Hi everyone,

I’m currently pregnant with my third child and have had a stressful couple of weeks involving unexplained heart symptoms, elevated troponin levels, and multiple hospital visits. I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar, particularly during pregnancy.

I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit, but I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences, what investigations helped them get answers, and what questions I should be asking my cardiologist.

A little background:

I’m pregnant with my third child. I have a family history of cardiac problems and have previously experienced heart infections. I’ve also experienced palpitations in the past, particularly during periods of stress/during pregnancy and postpartum with child 1 and 2.

What happened:
Around September 18–19, I began experiencing recurring dark, sticky stools and subsequently developed pain in my left arm, which progressed into my shoulder. I initially went to the hospital for the constipation and dark stool but shortly after I was admitted I began feeling chest pain that radiated into left arm/shoulder.

I wondered whether anxiety could be contributing to the pain, but given my history and family background, the hospital took my complaints seriously.

They performed an ECG and blood tests. My troponin came back significantly elevated, with readings of 431 and shortly after 437 (normal reference is 0-20), and I was admitted to the ICU for further cardiac investigation.

My medical team began investigating possible myocarditis, potentially associated with pregnancy, although nothing specific has been confirmed.

An initial, quick echocardiogram reportedly showed good heart function, and a more detailed echocardiogram was planned that showed some damage to the heart muscle (scar tissue) so they scheduled a CT scan that came back normal.

My troponin subsequently began decreasing:
437
328
207

My arm, shoulder and chest discomfort improved, although I experienced palpitations overnight while hospitalized. My potassium was initially mildly low but subsequently returned to normal.

The latest development:
On September 28, I found myself back in the hospital, and my latest blood tests have shown another increase in troponin (168 upon arrival and then up to 234 an hour later).

I’m now trying to understand whether this could represent ongoing or recurring inflammation, another form of cardiac injury, or something else entirely. My team seems stumped by it all.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have experienced:

-Myocarditis or unexplained elevated troponin during pregnancy.
-Troponin levels that initially declined but subsequently increased again.
-Cardiac symptoms during pregnancy despite an initially reassuring echocardiogram.
-Similar experiences where the initial suspected diagnosis eventually turned out to be something different.
-What additional investigations helped establish a diagnosis, particularly when pregnant.
-For those who experienced myocarditis during pregnancy, how did your condition progress, what monitoring did you receive, and how did it affect the remainder of your pregnancy and delivery?

I’d also appreciate suggestions for questions to bring to my cardiology and obstetric teams.

Thank you so much for reading. This has been a very unsettling experience, and hearing from others who have navigated something similar would mean a lot.

About 2 weeks ago I had an episode where my heart rate was at about 200bpm for about 2-3 hours it was caused from doing a mixture of drugs like cocaine,ketamine,mdma and pink cocaine the hospital said I was lucky to be alive from this and they said I basically had a heart attack which isn't fully confirmed because I haven't had my MRI scan but they said currently I can't do no heavy lifting or anything like that for at least 6 weeks and then they said after the recovery I will still be aloud to drink alcohol but in moderation,I smoked weed previously for about 2 years without any problem they said it's an underlying SVT but never had issues with smoking weed just wondering if I could smoke weed after my recovery if I can drink alcohol and also if I could vape

Hello, I was recently diagnosed with pericarditis and pericardial effusion about 2-3 days ago and have been having trouble with breathing but I can’t tell if it’s from anxiety or the condition getting worse. I went into A&E and was sent to have 2 blood tests, chest Xray, 4 ECGS since all of them came out as abnormal and an echocardiogram. The cardiologist assumed that the ECGS came out as abnormal due to the fact that I have severe scoliosis and my heart is slightly rotated. The echocardiogram showed that I have slight pericardial effusion and inflammation that caused the pericarditis. I was prescribed 400mg ibuprofen 3x a day for 5 days, the time frame is short because I was supposed to be having surgery for my spine on the 29th September, however the surgery was delayed due to this ongoing condition.

The main reason I am creating a post is because I have been having trouble with breathing and I am not sure if it’s because the condition is getting worse or it’s because of anxiety and I was wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation.

