UCTD diagnosis with Pericarditis

I too wish to welcome Nanda, Chinacat, and Scrnboy.

this really is a great forum, wonderful people who are always there. Not one of my better thinking days, so unable to say much.



Hope things will get better for you soon.

Hester

Post Edited By Moderator (Lynnwood) : 11/29/2008 10:15:14 AM (GMT-7)

Welcome Nanda, Chinacat, and Scrnboy:

Just wanted to extend my welcome to you all. I too suffer from pericarditis on a regular basis. I also get pleurisy often too. I take the colchicine too to keep the pericarditis away. You'll find lots of good information here and make many friends.

Wishing you all the best of luck.

Hugs,
Barbara

Wow, hon you sound like most of us PRE colchicine. Wonder how much you are taking? Minimum should be 0.6 mg 2x a day and the NIH research nurse told me to take what you need to get rid of the symptoms...but they dont recommend more than 4.
Let me know if you are taking less than that cause I have never heard of anyone that doesn't have a dramatic improvement of any inflamitory situation within just days of starting colch. at the 2 per day (one am and one about 4 pm) I have seen it work for Fibro, Chronic Fatigue, Lupus, some are now prescribing it for even MS , Parkinsons, and Alzhimers.

To see what I mean check out www.melungeonhealth.org and scroll down to Familial Mediterranean Fever as this illness is one of the many branches of FMF

PAIN system that worked for me:
Also, I discovered something for pain PRE colchicine that works wonders and seems especially effective to those with inflamitory conditions it is:
Lorcet or Lortabs (Hydrocordone) WITH Vistril (Hydroxine Pam) I would take about 500 mg Lortab or Lorcet and 50mg Vistril and it would knock the pain. Without the Vistril (which is a pain reliever Enhancer....makes your narcotics work better so you dont need as much!)_ ...without the vistril I couldnt get the pain to stop and after surgery the same for others I knew. Add the vistril and it stops so to speak. I had such severe TMJ I would have to go to bed for 3 days with Darvocet every 4 hrs and still couldnt move my head. (I now know it was a FMF inflamitory attack) I stumbled on this combo and was amazed to find that for Fibro symptoms, back, carpel tunnel, TMJ etc it I took a Vistril and Lorcet (NO not percocet doctor...I asked for Lorcet...darvocet doesnt work the same either) I would take enough of the Lorcet to get rid of the pain and repeat that one to three times (like every 4 hrs as p rescribed etc) and the pain would go untill I injured that area again (that was Pre Colchicine.....most of those things litterally went away after a month or so on Colchicine. Note: The Vistril will make most people really tired but I found that after a week or so that seems to lesson. There are 25 mg Vistril too but when its really bad pain that wasnt always enough. Anyhow that is what worked for me, just a sugg. to check out with your doc.!