Mara's Posts

Hi Mara. I had a severe pericardial effusion one week after my surgery and then it came back as pericarditis about one month later. I am so sorry you are facing this... it hurts! And is scary. Please share how your drs are treating this? I was on Colchisine one for three months and had to taper off at the end for a few weeks... this medicine is one you can't just go of and be done. Ask me any questions and hoping this will be resolved quickly for you.

I am so sorry you are facing pericarditis- it is awful. What scripts are you on? I was in colchicine and indomethacine for 3 months and no exercising. Unfortunately I had recurrent 1.5 months later. Take care of yourself and forget about exercise until doctors confirm you are out of the woods.

Hi Mara, I had my surgery repair 3 years ago this August. This is the third bout of pericarditis I've had. Like you, I was on colchicine and meloxicam for three moths before and I haven't had it for 16 months until about a week ago! I was hoping it was a thing of the past, unfortunately not! The most frustrating thing about it is I have no idea what I did that triggered it again. I know once I have it if I exercise it gets worse, but I hadn't increased my exercise or done anything unusual before this! I really feel bad this time, the terrible feeling of being stabbed in my shoulder and chest went away after 3 days but I feel just all around sick. I could not go to my doc when it started because she was away, but I talked with her nurse practitioner and she wrote a script for the meds. I keep waiting for the meloxicam to take away the pain and the colchicine to help but at night it gets really painful. I have some hydrocodone and acetaminophen but I don't want to take that to much because I don't want to become dependent on it! Can I ask what you did for pain? It's just taking those two meds forever. I go to my doc on Tuesday, Any feed back you can give me would be appreciated, ❤️Lise

Yes. I had fluid around my heart and had to have a second surgery about 2-1/2 weeks after my initial OHS to drain one liter of fluid. Full recovery takes time. Your body was majorly traumatized so everything inside is inflamed. Give it time and take good care of yourself. It's a journey to full recovery. God bless you and I hope you turn that corner soon!

Sorry to hear Mary about your difficulties. It is true that recovery has its bumps in the road. I have been feeling pretty great for these past two weeks but the first two weeks were hell. Glad to hear things are getting better and you are pushing through. Keep strong and positive.

I am still looking for answers it's been a rough week. I now went to my internist for full blood testing. He gave me something for the tachycardia which is part of my issue. I also have been having serious night sweats. We are determined to figure this out it is painful and definitely sideswiped me. On a positive note I had an echo and to quote my cardiologist my mitral valve and heart look beautiful. Was so happy to hear and then started feeling like crap😳Test results come back next week. my healing process which went so well for 5 weeks turned into a bit of a roller coaster ride. Will keep you posted. Hopefully time will heal all of this!!

I am still dealing with the pericarditis. Not tachycardia. It's very painful and makes me feel like I have the worst flu. I'm being treated for it and it's gone and come back. Maybe I was doing too much. Has anyone else had this? It's hard to sleep and get comfortable and then I'm exhausted from that as well. Was really ready to get on with things but for now I know I have to slow down.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I too had lots of issues (You can read my journals) but in the end, the doctors figured it out. Basically I had a lot of inflammation which caused fluid buildup on both heart and lungs. I didn't "turn a corner" to recovery until about 3 months after surgery. I am very symptomatic so any little set back was not little for me. Hang in there.