Need advice / Pericarditis

[SusanSD]

my husband had it and it was scary until it was diagnosed in the hospital…..they treated it like a heart attack. He took antibiotics and he was fine. He did not have a rheumatic illness or anything else going on at the time. Our insurance rates went up though afterwards which was a bit shocking.

[Maz]

[user=379]Elaine son w/MCTD[/user] wrote:

My son was just diagnosed with pericarditis. Has anyone had this and treated this with antibiotics?

Elaine, so sorry to hear about your son. You must be beside yourself with worry for him. I wish I knew more to help you…I just know that antibiotics are used in the case of Lyme pericarditis by LLMDs, but perhaps this article will provide a bit more info for you. Seems that there can be a number of causes for pericarditis and it's important to figure out what is the cause in order to receive appropriate treatment:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/156951-overview

This article is quite informative and provides a breakdown on the types of rheumatic disease in which pericarditis occurs and also the bacterial, viral and fungal infections that may cause it.

Do hope your son's docs get to the bottom of this and figure out what may be at its root, so he can turn this around nice and quickly, Elaine. Please let us know how your son fares when you're able and sending very best wishes to him for a swift recovery.

Peace, Maz

[lynnie_sydney]

Elaine – it sounds like this may be a part of your son's MCTD – see below. However, in terms of the inflammation itself, as I understand it, this needs to be addressed with appropriate measures in order to allow the abx to work. Sounds like a conversation with the doc is in order. Lynnie

From: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/adult_arthritis/rheumat.cfm
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include:
? inflamed, painful joints
? stiff joints
? enlarged and/or deformed joints (such as fingers bent toward the little finger and/or swollen wrists)
? frozen joints (joints that freeze in one position)
? cysts behind the knees that may rupture, causing lower leg swelling and pain
? hard nodules (bumps) under the skin near affected joints
? low-grade fever
? inflamed blood vessels (vasculitis) may occur occasionally, leading to nerve damage and leg sores
? inflamed membranes around the lungs (pleurisy), the sac around the heart (pericarditis), or inflammation and scarring of the lungs themselves, that may lead to chest pain, difficulty breathing, and abnormal heart function
? swollen lymph nodes
? Sj

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[Marie]

[user=30]lynnie_sydney[/user] wrote:

? inflamed membranes around the lungs (pleurisy), the sac around the heart (pericarditis)

Hi, Elaine,

That's a scary symptom.  I'm sorry you have to deal with it. 

The above quotation from Lynnie's post sounds like something that happened to me about a year ago when I flared pretty badly.  It felt as though the “coating” around my heart was burning, and it felt as though the “coating” around my lungs was burning, too.

I didn't know what was going on at the time, and I was really scared.  My since dispensed with traditional rheum didn't take my complaints seriously. 

Still not understanding what was happening, I took myself off of gluten and dairy.  A holistic MD put me on a turmeric based anti-inflammatory.  Gloriously, the symptoms abated.  Ah!  I had been dealing with inflammation all along! 

I haven't had any of those symptoms since. 

The turmeric based supplement I take is InflaThera by ProThera.  It's turmeric along w/ a bunch of other anti-inflammatories.  (I'd tried turmeric by itself and it didn't work.)  Unfortunately you can only get ProThera products from drs who sell them. 

Zyflamend is basically the same thing, and you can get it from pretty much any online vitamin/supplement shop.  (I've considered switching, but I have a humdinger of a case of brand loyalty.  ;)) 

I sometimes get confused about who's who on the board and what all they're doing for treatment.  If you're already using turmeric, sorry for being redundant!

Still pursue any medical testing/pathways you need to pursue, but inflammation control might be helpful for symptomatic relief.

Best wishes,

Marie

[richie]

Hi

Pericarditis can be from many things –the chronic form could be from MCTD -while the acute form can be due to a bacterial infection or viral –The viral form is usually from the coxsackie virus which many many kids get –you might want to inquire if there have been any cases of it where your boy would have been exposed !!! A first choice of treatment is usually antibiotic {So says Mayo clinic } at any rate a good cardiologist should be managing the situation –Incidentally if it is due to anything but MCTD it is generally self limiting !!Good luck –

richie

[SusanSD]

Elaine,
    Just curious, did he get the meningitis vaccine and Tb-tine test on the same day/visit? I have a theory that too many vaccines at one time can lead to disorders (for some people who are sensitive).

[Author]

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