Problems associated with Pericarditis

[KristiinSD]

I am short of breath with minimal exertion, my lung capacity is significantly diminished as measured by the incentive spirometer, and I feel wiped out. Are these all symptoms of pericarditis or is something else going on? There was an increase in my pericardial effusion from small to small to moderate, but my cardiologist doesn't think its wignificant. I can't imagine any test that wasn't run at the ER, so I think I am probably over-reacting. Still, it doesn't feel right. My heart seems to be struggling to beat, and is quite irregular but I had EKG monitoring for most of the 7 hours in ER so I don't think they missed something...Any thoughts? My hemocrit is not improving at all, so I wonder about bleeding, but again I don't see how they could have missed it...

Kristi
mitral repair 11/30/05

[KristiinSD]

If I bend over with my head lower than my waist, My ears pound with my heart beat and I feel lots of pressure that makes me want to stop that immediately. Picking up laundry off the floor made me short of breath with the pounding head...

[Ross]

Sounds more like CHF to me. Any swelling of ankles or calves? I'm going through a bout of it myself right now and I can tell you that even mild as it is, it's very difficult to breath right.

[Mike C]

It could be many things, you still are early in recovery. An effusion could cause those symptons, but a small one should not be a problem. Not only did your heart get irritated by the surgery it is being irritated by the blood around it. The sac gets irritated too and can become less flexible. Over time, the effuison should dissolve itself and the heart will begin to heal. Keep an eye on it and if it gets worse, go back.

[Georgia]

If you're scared, call your cardio. Anxiety can certainly make any cardiac symptoms worse, and you don't need to be stressing your heart due to anxiety. I didn't have any post-surgical problems (I was a poster child for recovery - and consider myself totally lucky), but I was all prepared to request anti-anxiety drugs if I'd needed them (was forewarned by the physiotherapist in the hospital).

They can tell you to relax all they want, but YOU'RE the one who's home all alone stewing about this, and it's terribly insensitive of your docs not to take that into consideration.

[MelissaM]

Kristi,

Sounds like pericarditis to me. When I get it (even one that is not so bad on the Xray/echo), it can severely affect my ability to breathe, move, etc. The last one I had, I couldn't lay down on the exam table w/out damn near passing out from inability to breathe, pain, etc. Plus, as you mention, my heartbeat went crazy when I moved - irregular and pounding. All I could do is sit up in a hunched over position, not move so much and try to breathe through the pain (even though breathing hurt, too!).

I forget what they have done for you. My first bout of pericarditis, they put me on corticosteroids, which helped a ton. The second bout, they kept me on large doses of ibuprofin.

If you have swelling, perhaps it is CHF, if not, it could just be a nasty case of pericarditis.

Melissa

[perkicar]

I agree with Ross, it sounds like some mild CHF to me. Very similar symptoms, especially the pounding and dizziness when bending over. I had alot of ankle swelling, which they gave me lasix for. My BNP (which is a blood measurement that tells them if you are having CHF; it's a protein they measure) went up to around 700. My ankle swelling resolved itself after about 6 weeks, and I haven't had another BNP run so don't know how much that number went down. You are having some scary symptoms--please keep your cardio accountable. I also had the atrial flutter (irregular heartrate) which they gave me Betapace for, had to take that for about 6 weeks too). No problems since then.