Pericarditis

[annmannion]

Hi
My husband has been treated over the past 5 weeks with Pericarditis due from a chest infection he went down with just before christmas,he was treated for pneumonia
He finished his antibiotics ("Augmentin") last tuesday and continues to take "ibuprofen" and "co-codamol" for the pain and inflamation.
He appeared to be getting over it...ie the shortness of breath, chest pain night sweats but the pain in his left shoulder is still there and appears to get worse some days then goes into the other shoulder or kneck or both...then back to the left shoulder again but not the chest? Please can someone tell me "What this pain is"? He has only just started back to work and is quite a physical job, can that make it worse?.
Also, what is this dry cough that appears to accompany it?
My doctor said i could give him any over the counter med for the dry cough which i have just bought some "Pholcodine Linctus" from our local pharmacy and told them his condition. He has only just started to take this so i hope this will help the cough, as this appears to aggrevate the shoulder pain.?
Any advice would be most appreciated, as when we left the hospital they said he was ok and no long term probs. They did lots of tests and xrays and said his heart had returned back to normal size and no more fluid or infection around his lungs. Many thanks x

[ginny1]

Hi there--sorry to hear about the shoulder pain,

Ijust had a bad bout of the pericarditis and my left shoulder is hurting as I type this. The pain is a lot better than it was last Saturday--but I am on steroids for it (I just go up on the prednisone when it hurts and then taper back down until I have another episode.) Unfortunately, you really are not supposed to be started on steroids, but my case was somewhat complicated so, I have to take higher doses of prednisone when I have an episode of pericarditis and then go back down to a slow taper when the flare-up is gone. I was diagnosed with possible viral ideopathic pericarditis, got a small effusion (went away rapidly), and have been living with this for about a year. It is frustrating, but, the key seems to be to monitor it and keep ahead of the pain that is coming and going. Ask your doctor about colchicine--this supposedly prevents relapses. Look for a study called the COPE study--lots of good results with this drug. Don't be put on steroids unless there is no other choice. Keep asking the cardiologist questions--pericarditis is rare and complications almost never happen but, just keep on with the treatment and stay on top of the inflammation. Don't know what causes the pain, I have it also, even when I am not inflamed. Just comes and goes! If the doctor doesn't know about colchicine--see another cardiologist and get another opinion if you can! Hope this helps. Ginny1