In April 2001 I spent 10-days in the hospital with this really funky heart condition called pericarditis, not too sure on the spelling but basically it s fluid on the heart and it s very paintful. I think it s back. When it flared up last time I told the doc s I d had the pain before but I was just told...it s not very common when this is chronic...well I m not a common person now am I.
I ve been home for the last three days and it s very painful to breath, do any walking or to lay down. The one test that will that will determine what is exactly wrong with me is an echo-cardiogram or ultrasound of the heart, I m booked in for this Monday. Last time I had about 1.5 cm of fluid on the heart, the other thing it could be is a pulled muscle, man-o-man I really hope it s a pulled muscle.
Sorry for venting but the thought of having to go through what I went through before is a little overwhelming. Take care,
Tammy
fivegonefishingNope, uh uh, it isn t back.....
I ll be hoping it is a pulled muscle right along with you.
Keep us informed and take care of yourself.
fivegonefishingIt CAN T be back !!!!
I am sure it is a pulled muscle, or caused by stress of not being able to to get the hybrid yet.
Please let us know, I hope it is not back, take very good care of yourself.
fivegonefishingWow... you are good. Waiting until monday! I d be at the ER right now, but that s just me, the worry wort.
Good luck~
fivegonefishingI m not sure how channeling works, but I m thinking real strong pulled muscle thoughts. Take it easy and let us know how you re doing.
MommaMia
QuoteORIGINAL: MommaMia
Wow... you are good. Waiting until monday! I d be at the ER right now, but that s just me, the worry wort.
Good luck~
Normally so would I but SARS has hit our city pretty bad and I don t want to go to the hospital unless I really have to!
fivegonefishingAs always Tammy my thoughts are with you. Hope you are soon on the road to recovery. You do have a date to keep on April 12th!!!
fivegonefishingTammy,
I hope you get to feeling better too. If you do have pericarditis, they can give you an anti-inflammatory medicine like Ansaid 100 mg two or three times daily.
Just so you will be an " educated consumer," pericarditis is actually an inflammation of the area around the heart (" -itis" ). If you had fluid around your heart (excess, because there IS a normal small amount), it would be called a pericardial effusion. The pericarditis can cause the type of pain you have, though it is not usually dangerous.
Larry
fivegonefishingTammy, what is SARS? If it s not something to bad, just go to the hospital. You don t want to mess around with your heart, girl!! [:o] My simple answer to physical problems is, " If it hurts- it s your body saying, " something is wrong" " How are you feeling today? As woman we tend to be more brave, and in denial a lot! Actually, I m thinking of my Mother-in-law right now. The woman had a potential slipped disc, went to the hospital on a Thursday night, came home Friday morning and wanted to WAIT to call her doctor to schedule a catscan because, " she didn t want to bother him on his weekend" I almost wanted to scream!! It was Friday morning - it s his JOB!!! After much lecturing, she called! The thing is, some of us need a good push in the right direction!
Lady, if you are in pain - GO!! we ll be praying for you that s it s something like a pulled muscle (had one - not fun [:(][:(]) An ultrasound only takes a few minutes to do and your peace of mind will be worth it. Before you go, bring a good book to read while waiting. Didn t the new issuse of PU Times just come out??!!
Good-luck - let us know! Be good to yourself! [;)]
fivegonefishingSudden Accute Respiratory Syndrom- the illness from Asia that is spreading like wildfire that s been in the news for the past week.
I don t blame you for waiting if you can tolerate the pain, but if it compromises your breathing- go to the ER and insist on a face mask immediately.
I ve had a family member hospitalized with pericarditus- no fun at all.
Take care of yourself and let us know how you re doing.
fivegonefishingIn the last 2 weeks, 7 people have died in Toronto due to SARS which is an atypical pneumonia; they don t really know how it s spread or how to treat it. All hospital services have been effected ie nothing but accute patient services. It s a pretty scary situtation in and of it s self. Other than Asia, Toronto is the fastest growing location of new cases of SARS cases, over 140 people are in isolation right now.
I ve been using high dose ASA which is helping and resting is helping as well. There s nothing they can do except treat it with meds, last time it was prednisone which aided in me gaining 30lbs. Larry, what is Ansaid? is it a steriod?
With this inflamation, it causes my blood pressure to go wonky; the high number is real low and the low number is real high causing head-aches, diziness and passing-out. Last time, my heart beat was around 140 bpm. It hasn t gotten any worse in the last couple of days, but it hasn t gotten any better either. As long as I relax things are OK. Going up even a small flight of stairs ( I live in a 4 storey townhome) I get out of breathe and can feel my heart pounding out of my chest.
Tammy
fivegonefishingTammy
I sincerely hope the problem turns out to be minor. Best of luck on Monday.
Larry
Thanks for the explanation.
DD was supposed to go to China next week on a school sponsored trip. The trip has now been cancelled because of the SARS threat.
fivegonefishingTammy
Take care of yourself and have everyone wait on you hand and foot[;)]
Meditate, say over and over again " New Camper, New Camper, New Camper" bound to make you think of better days to come[:)]
Seriously though, take care and we will keep you in our prayers.
fivegonefishingI hope that they fix this problem. I had the same thing about 3 years ago. They were able to correct this with medication. I wish you all the luck, if anything changes, please go to the ER. Good luck
fivegonefishingWell the echo only showed a " sliver" on my heart, the cardiologist would only say it s not pericarditis. OK, so what the heck was it!
I m feeling much better, at about 85% now, but it s a little un-nerving not knowing what I went through last week. Thanks for all the kind thoughts everyone.
Tammy.
fivegonefishingTammy-
Glad you re feeling a bit better. Wait for your doc to tell you what the " sliver" was. Terminology in different health care facilities can really be-well- unusual!
Take care and keep us informed!
fivegonefishingAbout 10 years ago, I thought I was having a heart attack, went to the ER, what they said, after an EKG and other tests (the military does run a BUNCH of tests when they have you where you can t get away), as muscular-skeletal, evidently happens to a lot of people as they turn 40, thereabouts. I was less than 40 at the time. Then about 6 years ago, I had a mild heart attack ad now take covera for angina.
I can definitly relate to the fear, especially with little ones (Jeffrey was about 4 then). Take care of your self, watch the salt and the caffine.
Paula
fivegonefishingTammy, could it be the pulled muscle you thought before? Those can be killers, and last for about a week. I had it happen twice and went to the hospital, thinking it might be heart-related, but it wasn t - thankfully.
At least it wasn t the pericarditis - good news! Hope your feeling good!
fivegonefishingGood to know that it is not what you were afraid of !
Take it easy for a while and get better , you are gonna need all the enegry you can get for that eastern trip this summer !
fivegonefishingglad it wasn t the pericarditis. My brother developed that a couple of months ago. It was very strange. He d been sick, then he developed really bad upper back pain in the shoulder blades and hard to breathe. He suffered with it for a couple of days before we made him go to the ER. He was in the hospital for a week. He actually had a small bout of it again a couple of weeks ago, but he was aware of the pain and this time nipped it in the bud by starting medication right away. As for the heart rate and feeling of it beating out of your chest and being short of breath, have your doctor test you for tacychardia. I found out I had it after having those same symptoms and thinking what the heck is going on...never had had a problem with walking or running before. One quick trip to the ER by ambulance diagnosed it might quick!! My doc started me on a beta blocker and I haven t had a problem with it since.
fivegonefishingI hope you have feel better soon.