiple tests reveal normal results. (Cardiac MRI, Echo, Stress test, Holter monitor, CTA, etc.) but I continue to have abnormal EKGs. I am now waiting on a Cardiac MRI with stress and contrast as well as a 24 hour urine.

The journey has been emotionally exhausting, but I would encourage you to pursue answers. I spent several months miserable, pretending my symptoms didn't exist. I finally started speaking up again and started an ACE Inhibitor that has helped resolve my fatigue and majority of chest tightness. It was eye opening to understand what "normal" feels like again, as I have been living in a "new normal" of discomfort for so long.

Best of luck on your journey. You're not alone.

You are not alone. I have the same symptoms after what appeared to be 2nd covid infection in mid Sept. I have exertional breathlessness, with Low O2 and >120 pulse rate when I move around. I was hospitalised for 2 weeks. Now home with a O2 concentrator to help me breath better when I need to move about. So far it’s proven helpful when I’m short of breath.

I tested positive for covid 7/26/22 and although it lingered for 12-14 days before a negative test result it was relatively mild. I had overall weakness, headache, dry hacking cough and fatigue, plenty of fatigue. Two weeks after first symptoms I felt like I was coming out of it but right at one month I started wheezing and have this feeling of mucous in my throat that I can’t cough out. I thought maybe a sinus infection. Went to a walk-in-in primary care facility and although not convinced of an infection I was given a script for a z-pack which didn’t help. Saw a cardiologist and he said I was in heart failure. I’m just lost right now because covid followed a stroke in January this year that resulted in medications and reactions to them and dosage increases in the same time frame of covid. My PCP feels that the wheezing etc results from covid and possibly the heart failure too. I have a feeling the wheezing (add feet tingling, sometimes burning) is from a medication that was adjusted tight in between covid and the onset of wheezing. My cardiologist disagrees. He thought it could be a respiratory condition but chest x-Ray and spirometry have cleared that. I am so lost. I’m looking for help!

Hi @mimioto, I moved your message to this existing discussion:
- Anyone experiencing post covid heart issues? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/post-covid-heart-issues/

I did this so you can read through the previous posts and connect easily with other members.

I’m so sorry to hear this but thank you for sharing
Do you mind sharing your age
And when the say heart failure?, what do they offer to help
Did you ever have issues prior to Covid
I did not but then after my second infection 6/22 right now I am going between 57-203bpm all day
Sometimes I feel the paplulations other times I just looks down at my I watch and notice it’s elevated
I wore a zio for 2 weeks and I go back Tuesday to the cardiologist who also said I had an abnormal ekg
Sending positive vibes your way

Hi
I was very careful
Never went to parties or celebrations
But by son contracted last week of school and after caring for him, a few days later I tested positive

Covid triggers an huge inflammatory response in many people . that can cause all kind of issues system wide including with your heart.

While its great to share notes and information , public forums and social media isnt the best place to get that information or treatment ideas and your health care team should be the first place you go for this, especially at 19.
As for me, I am a nurse, tend not to let anything slow me down, but boy this did it. I had Covid 2x, severe both times.
I had Myocarditis off and on mostly on for most of 18 mos , was on and off steroids and limited in most of what I could do physically as a result.

I am now on Hydroxychloroquine no steroids, and while I have no proof that was what finally helped resolve a lot of the post Covid issues , it sure seems like it was.

I do not have underlying autoimmune issues and they have even looked to see if they missed something.

So for now I will stay on it and also a beta blocker to help regulate the heart rhythm, but things are improving.
Everyone is different and there is a great deal they still do not understand about all of this.

Hang in there and advocate for what you need.

I don’t mind at all. I am a 66 yo woman. I had a viral induced cardiomyopathy 20 years ago with an ejection fraction (EF) of 28 upon diagnosis and a permanent left bundle branch block (LBB) as a result. I recovered adequately and attained an EF of 45-50. I did quite well for all these years, ran a non profit, remained real active, travelled, retired - all the good stuff. January 2022 I had a stroke. While hospitalized an echo showed the EF to be 31. Changes in meds have helped but then covid hit. 2 weeks after covid my ANA came back positive, Titer 1:320 (a whole new ball game with rheumatology is about to begin). Four weeks after covid the throat and cough flared and 2 weeks after that the cardiologist diagnosed the heart failure ( so 6 weeks after the covid onset). Bloodwork showed a mildly elevated proBNP of 265. My latest echo showed an EF of 34.8. I have an implant that monitors my heart rhythm (since the stroke because it was cryptogenic and they are watching for a-fib or other arrhythmias). I have turned down a defibrillator and am trying to improve my heart function through medications and lots of walking. Good luck to you and keep us posted. <3

Just curious and gathering information, what beta blocker are you on? Apparently I am super sensitive to medications, the list is growing. I had a serious reaction to metoprolol when dosage was increased to 50 mg. I’ve now started carvedilol at a really low dose.

Yes, my heart went into AFib and had to have ablation done to correct it.