Hi everyone, this is my first post here so forgive me for any faux pas, however I'd really appreciate some help
I am a 22 year old male and I have recently been diagnosed with pericarditis. Originally I started getting rehabilitating chest pains in the middle of last year, which the doctor said was down to GERD/Acid Reflux, I was given Omeprazole and sent away. After this the problem went away for several months, however I was on a healthy eating diet at the time and therefore avoiding "bad" foods. This was until a friends birthday where we had a weekend full of heavy drinking and far to much fast food (as 22 year olds do) at which point the pains returned. I wrote this off as my own fault due to the food I had eaten and therefore once recovered, I went back to my diet and was fine for the next few months, until I had another "cheat day" and the same happened again. I assumed something wasn't right at this point as every other acid sufferer I know did not seem to experience anywhere near as much pain as me, so I went back to the doctor who simply brushed it off and told me to double my omeprazole doseage. Not long after this though I reached my goal weight and went back to a relatively normal diet - trying to stay reasonably good, whilst allowing myself a treat. Despite 40mg of omeprazole per day, I ate a mcdonalds meal and a chocolate bar and the pains returned with vengeance. At this point I was sick of being told it was acid and so went to hospital, where they immediately said that it was not acid, and after scans and diagnosis they found out I was suffering from pericarditis and also pericardial effusion. After 6 days in hospital the pain had subsided, inflammation was down and I was released.
So, having now been vindicated that it was not acid, I assumed that the correlation between pain and fast food was simply coincidental, and I stopped worrying about
what I ate as much. However, here we are just 2 weeks after hospital discharge, and after a pizza and a few bars of chocolate I am back in chronic pain and inflammation is back up.
So to cut a long story short, I was just wondering, does anyone have any experience, or knowledge about
how pericarditis could possibly be affected by diet? Or is it just a crazy coincidence? I've seen very little anywhere else to suggest that it can be food related, but the connection between the two seems undeniable now. If it helps, the flare ups are not instant, it is usually a day or two after the initial "binge" but it happens every time. I understand of course that certain foods are "heart healthy" but I', not particularly unhealthy. I weigh around 154lbs at 6ft 1inches tall and lost around 40lbs last year, half of which was before any of this started.
Sorry for the drawn out post, but this is really confusing me and It's making me concerned about
what I can and can not eat, and given that I'm hardly a well trained chef, my options for meals are getting slimmer all the while.