Recurrent pericarditis -- Anyone out there?

Guest

Hello,

I'm just posting, looking for other people who've had
similar experiences. Anyone out there? Any mailing lists?

I was diagnosed in march 1994 with idiopathic pericarditis
at age 19. I had about 1 liter of water around the heart,
and also water around the lungs. I was in tamponade.

Fluid was drained, and after trying indocid a couple
of days, I was put on Prednisone. Weaning was hard, and
after a little trial and error I was super slowly weaned
by June 1997.

Ever since, whenever I get a physical stress (eg: the
flu, exposure to lots of cold wind, very strong emotional
stress), I sometimes have mini-recurrences.

I'll have some chest discomfort or pain, difficulty breathing,
and heart may speed up a little. No fluid has ever accumulated
during these recurrences.

I usually self-medicate by giving myself aspirin
(325mg breakfast, 650 mg lunch and supper) because getting
a doctor's apointment for non-urgent conditions is a pain in
this province.
This usually aleviates the problem after a few days,
and I can be problem free from weeks to months.

Actually, for the first time in years, I've had to
go to the emergency room. Aspirin over many days did
not work, and I got slowly worse. The doctor in the
emergency room thought I was a nut, but the cardiologist
who saw me the next day believed me and prescribed a
huge shot of steroids (equivalent to 200mg Prednisone)
and then told me to take Aspirin for 3 weeks.

What's my long term outcome/prognosis? Any advice?

Is anyone out there having a similar problem?

Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD · medicine forum Guru Joined: 25 Mar 2005 Posts: 8540

Noname@noname.com wrote:

Susan · medicine forum Guru Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 932

x-no-archive: yes

Noname@noname.com wrote:

Guest

"Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD" <andrew@heartmdphd.com> wrote in
news:427A8BDB.67835B8E@heartmdphd.com:
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