Pericarditis

Have many of you had to deal with pericarditis? After my implant 8 1/2 weeks ago I've been to the E.R. 4 or 5 times now with painful breathing and a painful chest. After the first three visits (all 4-5+ hours) with NO answers other than the 3rd time they did a CT scan to rule out a blood clot in my lungs and came back and said well you don't have a blood clot and I was like… What about the pain? and the ER Dr. said well you have pain medication and I told him I wasn't looking for pain medication which obviously wasn't helping anyway being as they had administered some while I was there with no relief. I wanted some answers. At that point I mad a 2 hour plus 35 min ferry ride to Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle where they diagnosed pericarditis.
I loved it because before I left for Seattle that moring I posted one sentence on Facebook "My guess is Pericarditis" and… that is sure enough what they diagnosed. So they put me on 2,400 mg of ibuprofen for a couple of weeks and they told me it could come back too even a couple of months later. Well fast forward and Sunday I went back to our E.R. with the tight chest and painful breathing again This time I let them know that at least 3 times before they found nothing but I go to Seattle and they knew right away so gee surprise this time they diagnose pericarditis Again or still. So' I'm back on the ibuprofen which I really don't want to tak at that high dosage but it does alleviate the chest pain :/
At any rate tomorrow I will drive 75 miles to see a cardiologist because what started this WHOLE thing in the first place was that i could climb stairs without insanr shortness of breath and it was even happening when just sitting. That has Not gone away. Before ANY heart studies were done they did a lung function test that came back fine sooooo Hopefully I will get some answers tomorrow.

I was just wondering how many of you have dealt with the Pericarditis. I almost wonder if I had it before the pacemaker was implanted and was the cause of the initial the S.o B.

Sorry for the long story :)

3 Comments

Yes I have

by Marie12 - 2014-07-17 10:07:07

I did have Pericarditis after my heart attack. Was on the same treatment as you. I still go through periods of time when I am short of breath and my chest is tight but haven't found it necessary to do anything more than take ibuprofen for a few days. Other times I just live with it. It can become serious and you should definitely keep on top of this. Good luck

I have

by Nursejane - 2014-07-18 10:07:30

I had pericarditis after complication from atrial lead. Same symptoms but also caused severe shoulder pain. I was on Motrin but it did not help pain

Had thoracentisis and round of steroid drugs before I felt better. What caused pericarditis in your case?

Pericarditis update

by stormynw - 2014-07-19 02:07:23

A while back someone posted that I should be on Colchicine. Well I saw a new cardiologist yesterday and he is putting me on Colchicine ( Colcrys) for three months as well as indomethacin a NSAID for two weeks. Due to the results of the lab work I had earlier this week (my ESR and CRP were both high). He ordered more blood work to rule out an autoimmune disorder such as lupus. AND he also ordered both a Nuclear Medicine Cardiac Rest and a Nuclear Mecicine Cardiac Stress Test. Just way too much fun :P But . . . He IS being thorough and that is a good thing!

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My pacemaker was installed in 1998 and I have not felt better. The mental part is the toughest.