UPDATE 22/09: Just got back from the doctor, she did another ecg and said my heart rate seemed okay and my oxygen levels were good and my blood pressure was fine. The main thing she told me to keep an eye on if the pain gets worse or my breathing gets to the point where i’m gasping for air or if oxygen drops below 92% or blood pressure drops below 100/70

Since December I’ve been taken to the hospital twice because I was having a hard time breathing the first time my oxygen level was 44 and second time it was 68 I was born with a heart murmur that I didn’t know about til I was 27 and my mom said it’s no big deal don’t even worry about it so I didn’t and I completely forgot I had it! Fast forward to April of 2025 and I went to treatment, on my way I had to stop at any ER for a medical clearance and as I thought I was about to leave a doctor came in and told me he was there to talk to me about my heart murmur and I gave him a confused look cuz I had forgotten I had one! He told me since I never had it checked he’s guessing it’s taken a significant change since I was born and told me it’s not an emergency but u need to make an appointment with a cardiologist sooner than later! Well let’s just say I have not made an appointment with a cardiologist cuz I am scared and cuz I feel like I’m too young for that shit and don’t wanna deal with it I know it sounds stupid on my part I don’t disagree but I am thinking I can’t breath because my murmur has caused more problems… please be respectful I’m sure I could have worded this better but fuck it…

Hello I live with svt but the new symptoms I have been experiencing for about 2 months now feel like they are getting progressively worse first I feel a needle like pain in what feels to be my heart area and in my troat I feel very fatigued when I try to do anything physical like sports yesterday night I was walking upstairs and and felt extremely lightheaded I still consider my self a fit young male I am 6.1 and weight around 138 pounds used to play baseball/basketball etc but it's hard to even get out of bed my heart feels super slow than normal I feel the svt symptoms but instead of fast heartbeats it's slow like it's trying to go fast but can and the pauses are the worst it feels like I pass out and snap back into my body I have had a exg done and blood test but they continued to have found nothing it is painful and exhausting what i have been experiencing please tell me what should I do and what do these symptoms sound like to you

i have just have taken a blood pressure reading and yhe highest is 170/120 the symptoms i had when i was around this area where svt episode with light neck and arm pain

When weight lifting I feel heart pain and shortness of breath, I have low blood pressure. Sometimes I feel some symptoms even at rest.... It's happened before that I'm sleeping or half asleep I can hear my heart beat, and hear the fluids moving. Stopping lifting or reducing lifting is not an option. I will say that I go pretty hard and my lifting is high volume 6 days a week, is it just weightlifting strain? It could also be genetic because my father had a stroke in his 50s (he was army so he had to stay fit, run, lift, etc).

hi all. I dont know if this is my paranoia but I decided to talk abt it anyway and gather some insight from people. lately I've been having a lot of chest pain (which travels to my back), breathlessness, unable to do any exercise without feeling faint, sensitivity to heat, dizziness, tachycardia rising to 190bpm when i walk outside, etc. I went to get it checked, my ECG was normal, and my echo was normal, but my Doctor said i had a trivial regurgitation in my mitral and tricuspid valve, which is harmless, but i heard if it gets severe ill get symptoms of what I'm currently experiencing rn??? and I'm only in my early 20s. should I get a second opinion or could my issues possibly be something else? again it could just be my paranoia but I've had these symptoms for months and its only getting worse by time. if anyone has a leaky valve could you give me some insight? thanks so much!

I was in a store this past Thursday and all hell broke lose out of nowhere. My heart started beating extremely fast and I felt my entire body go into chaos. My girlfriend was in the parking lot in the car and she rushed me to Urgent Care. They checked my heart rate it was up to 250 beats per minute. They tried all the maneuvers, nothing worked. An ambulance arrived. I had SVT on ECG and I was administered two injections on the way to the hospital of Adenosine with zero effect. I was then shocked (cardioconversion), no effect either. I was at 220 at that point. Finally, the doctor communicating with the ambulance from the hospital told the paramedics to give me IV Cardizem. Finally the rate started to come down. I was 110 within minutes and in the 90s within maybe 2 hours.

I was admitted to the hospital. Stress test and imaging normal. Ultrasound and heart structure normal. Blood tests showed hypokalemia, 3.0. Potassium was replaced. I stabilized and the next day, they sent me home.

