Hi Diane,
thanks for your thoughts. We haven't had to evacuate yet though we are on the edge of the evacuation warning area (one block away). I usually don't get much sleep but last night was the worst with the water dropping helicopters flying over all night long.(Thank God for them!) I have things packed and we'll move to my boyfriends sisters house if necessary or if the air quality gets any worse. Can't go outside as too much smoke!
I'm currently taking Nambumetone(NSAID), colchicine, and Percocet for the pain and inflammation. I had the actual flu a year ago from last January. I was in excruciating pain and severe fever for 3 weeks, this was followed by bronchitis for 4 more weeks. They possibly think that caused it.I took massive amounts of prednisone for the pericarditis the first time as prescribed by my first cardiologist. I dropped him when he literally through his arms up in the air one day after having me on 80 mgs of prednisone for 6 weeks and said I don't know what to do with you 
. I had every reaction from the prednisone except it didn't completely stop the chest pain.( the one good thing it did was that my hair temporarily stopped falling out) My second cardiologist immediately tapered me off of it as he feels that it can increase your chance of it returning. They were never sure whether I truly had pericarditis as the effusion was so small and blood work once more didn't confirm (although the echo and eeg had indications of it )except that the effusion completely went away in April and then when the chest pain and palps started again this September it was showing once more on the echo.
My second cardiologist sent me to a rheumatologist who initially diagnosed me with UCTD. As I said, It doesn't show on the blood work but I seem to have all of these symptoms that don't add up.
Anyway, back in April when the pericarditis cleared up, I was able to get off of the blood pressure medication and beta blockers as my pressure and heart rate returned to low normal for me. Now since September, I'm back on a long acting beta blocker (toprol) to keep it relatively low and a short acting one when I go into these tachycardic events that won't stop. For those I take propanol which generally slow it down enough. Now my internist wants me to try lorazepam for them instead as he's convinced they're anxiety related even though they come on at random times 
. I'll try it though. He knows I get pissed if he starts going into the "it's all in your head" stuff, so generally he treads lightly with that. I understand though that stress from pain can cause an overabundance of adrenaline to surge through the body, so that's why I'm willing to try it. I hate having to convince a doctor that "no, the pain is real and no, it's not from stress." Not to toot my own horn but I will: I'm a smart woman and I've gone through enough crap in my life to know when pain is physically manifested as opposed to mentally manifested.
The reason he's thinking this is osteo as opposed to RA is because he's not seeing extreme redness and swelling in my joints. I just wonder though as this stuff has been so symmetrical for me and I didn't think that happened with osteo. I also know that pericarditis is more common with RA sufferers. I just remember how deformed my poor Aunt's hands were and how they progressivley got worse. I know that intially osteo and RA are treated the same, so for now maybe I'm okay? What are bisoprolol and propefenone?
thanks,
Cynthia