Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Heart Disease Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to angina, angioplasty, arrhythmia, bypass surgery, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, defibrillator, heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, mitral valve, pacemaker, PAD, stenosis, and stress tests.
How long does pericarditis take to heal?
by redrocker, Nov 23, 2007 05:15PM
I am sorry to bother you, but I am a 55-year old self-employed engineer, and cannot obtain health insurance at any cost, because of pre-existing conditions. My cardiologist is difficult to reach most of the time, so here I am. I am a relatively healthy person, with good strength and stamina, a normally healthy immune system, and I live an active, athletic life. The only significant health problem I have is related to my heart, which has unfortunately challenged me with an aortic root aneurysm (4.8 cm) and PVC's (and now pericarditis).
About 3 weeks ago, I suddenly developed sharp pains under my left breastbone and the left side of my back. After performing an EKG and conducting an examination, my cardiologist of 2 years diagnosed it as pericarditis/pleurisy, and prescribed ibuprofen. The pain largely dissipated over the first week, leaving me with symptoms of labored breathing in my left lung, and a popping type sound around my heart that is somewhat uncomfortable and unsettling when I lay on my left side. I have been sleeping on my right side for 3 weeks, with relatively normal breathing on that side, and have slept well. As of today, the labored breathing has improved, but the popping sounds have not.
How long does it take for something like this to resolve. Given my current status, it would seem that this condition would last well over a month. Is this a normal timeframe? Is it possible that the other heart problems were a precursor of the pericarditis, and therefore indicates that I can expect more of the same in the future? One of the weird (but good) side effects of the pericarditis which I am unable to fathom is that the PVC’s have diminished significantly, so at least something good has come out of this.
Thank you for your help. This forum is a great service to people like me.
About 3 weeks ago, I suddenly developed sharp pains under my left breastbone and the left side of my back. After performing an EKG and conducting an examination, my cardiologist of 2 years diagnosed it as pericarditis/pleurisy, and prescribed ibuprofen. The pain largely dissipated over the first week, leaving me with symptoms of labored breathing in my left lung, and a popping type sound around my heart that is somewhat uncomfortable and unsettling when I lay on my left side. I have been sleeping on my right side for 3 weeks, with relatively normal breathing on that side, and have slept well. As of today, the labored breathing has improved, but the popping sounds have not.
How long does it take for something like this to resolve. Given my current status, it would seem that this condition would last well over a month. Is this a normal timeframe? Is it possible that the other heart problems were a precursor of the pericarditis, and therefore indicates that I can expect more of the same in the future? One of the weird (but good) side effects of the pericarditis which I am unable to fathom is that the PVC’s have diminished significantly, so at least something good has come out of this.
Thank you for your help. This forum is a great service to people like me.
Member Comments (2)
by vman1, Nov 23, 2007 06:42PM
I had pericarditis with pleuresies after an afib ablation, the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Took a solid week just to be able to climb up the stairs in my house without heaving for breath, took a solid month on high doses of volteren. Good luck.
by redrocker, Nov 24, 2007 09:43AM
To: vman1
Thanks for the response--it helps a lot. I guess I just have to be patient. Good luck to you too.
Post Comment
