Comment from: MadWriter, 35-44 Male (Patient)Published: March 19
I was working some long hours and lifting some heavy merchandise when I felt my left shoulder blade start to hurt. I thought little of it, probably just a strained muscle. Then a week went by and it felt worse and I felt a little feverish, still I thought it was from the overtime. I had a vacation coming up and felt I could just sleep it off. That night I felt the pain move from my left shoulder right across my chest to my right shoulder. I tried going to bed, but no matter how I was positioned in the bed the pain got worse. Eventually I managed to get ten minutes of sleep standing up propped up against the bathroom sink. For the pain, I took about seventeen Aspirins over the course of five hours. My breathing was little shallow puffs as my lungs were collapsing.
The pain felt like someone twisting my left arms until it was about to break, while someone else was sticking an icepick in my neck, while a third person was sitting on my chest and rubbing my chest with sandpaper from the inside. I didn't react to any pain medication except morphine which worked for a mere twenty minutes, then it was back to the grueling pain.
I was given some antibiotics and some sort of pain killers and was sent home after two days in the hospital. I was also given a warning that it would recur about every two to three years. Well so far, nothing. And I wish this on no one.
Comment from: GregB, 35-44 Male (Patient)Published: March 03
I came down with pericarditis on March 15, 2007. The day I came down with it, I encountered flu-like symptoms. The flu symptoms abated within a few days. Two days after, I came back to work from what I thought was the flu and I nearly blacked out when I ran up the steps going to my office. I developed shortness of breath and dizziness. Normally I do not get out of breath as I am a fairly constant walker who had successfully lost nearly 80 pounds thanks to diet changes and exercise. Within the next week and a half the doctors did a myriad of tests to conclude on April 1 that I needed to be admitted to the hospital with fluid around my heart and lungs. At the hospital, the doctors did emergency surgery to drain the fluid from around the heart. Nearly 60 pounds of fluid were drained from my body. Today, I still walk quite a bit and enjoy good health.
Comment from: salmon95, 45-54 Male (Patient)Published: November 17
I am a 49-year-old man who recently traveled to Texas for a business trip. I was conducting a presentation when I started feeling some pain in my chest. I did not think it was anything other than maybe some indigestion as I had just had a small lunch. In a very short period of time, the chest pains got worse, and I was having a hard time breathing. I still did not want to say anything to anyone, hoping this would pass. I could not have been more wrong. Things got bad very fast. My chest and breathing became extremely painful to the point I thought I would pass out. I told a nurse, and she brought me to the ER. They did an EKG and CAT scan of my head and chest. I also had very high blood pressure, so I was given meds to bring this under control. I was still in a lot of pain and could not lie down. I was diagnosed with pericarditis and admitted to the ICU overnight and then to the telemetry unit overnight and discharged the next day. I was told to take 600 mg of ibuprofen three times a day and consult a cardiologist as soon as I returned home. I will be calling on Monday; however, I am a bit nervous as I am still having shortness of breath and some slight chest pain.
Comment from: Ab, 25-34 Female (Patient)Published: August 22
It started out as shortness of breath and heartburn like pain. I went to the doctor on a Tuesday and was diagnosed with ulcers and put on medication, the following day it got worse and that evening was admitted into the hospital with ulcers as the main suspect. I had an epi something done on Friday and discharged that afternoon. immediately I developed a cough that wouldn't stop and the following morning I was back in the E.R, for the first time the doctor decided to send me for an x ray and he discovered the heart had become so enlarged it was pushing on the lungs. He recommended I come back on Monday and that is when I was admitted and told I had pericarditis. At this point I had lost a lot of weight and didn't eat much. The pain was immense and I was relieved to hear I would be going for surgery the following day (Tuesday). It went well and I spent 10 days in the hospital then went back to normal life. I was put on tuberculosis medicine as well for 8 months. I had missed a whole term of school, but I still managed to catch up without repeating that year. I was 15 and turned 16 a week after surgery and I am 25 today, completely cured and healthy only the scar left as a reminder.
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Kidney failure can occur from an acute event or a chronic condition or disease. Prerenal kidney failure is caused by blood loss, dehydration, medication. Some of the renal causes of kidney failure are from sepsis, medications, rhabdomyolysis, multiple myeloma, and acute glomerulonephritis. Post renal causes of kidney failure include bladder obstruction, prostate problems, tumors, or kidney stones. Treatment options included diet, medications, or dialysis.
