Endocarditis

[Boomanchu]

Have any of you had endocarditis and if so have you had any lasting effects? My infection got into my stomach, spine and knees. My knees are still killing me and they are just starting tests to see if there is damage to the joint. I also get temporary vision loss in my left eye followed by double vision........kinda problematic as I'm always driving when it happens. I've asked if it's possible that I had a stroke at some point along the road but nobody seems to comment much. Two weeks yesterday since passing out and splitting my head open and one episode of double vision while driving home from work. I'm at least slightly dizzy pretty much around the clock and working is too hard right now. Not sure what I'm gonna do as my savings was used up while I was sick before surgery and since. I would just like to know if it may be temporary or if there is permanent damage. Funny thing is that heart wise I feel awesome......my head and legs just don't work so well anymore.

 

[newmitral]

Hello Boomanchu,

Yes, I had endocarditis, which was the cause of my valve replacement.

In my case, the bacteria also got into my leg, causing a mycotic aneurism that blocked blood flow to my lower leg and foot. During recovery my heart felt fine, but my foot was hurting badly and I couldn't walk. The condition persisted for months during recovery and I had a permanent limp as a result. I finally had a vein specialist look at the leg and the blockage was found. I had to have a second surgery on my leg to bypass the blocked artery in the leg and restore blood flow to my foot. I no longer have the limp or any problems walking.

Although they did do an ultrasound test on my leg while I was in the hospital recovering from the heart surgery and complained about the foot, they did not find anything at that time. It was only months later, after the vein specialist did an Ankle-Brachial Index Test, where it pointed to the blockage in my leg, that subsequent ultrasound and Angiogram testing with radioactive dye showed the mycotic aneurism causing the blockage.

Frankly, I consider myself lucky that the bacteria that broke off lodged itself in my leg, rather than traveling to my brain, where it probably would have caused a stroke.

I assume you had the standard 6 week course of intravenous antiboitics, which should have killed off the bacteria. Any pain in your knee as a result of the endocarditis would more likely be due to restricted blood flow in that area rather than damage to the joint itself. I would ask them to do the Ankle-Brachial Index Test to see if it indicates any blood flow restrictions. It could be some other issue totally unrelated to the endocarditis.

The vision, dizziness and passing-out issues do sound like symptoms of a mini-stroke, which the doctors should be able to determine. This is fairly common if the bacteria vegetation from the endocarditis breaks off and travels to the brain. I would think that if these symptoms are not permanent now, that they would disappear with time, but your doctors would be the ones to best advise you on that.

Best of luck.

 

[Eva]

Your light-headedness maybe due to the medication which your doctor may modify the dosage for you.

 

[Boomanchu]

I'm off of all but metoprolol and that's been cut way down. The dizziness has lessened but the loss of vision, double vision and passing out are pretty disconcerting. I get occasional vertigo and have terrible knee pain. I feel better heart wise than I can remember feeling but my gut tells me the problems I'm having are related to the endocarditis which jumped to other parts of my body.........maybe my brain too. That was the big concern but at the time I did all I could to convince myself and the docs that it hadn't headed north.

 

[Eva]

You should see you doctor re the double or loss of vision! Once I had temporary vision loss in one eye for less than 5 seconds...it was a minor TIA in my case. I checked my. INR. right away, it was lower than it should be. Didn't happen again.

I have knees problems and I'm told to try physical therapy.

I believe endocarditis is restricted only to the heart muscle! Other inflammations in the body could be due to other infections/bacteria in other areas of the body, such as. Teeth. And gums! Ask your doctor to check your Sedimentation Rate, CRP, HsCRP to have peace of mind. These tests reveal if there is an inflammation somewhere.

Also, you may still be the process of healing!

Keep us posted.

 

[T in YVR]

If you passed out and split your head open, I assume you had a bad fall as a result of all this - maybe you also have some degree of post concussion syndrome (?). Make sure you get plenty of rest. Good luck with it,
Tony

 

[Boomanchu]

I had 3 episodes of double vision when I had endo and have had 2 since so I was thinking it was either a residual effect of a tia or for some reason I've had more tia's. As for the infection moving, it did. It made it to my stomach (which is what got me to urgent care) and my spine (which put surgery off for a month). While in the hospital for the endo my cardio continuously checked my joints for inflammation as he said endo moves to joints. Iv'e since read that endo in the joints causes septic arthritis which if not treated in time can destroy the joints. I'm so hoping for some relief but my knees are getting worse and I'm now getting some pain in my back where the infection made it's way to two vertebrae that I had previous fractures in. Some of the dizziness has lessened after stopping Amiodarone and cutting Atorvastatin in half but I'm still floaty 24/7 and exhausted all day. I think (hope) cutting the Metoprolol down again will help.