Pericarditis...

[Alleigh]

I've not been very active on the forum since CNQ went down and CNH was born. I've posted some, but I've been more of a lurker than an active member. And I'm feeling a little guilty about posting here since I've been so inactive as of late, but I need to get this out and everyone who I typically would talk to is unavailable and I'm just not comfortable sitting with the feelings just yet...

I've been having some serious health concerns since the beginning part of the year. I was hospitalized in February due to a severe urinary tract infection turned kidney infection and left the hospital with an immune system that crashed due to the heavy antibiotics and medications they administered. I've since had a couple of bouts with the stomach flu and a cold that I just can't seem to shake. I have been in almost constant contact with my primary care doctor and she's order an array of lab tests and other medical tests in order to determine if there's something more at play than just simple bad luck, but it's very trying on me and I am finding myself depressed about my health issues and how blah I've been feeling. It's overwhelming sometimes and right now is one of those times...especially in light of some new information.

Many of you may remember that my mother had a quadruple bypass last December. Well, since the family incidence of heart disease is so high, my doctor referred me to a cardiologist and on Tuesday I had a stress test along with an echocardiogram. Thankfully my stress test results were normal, but I received a phone call from my cardiologist this afternoon regarding the results of my echo. There was some inflammation and a build-up of fluid which indicates that I have pericarditis. For those of you unfamiliar with that term, you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericarditis. And while I'm grateful that the structure and strength of my heart muscle is normal, this new diagnosis has me concerned. I mean, it's my heart -- it doesn't get more scary than that.

My cardiologist told me that I need to restrict my activity for 3-4 weeks and I'm scheduled to go in for some additional labwork (testing anti-viral antibodies) next Wednesday. I'll need to repeat the bloodwork in a couple of months as well as the echocardiogram and somewhere in between there I'll need a chest x-ray. I asked my doctor point-blank if there was anything I needed to be worried about and he reassured me that as long as I take care of myself and stay in contact with both him and my primary care physician that I should be fine. But, I made the mistake of reading about pericarditis on the internet and am now really worried and upset. The complications that could come about are serious and I'm just really scared and overwhelmed...

Coupled with this is that my PCP told me that my liver enzymes were high and I now need an ultrasound of my liver and additional blood tests. I'm only 25 and I feel like I'm falling apart. It's scary, frustrating, overwhelming, and angering. And I don't know what to do other than just try to ride it out and remain positive. But it's hard...you know?

I'm going away for business tomorrow morning and I am almost afraid to go. My cardiologist is very cautious, as is my primary doctor, and I know that if there was something to worry about they'd have me in the hospital. But the "what if's" are still getting to me. They're really, really getting to me.

Has anyone here had any experience with pericarditis -- personal or familial? How have you all dealth with health concerns that crop up and the emotions that come along with them? I guess I'm just needing to know that I'm not alone...

...and some prayers and good thoughts couldn't hurt either...

 

[pricklesnquills]

Alleigh,

Wow, that's rough. I've not dealed with this, but I have had lots of other medical problems. I will share a little bit of the long story. When I was 12 years old, I started to have a lot of stiffness in my joints. At first the doctors told me it was 'growing pains', but when it started getting much worse, they started taking me more seriously. It ended up taking about 6 months to diagnose me. Through all of the horrible tests I had to go through, they also found that I had a kidney disease and a heart murmur.

The scary this was that my original disease was so rare that they didn't really know exactly what to treat me with or how well a treatment would work. I ended up having to be on steroids for 10 months and a weekly shot of an auto-immune suppressant for 18 months.

All of this was not fun, very scary and filled with tons of unknowns. But I also had hope through it all because I trusted in God and He never let me down. Now, I'm almost 16 and back to my normal self. Both my original disease and my kidney disease have gone in remission. I went through a ton of really difficult stuff that no one would ever go through in their entire life, at 12 and 13 years old. But from that, I have grown so much. I have overcome many fears and wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

All this said, I'll be praying for you. I know how it feels to be scared, worried and to totally feel like you're not in control. It's really though. Hang in there!

 

[alpayton]

I'd rather see you get information from better sources than wikipedia if you're going to be doing research on a medical condition on the internet. And remember, just because you see something in print, doesn't mean it will happen to you. A side effect or a symptom is something that may have only happened to a select few patients with a condition, but because it happened with that select few, they feel the need to report it as a side effect or symptom. Even if the chances of it happening are only 0.5%, they'll report it...so just remember, 0.5% is VERY low.

