DIAGNOSED WITH PERICARDITIS RECENTLY

Laurel,

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  The Cleveland Clinic has an outstanding reputation and I frequently see good reports by members of other forums who have been to Cleveland Clinic.  You may be interested in this link:

http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/cardiology-and-heart-surgery

veg1984,

I wish I could help you out with your questions as I know you are worried about your bf.  Viral pericarditis can be caused by an infection by several types of viruses, including coxsackieviruses, echoviruses, adenoviruses, HIV  and the viruses that cause mumps or hepatitis. Did any of the Doctors mention what kind of virus they suspect is causing his illness ? 

I know this is very scary for you but take a deep breath and know that you must be strong as you will not be able to help your boyfriend if you let your anxiety take over. 

If he is home alone while you are at work is there a family member of his that can check on him or help him out if he is to sick to take care of himself ?

Kindly,

Kitt

 

The doctors didnt really mention anything!...All they said was " oh you were sick and your infection went down to your lungs"? They didnt give us a reason of why this has happened to him. Unfortunately he's alone when Im at work. He's feeling a bit better but Im so nervous that he might have another episode! ,-Meaning the feeling of suffocation. Like I Said he's asthmatic so the shortness of breath and inflammation is really really painful for him. I know I asked a billion questions Im sorry for that! its just that the doctors didnt really give us any comfort nor answers. He was prescribed predisone for 5 days ...today he took his last pill! All he has left is tylenol..Im so paranoid that this wont go away.

I decided to write a story about my experience with constrictive pericarditis, you can read it here: www.jordanharding.com/my-brush-with-death-constrictive-pericarditis

Hi, i am a 19 year old student studying business info systems at university. I currently live in Auckland, New Zealand and am originally from London, England. about 5 months ago now i travelled back to London and unfortunately fell sick in january, i went to my GP and they said nothing was wrong. I then had to go to the ER at the hospital as i was experiencing frequent need to urinate and lots of pain in my lower back, as suspected they diagnosed me with UTI. While i was there i told the doctor i had been experiencing some chest pain, he listened to my chest and told me that i have a heart murmur, subsequently he listened to my heart and said he could hear a "pericardial rub". He ordered an ECG and they told me i had acute pericarditis, i was sent home on OTC ibuprofen and paracetamol. Later in the week i was sent in the ambulance to hospital again as the pain had become much worse and was radiating to my shoulder and left arm, they said that the inflammation had increased slightly and this time sent me home with tramadol for the pain and i was told it should take a week or so to clear up. I informed them that i had to fly back to Auckland a week later and they said this was fine. While i was on my 35 hour flight i was in serious pain and just had to take pain killers to pass the time. I then arrived in Auckland and admitted myself to the local ED, they did blood tests and ECG and said i have chostocondritis and discharged me to care of GP, he then recommended physiotherapy and to carry on with OTC anti-inflammatories. 3 weeks had gone by and the physio was not helping at all, i was still experiencing sharp jabbing in my chest and constantly feeling tired and exhausted. Doctor then repeated some blood tests and it came back with me having a d-dimer or 35,000. consequently i was again admitted to the ED, they did the ECG and said i have pericarditis and did a repeat d-dimer test which came out to 170. I had to stay in hospital for a few days, they increased the dosage of anti-inflammatories and put me on Colchicine. i was then discharged to care of GP again and told present myself to medical attention within 3 weeks if the pain had not stopped. I carried on getting pain and the medication was makinng me feel awful. I then again went to the ED and had to stay a few nights, i saw the cardiologist, had an echo done, but showed no signs of a tamponade. The doctors diagnosed it as a chronic pericarditis and said they are unsure of when it should go, they increased my medication to Sevredol, Tramadol, Coclchicine and anti-inflammatories. It has now been 2 weeks since i last had to stay in hospital and the medications are just making me feel awful, i still do not feel any better and this has been going on for nearly 5 months... i would really appreciate any advice i can get on this matter, many thanks.

