Pericarditis

[livingwith]

I came down with Pericarditis in August 2007. Within a week of the first chest pains I was sicker than I have ever been in my life. I had severe muscle weakness in my legs and arms, and couldn’t walk or get out of bed without help. It was all I could do to just lay in bed and try and breathe through the pressure on my chest and the pain.
I was admitted to the cardiac ICU at the hospital for 5 days and then sent home on ibuprofen. Within a week of being home from the hospital I started spi...Read the full article

[Debra]

I took Aspirin(very high dose) and colchisine (tried Indocine, Ibuprofin etc for a couple of months prior to colchisine and aspirin). Stopped the colchisine after two months and remaind on the aspirin. It has been three months since stopping colchisine and I am down to 2 aspirin a day. This illness seems to have flareups and when it does --I increase the aspirin again for a week or two. I am not able to run on my treadmill with out having pain again(I have noticed a direct connection to the increased activity and the symptoms). But I am able to brisk walk. So, it has improved significantly--but it is not gone.
I got really sick with pericarditis last May.
So, I think everyone with pericarditis has a different course. And I think it is a very slow recovery process. I too, think colchisine made a major difference.

[landedh]

I came down with pericarditis in June 07. Sounds much like you. Every time they reduced my meds -it came back, July and Sept. Second and third times included pericardial effusion and also pleural effusion. I was very sick. Now it's January and I'm still not 100%. I'm on indocine-25mg, 3 times a day. I couldn't take colchisine so had to stop it. Dr. said I'll have to stay on it for quite a while yet before they start cutting it back to keep the pericarditis from returning. It helped a lot hearing from others who took longer to recover as I took from the doctors that I would get over it much quicker.

[Rudi1973]

I'm sympathetic to the continuation of your situation.
To put my thoughts in context, I had my second bout of pericarditis July 30, 2007. My fisrt event was in March of 2002. While I had notable fatigue aftervthen first event, the chest pain was minimal following hospitalization and was absent within a few weeks. In this case, it's now seven months later and chest pain has been present everyday since then. Degree of discomfort has varied as has the amount of time pain is noticable during the day. I started treatment with ibuprofin, went to colchicine for six weeks at end of November +/- and move to prednisone for a six week treatment. Prednisone began with week long dosages that began at 60mg/day and decreased by 10 mg/week until just recently. While I would say I have seen improvement, I'm still very disappointed with the continued presence of the chest pain. My cardiologist suggested seeing where I am in another six weeks without any medication. I have also been to a second cardiologist early on who agreed with diagnosis and treatment plan (ibuprfin, colchicine, prednisone - in that order). Frustrating to be 56 and uncomfortable, but I sympathize more with you as a 32 year old Mom.
It's a very distracting and annoying discomfort. My understanding is this can be a chroinic situation until it simply goes away and there's not a lot of research that explains what causes it to go as well as the cause. I am trying to get back to a regular regimen of yoga and exercise and am exploring Chinese medicines that impact inflammation. At this point in time, I am operating that nothing I have done (rest, exercise, etc. has helped or hindered improvement so I am choosing to simply try to live my life and live with the pain. I'm still unclear about what is exactly causes the continued pain. My doc says, issue is no longer one of inflammation but of pain management. I have no desire to go on any narcotics.
If it's helpful to stay connected, I'm happy to do so and share our progress. Stay well!

[Rudi1973]

Thought you might find this link informative. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec03/ch030/ch030c.html