The midfielder placed with a training ban - forced to take a break from handball

After repeated attempts to overcome the problems, Michaela Fransson has been placed with a training ban for the next three months.

- I was with a cardiologist last week. The doctor has said that I am not allowed to exercise, I am only allowed to go for walks. I must not do anything where the heart works more than it does when you are out and about. It will be really tough, mentally above all. You are no more than a human being, you have feelings and are vulnerable in this. Mental illness, which I do not really have, but which it has become, is nothing to complain about, she says to SVT Sport.

- I do not feel good about exercising, the training hurts me so much that I do not function in everyday life. I break down my body so much that I feel bad when I exercise, afterwards and for several days.

It all started in November last year when Michaela Fransson was forced to step down from training on several occasions.

- It started with me feeling tough and hung up on training. I drove for a while before I went in and did tests, but all tests were good. After a while it got worse and worse and I had a lot of pressure on my chest and had difficulty breathing when I got tired. I had to step off several workouts and then I said we have to look at this.

The doctors could not find anything wrong and even today, eight months later, it is still unclear what Fransson was affected by.

- They found nothing wrong but heart and pulse looked good. Then I went to a specialist in Stockholm where they said I had symptoms of overtraining syndrome. It's still hard to know what I have because it's just symptoms.

After struggling with the problems throughout the spring, the 24-year-old came to the realization two weeks ago that it is no longer possible to continue playing handball right now.

- We had self-training for four weeks during the summer, where I did 2-4 sessions a week. When we then came back I trained handball and gym six days a week and the Thursday after that I felt that it was not good and it continued even on Friday. The body survived 1.5 weeks after the break. Then I was told in black and white that I had to rest, I can not continue like this.

When it was at its worst, she slept away for large parts of the day, while longer periods of rest gave results immediately.

- I have headaches almost every day, but it's starting to get better. It quickly becomes a very big difference and the body responds very well to rest. When it was like a vest, I did two ECG tests and then I came up with 84 percent work capacity, which is not great for an elite athlete. Then I did a new ECG after resting completely for a week and then I got up to 94 percent. This is what they go on, that the body responds so well already after a week.

The goal is to get back to the handball court eventually.

- My goal is definitely to come back. But then it's not sure I can come back, no one knows. However, the doctor says that he would be very surprised if it did not go well.