Manek, Hope you are getting better. I have the same condition and I refuse to see anymore docs. It doesnt seem to do any good. I just take 600mg ibuprofen every 4 hours. I will send in blood work soon to check my liver function. I take large doses of milk thistle to protect my liver. I eat food with each dose of ibuprofen. I sleep an extra 4 hours when I can and get 9 hours of sleep each night. I walk slowly and don't stress myself. I eat an extremely good diet and take a lot of supplements. Mine was viral. I am not going to try stopping the ibuprofen until 3 months. I sleep almost sitting up. I took a month off from work when it first happened and slept almost all of the time. I think rest is the best cure and ibuprofen is a miracle drug. I was going to try the colchicine but it can have bad side effects. I am back at work but I don't walk up stairs and i move slowly so as not to stress my heart. I will recover at 3 months. I tried once to go off the ibuprofen and had the terrible rub. I went to the emergency room when i first got it and was diagnosed with mri "waste of money" xray "not necessary" EKG positive proof if read properly. toridol for pain and iv ibuprofen. Immediate rest sleeping im my recliner and ibuprofen every 4 hours. If i go more than 4 hours the results are not good. I am mostly pain free. Oh, I am 60 year old female and thought i was very healthy. My son is a doctor but not my doctor. Not much treatment for this condition, just reduce the inflammation so the heart can recover. Otherwise it is swollen and bounces around in your chest like it is not properly attached. try not to go on bouncey rides or walk with a bounce. Don't miss any doses and don't double dose. I stopped getting up at night to take ibuprofen unless i have pain but i can tell in the morning that it is more inflammed and takes a few hours of doses before it recovers. Ibuprofen can tear up your guts and hurt your liver and kidneys. I seem to be doing ok so far. It would be terrible if i had to stop taking it. I eat avacodo with each pill. Tell me how you are now.

I was diagnosed on the 23 rd of December I took myself to hospital with severe chest pain thought I was having a heart attack I was sent home with oxycodyne for pain and ibuprofen for inflammation with colchicine as well
After a week and 1 day I went back to hospital with an ambulance with extreme pain they said I was ok and sent me off went to a Chinese doctor he could do nothing I'm getting very anxious about the future and if I can get back to work I really don't no what to do and I think the doctors don't no either

Hello, I am not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I really realy hope so......
This is the first time I have ever posted anything, so please excuse any mistakes.
In mid February 2020 like everyone in the world I started stressing about the virus, I started getting breathless (thought my Asthma returned after years without any problems, then I thought panic attack or Gerd) I lost my appetite and felt a burning in the middle of my chest (thought it was a Gerd from stress) Fortunately (just before quarantine) I was able to book an appointment with a cardiologist for a heart check up because it felt a little more than Gerd? Anyway my heart exam was fine and like Craig T (posted Apr 2015) was given Omeprazole, plus I was told I had health anxiety.
Then after two weeks I was advised to change to 60 mg of Lansoprazole, to help get the Gerd under control but it did nothing, so for the last 6 weeks of burning arms, pressure on my chest, finding it hard to breath, loss of appetite, neck/back/finger/ear pain,nausea vertigo sore throat, insomnia, hair loss and chronic fatigue, I was feeling depressed and beat.
We have been told to stay away from emergency, so when it opened up again (to non covid patients) A few days ago I risked it to find out what was going on. In emergency they told me I have pericarditis, I was given pain killers and colchicine and something for my appetite because I have lost almost 20 lbs. Still not sure if I have Gerd as well, I was advised to have a gastroscopy as soon as that department opens up.
So anyone out there can you please offer me some advice on getting better, I understand rest is important, but should I try vitamins or natural sleep aids? How long will the pain last? Should I be eating anything special? I read something from Dr Axe but is there any advice from people on this site who have been experienced Acute Pericarditis first hand, I know we are all different but maybe there is something that seems small, that might make my life a bit easier, I would love to know there is a light out there....

Thank you

Thank you straydog, for taking time to help.