Much more reputable sites to do research...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pericarditis/DS00505
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000182.htm
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4683
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/other/pericarditis.aspx

 

[Laurie]

Alleigh, of course I send good wishes your way! I don't have experience with this condition but I can tell you this about our family's medical history. We have cancer, heart disease and diabetes in the family--also stroke but I don't know that's heriditary. My sister has terminal breast cancer. She was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer and they have a test to check for the mutation called the BRCA test. My little sister had this test done because she was afraid of getting breast and ovarian cancer and also afraid for her daughter. Lisa, my sister who has breast cancer, tested positive for this mutation, Lynelle tested negative. I have not yet taken the test.
Most would say--what the heck? Why don't you want to know.
Well here's why--right now I'm all right with not knowing these results. I've had my yearly mammograms and my yearly annual gyn exams and I personally believe as far as the family genetics go--I'm not going to follow my mother's side of the family which has the cancer/stroke history. I'm going to follow my dad's side of the family with heart disease and diabetes. I'm everything my dad and grandma--his mother were, so those are the things I'm focusing on.
Also for more spiritual personal reasons I've not yet been tested. Those reasons being, I don't have a problem at all with going when my time comes--I have a lot of people waiting for me in Heaven.
I know it's hard not to be stressed out about this and overwhelmed by this. But instead of worry daily about the unknown try to focus more on educating yourself on the illness and what you can do to heal yourself in both body and mind. What I've learned from my sister's illness is this--life is truly short, and therefore we must live each and everyday to the fullest. Try not to focus and worry on the unknown as it doesn't do any real good and will only stress you out. Find out what you can do to help your situation and then do it to the best of your ability. I think you'll be happier--and happier always means healthier.
Best Wishes to you!

 

[Alleigh]

I'm going to keep this brief as I am just about ready to head to bed. Unfortunately, bed's where I should've been hours ago since I'm leaving very early in the morning for my business trip, but anxiety over everything delayed my packing and therefore getting to bed at a reasonable hour...

I think I'm feeling a little bit better about my situation. I'm still overwhelmed and scared, but just sitting down and writing it out helped immensely. These past couple of months have been draining and while I'm typically able to hold myself together and keep a positive outlook, things wore me down and my not talking about them made them even bigger, scarier, and overwhelming. There's a lot of fear in the unknown and I am the type of person who likes to know what's coming at them, but there's no controlling certain issues and this last development seemed to come from left field. It hit me while I was already down and, admittedly, I didn't handle the situation well -- nor did I react the way I would've liked to. And I'm dealing with the consequences from that as well as the initial issue. It's not fun, but at least I'm aware of it now and can do something about it.

Doing research is a good thing. It's always good to know who or what you're up against. Thankfully, pericarditis is a treatable illness that should resolve itself in due time. But I let my anxiety get the best of me and I did my research when I wasn't in a place to logically deal with the information that I read. And a lot of the negative feelings I'm having now are my own doing -- I've spent the majority of the night in a tizzy. I had a terrible panic attack which, of course, was a mimic of the very symptoms I was afraid of. Had I been in a better, more stable place when I looked up the information on the internet, I maybe wouldn't of had to put myself through the ringer, but I did and now I'm trying to let go of that and move forward. It's difficult and my feelings are still present and still strong, but I know I can get through it.

My cardiologist is with the Cleveland Clinic and he is the same doctor who treated both my grandmother and my mother. He is a very cautious, thorough doctor and I know that he wouldn't okay my business trip if he thought there was an elevated risk of a health emergency. He seemed confident that I was healthy enough to travel. I do have instructions from him and know that I need to restrict activity as much as possible, but if he believed me to be in the danger zone I have no doubt that he'd have had admitted me to the hospital. But, even though I know all of that, I'm still scared and the "what if's" continue to dominate my thinking...

I know now what I'm dealing with and for that I'm grateful. I'm also thankful that my symptoms were not ignored and that I have a plan of action going forward. I need to keep a positive attitude and that's what I'm going to work on the most -- I want a healthy, happy life. And, when times come around that I'm not healthy, then I at least want to be secure emotionally so that I can avoid reactions such as the one I had tonight and move forward in an informed, proactive way.

I appreciate the support and well wishes. Posting this thread here has helped me not feel so alone and it has given me a safe place to share my feelings on this whole situation. Thank you all so much...

ETA: I did read additional journal articles other than the one I linked to here. I linked the article from Wikipedia since it was the first one that popped up, but I did look at more than just one website. However, that being said, some of the other sites mentioned I had not seen and I've gathered additional information since reading them. That and the explanation on how articles site side effects and complications helped tremendously -- thank you.

 

[LucksAngel28]

I hope your treatment goes well and you get to feeling better! That is scary! You are in good hands at Cleveland Clinic! I've had several family members go through there for different conditions and they had very good experiences.