Re: Heart pounding every time I lay down

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on November 06, 1998 at 08:46:50:

In Reply to: Re: Heart pounding every time I lay down posted by Crackerjack2000 on November 05, 1998 at 16:57:57:







: Let me begin by saying I am not a doctor, but have been experiencing the
same problem for years and had been told in the past that it was anxiety.  Now, I also
I am 26 and have been suffering from *severe* rheumatoid arthritis for twelve
years and in the end, my auto-immune disease is what has caused the
diagnosis I received, so keep that in mind too.  


Anyway, to get to the point, the pounding I feel comes from
the pericardial effusion.  I am not saying you have an effusion, but to be on
the safe side, perhaps can ask your doctor to order a 2 D echo
to rule out this possibility.  


Anything that deals with your heart should not be merely dismissed without more
tests, but again, that is just my experience and opinion.  My effusion is so
severe that it could lead to death if untreated.  


I am scheduled for a *partial* pericardiectomy on Nov. 13th.  See this link for more
info on a full pericardiectomy.  http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/cardio/archive/2459.html


I hope that helps a bit. -- CJ
Dear Crackerjack
Your diagnosis is pretty unusual, but can occur with rheumatoid arthritis. It would be very unlikely that Barbara develops a pericardial effusion out of the blue. Good luck with your pericardiectomy.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.   The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.