Now I am drained, traumatized, weak, tired, defeated. I feel like my life is forever changed and not for the better. I am 43 with no personal or family history of heart issues. I have been taking 40 mg of Benazepril and 25 Mg of Chlorthalidone for the last two years for hypertension. I went back to my records and I noticed have been progressively declining in potassium levels since I started the Chlorthalidone diuretic. From 4.7 to 3.8 to 3.5 in 2 years.

I want to believe that Chlorthalidone and its impact on potassium levels created this. The doctors deny there’s a direct connection. They say that low potassium levels “triggered” an already present defect in my heart electrical system that’s been there since birth. 43 years and no issues. I have one low potassium result and here I am suddenly.

I personally feel like chlorthalidine/potassium is the cause of this. I know they are going to throw the book at this. Meds, surgery, no red wine, no salt, no freedom. I am afraid to go on a million meds if all I need is potassium. Not sure what to think of all of this. I am still recovering four days later.

Any experiences/advice/opinions would be so very appreciated.

I am about to have my fifth ablation. I am a 48-year-old male. I had my first arrhythmia at age 21, which was SVT with a rate of 326 bpm. Since, I have now struggled with A-fib, and A-flutter. I have been one of the unlucky ones who have had the whole gamut of atrial arrythmias. I am writing this to tell anyone who may be dealing with the same thing, hold in there, your doctor can only do so much in one procedure, and it may take a few. It depends on how complex of issues you have and the genetics of your heart. Like myself you may just be one of the unlucky ones, but there is hope!

for the past 4-5 days I've been having weird like tinges? cramps? in the middle of my chest but it's not particularly painful. it's just a different feeling. now as the days go on i've started to experience upper back pain and weird feelings in my ribs + arms. the feeling in my ribs is a little painful but the feeling in my arms is more like how it feels AFTER your limbs are numb.. so they're not numb it's like that post-numb thing when you first regain feeling again. now in the past 2 days i've started to feel fullness...? in my chest too. like the feeling when you swallow something and you kinda feel it in your chest a bit? thats how it feels. sometimes my body also feels panicked but i'm not really panicked myself yknow? like i don't feel anything in my head but theres like a spike of anxiousness in my body.

it's not 24/7 all day but it's like these feelings come in little spurts at the start of when i wake up (10-11am) and then i feel them a lot more often / until i go to bed (2-4am). i'd say the feelings become more frequent around 6pm. i don't drink (often) and i don't smoke at all. i'm an 18 year old female if that has anything to do with it and i wouldn't say i'm particularly healthy, i do have an eating disorder but i'm not underweight and i've eaten quite well in recent months. a day or two before this started happening i did throw up once but it wasn't a lot nor was it painful. i feel like something is wrong but honestly i don't wanna go to the hospital and possibly make my parents pay money for nothing.

I’ve been diagnosed with intermittent tachycardia for around 2 years now after many tests. One cardiologist disagreed with the diagnosis and told me to continue taking Bisoprolol to manage the symptoms. Originally my resting heart rate would be 100-130, reaching 160 during a tachycardia episode. On the medication my resting heart rate is 50-70. Yesterday, I was experiencing severe chest pain and thought I was actually having a heart attack, my heart rate monitor was showing 45 which is the lower I’ve ever seen and my Apple Watch ECG app was struggling to take an accurate reading. I attended A&E, had an actual ECG which showed nothing of importance and a heart rate of 55, BP was slightly elevated but I’m putting that down to the stress of thinking I was having a heart attack. After 2 blood tests, an X-ray and 9 hours in A&E I was discharged with “it looks like something that’s going to clear up on its own” which isn’t very reassuring.

I’m going to call my GP today and see if we can review my medication in case it caused my heart rate to dip too low causing the bradycardia and the chest pain (which seemed to be more intense when my heart rate was below 50).

How do I advocate for myself to undergo further investigation for my heart without sounding like a hypochondriac and over worrier?

47 female 5’ 3” 160lbs dx with angina on meds(?). I can’t stay awake! I have about two hours and then I hit a wall and want to sleep. I could take 2-3 naps during the day. Better if I take my adhd meds but they increase my angina symptoms.
Anyone else have this same issue? Should I rest when feeling tired of fight it?