Pericarditis

[WayneM]

That was the main thing for me...fear. I had it develop suddenly at night on Feb,23. So I went into the ER at about 10 the next morning, why I waited that long I still do not know. I am relatively healthy 33 year old so it took me by surprise. They ran blood work, ECG, Echo test, Chest X-Ray and they all confirmed that I had pericarditis I have had episodes of extreme anxiety and sky high blood pressure as a result of the anxiety I assume. I was just in last Tues night with a BP reading of 201 and it went down to 173 the next time they took it. At the doctors office it was at 141, still too high, but low as its been in weeks. Still scared, but the anxiety isn't as bad since they got me on 1mg of Ativan..

I usually get 1-2 flare ups a day where my left chest area seems to tense up and I get warm flushes througout my upper shoulder area on the left hand side. I was/am experiencing chest pressure on my right hand side that seem to be concentrated to the extreme upper right hand area of the chest with it occassionally going into the upper-center area of my chest. This pressure seems to be subsiding somewhat now. I have also noticed that it gets worse after I eat..so i eat in small quantities and this mainly happens when I eat the "good" stuff lol...fatty and junk food. I have also noticed some occassional burping as well throughout the day. As soon as I eat something I usually have to go the bathroom 10-15 mins later. The pain hasn't been too bad, just the tugging/squeezing/nervous sensation is annoying/scary at times.

I am considering going into the walk-in clinic across the road, as I don't have a reg family doc, and see what he/she can suggest for a diet so that I can eat like a human being again.

I wish you all good luck in your recovery going forward.

[travellerw]

Wow I'm so glad I found this forum. It was so reassuring to see people having the same symptoms as me. I just had to post so this discussion doesn't disappear.

A quick background of me and my symptoms. I just turned 31 (had birthday during this) otherwise healthy. I had flu like symptoms before this began. My symptoms are pain (burning, stabbing or tugging) in my chest to left side of my breastbone. Sometimes it hurts so much it feels like a bruise if I press on the area. Other symptoms are massive Anxiety and Panic that comes on suddenly without warning. Also like the previous poster it gets worse after eating.

Here is my story. I was awoke in the middle of the night on February 10 with sharp stabbing chest pain. I thought it was strange, but "toughed" it out until the 12th before going to the hospital. Due to overcrowding (another story all together) here in Alberta I was not able to see a doctor. Since the pain had mostly subsided, I went home. Unfortunately the pain came back on the 14 and I went back to emergency. All the usual tests were performed. Nothing was found and they said they suspected Pericarditis. Told me to go home and take 2 Ibuprofen twice a day. This worked for a while.

Then in early March it came back with a vengeance. Back to Emergency where tests are done again. This time they find Triponin and tell me I've had a heart attack. So I spend 4 days in Cardiac ICU to await a Angiogram. They do the Angio and discover "Hey there is nothing wrong" opps no heart attack. Release me the next day. Take 2 Ibuprofen 3 times a day.

All is well for a week, then back to emergency with massive pain again. Find similar levels of Trip. Send me home and tell me to take 3 Ibuprofen 4 times a day and Colchicine 2 times a day.

Still having some constant pain, so I go to my regular doctor and discuss with him. He advises a switch to Aspirin might be better. So we switch to 650mg of Aspirin 4 times a day. Pain subsides to a dull ache for a few weeks.

Another reoccurrence, another trip to Emergency. This time they keep me on the regular ward for 4 days and decide to do a Cardiac MRI. Cardiologist tells me the MRI show that my heart is fine but I have inflammation. Tells me I need to take my Aspirin every 6 hours exactly and if I can't stand the pain to take Tylenol 3 on top. Sends me home.

2 weeks of constant dull pain and I finally have a relapse 2 days ago. This time I recognize it coming and load up on Colchicine, Aspirin, Tylenol and Ativan. I'm was able to avoid going back to Emergency.

So that puts me here. Just talked with my Doctor and he is starting me on Prednisone today. He also upped my Colchicine, but his understanding is that Colchicine is only effective once the pain is completely gone. I am also still supposed to take the Aspirin. Maybe I will finally have some pain free days and feel like I did before all this began.

I will be sure to post back in hopes that it helps someone else.

[travellerw]

Well it’s been 2 weeks and I promised I would report back..

Well I'm sad to report that the Prednisone did not work at all. I was on 40mg a day for 6 days before my doctor pulled me off as it had no effect at all. Not even a slight reduction in pain.

On the other hand we have changed back to 2400mg of Ibuprofen (600mg 4 times a day) with 1.2mg of colchicine a day. I'm happy to report that this now seems to be working. I'm finally having days with little to no pain. The current plan is to stay on ibuprofen at this dose for at least 2 weeks, preferably 3 weeks if my stomach can handle it. Then we will attempt a slow taper probably over a month. So as of yesterday, I have another 2 weeks at this dose.

The worst thing now is my stomach. Both the ibuprofen and colchicine really bother my stomach. I have tried with food, without food, doesn't seem to matter. At this point I'm just going to bear it as I would rather have stomach upset then chest pain.

I will be sure to post back once I have some solid news either way.