Low blood pressure, also referred to as hypotension, is blood pressure that is so low that it causes symptoms or signs due to the low flow of blood through the arteries and veins. Some of the symptoms of low blood pressure include light-headedness, dizziness, or even fainting if not enough blood is getting to the brain. Diseases and medications can also cause low blood pressure. When the flow of blood is too low to deliver enough oxygen and nutrients to vital organs such as the brain, heart, and kidneys; the organs do not function normally and may be permanently damaged.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease.
Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood cells in which the growth and development of the blood cells are abnormal. Strictly speaking, leukemia should refer only to cancer of the white blood cells (the leukocytes) but in practice it can apply to malignancy of any cellular element in the blood or bone marrow, as in red cell leukemia (erythroleukemia).
Hypothyroidism is any state in which thyroid hormone production is below normal. Normally, the
rate of thyroid hormone production is controlled by the brain at the pituitary.
Hypothyroidism is a very common condition and the symptoms of hypothyroidism are
often subtle.
An upper respiratory infection is a contagious infection of the structures of the upper respiratory tract, which includes the sinuses, nasal passages, pharynx, and larynx. Common causes of an upper respiratory infection include bacteria and viruses such as rhinoviruses, group A streptococci, influenza, respiratory syncytial, whooping cough, diphtheria, and Epstein-Barre. Examples of symptoms of upper respiratory infection include sneezing, sore throat, cough, fever, and nasal congestion. Treatment of upper respiratory infection are generally with OTC medication and home remedies.
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a condition characterized by chronic inflammation of body tissues caused by autoimmune disease. Lupus can cause disease of the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints, and nervous
system. When only the skin is involved, the condition is called discoid lupus.
When internal organs are involved, the condition is called systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE).
Angina is chest pain that is due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle.
Angina can be caused by coronary artery disease or spasm of the coronary
arteries. EKG, exercise treadmill, stress echocardiography, stress thallium, and cardiac
catheterization are important tests used in the diagnosis of angina.
Sarcoidosis, a disease resulting from chronic inflammation, causes small lumps (granulomas) to develop in a great range of body tissues and can appear in almost any body organ. However, sarcoidosis most often starts in the lungs or lymph nodes.
Heart attack happens when a blood clot completely obstructs a coronary
artery supplying blood to the heart muscle. A heart attack can cause chest pain, heart failure, and electrical
instability of the heart.
Chest pain is a common complaint by a patient in the ER. Causes of chest pain include broken or bruised ribs, pleurisy, pneumothorax, shingles, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, angina, heart attack, costochondritis, pericarditis, aorta or aortic dissection, and reflux esophagitis. Diagnosis and treatment of chest pain depends upon the cause and clinical presentation of the patient's chest pain.
Coxsackie viruses may be divided into two groups. Type A causes hand, foot, and mouth disease and conjunctivitis, while type B causes pleurodynia. Both types sometimes cause meningitis, myocarditis, and pericarditis. There is no specific treatment for this disease.
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue. It is characterized by the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the skin and organs of the body, leading to thickness and firmness of involved areas. Scleroderma is also referred to as systemic sclerosis, and the cause is unknown. Treatment of scleroderma is directed toward the individual features that are most troubling to the patient.
Kawasaki disease is a rare children's disease characterized by a fever that lasts more than five days and at least four of the following five symptoms are present: rash, swollen neck lymph gland, red tongue, swelling or redness of the hands or feet, and conjunctivitis. High doses of aspirin are used to treat Kawasaki disease. Cortisone and antiinflammatory drugs may also be used during treatment.
Relapsing polychondritis is an uncommon, chronic disorder of the cartilage that is characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation of the cartilage of various tissues of the body. Tissues containing cartilage that can become inflamed include the ears, nose, joints, spine, and windpipe (trachea). Tissues that have a biochemical makeup similar to that of cartilage such as the eyes, heart, and blood vessels, can also be affected. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications (NSAIDs) is used as treatment for mild cases of the disease. Steroid-related medications also are usually required.
Kawasaki's disease is an uncommon illness in children that is
characterized by high fever of at least five days' duration together with
at least four of the
following five findings:
Inflammation with reddening of the whites of the eyes (conjunctivitis) without pus
Redness or swelling of the hands or feet, or generalized skin peeling
Rash
Lymph node swelling in the neck
Cracking inflamed lips or throat, or red "strawberry" tongue
The above criteria are used to make a diagnosis of Kawasaki's disease. The terminology "incomplete Kawasaki's disease" is sometimes used for patients with only some features of classical Kawasaki's disease.
What is mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome?
Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome is the original name for Kawasaki's disease. The original name was quite descriptive because the disease ...
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I was working some long hours and lifting some heavy merchandise when I felt my left shoulder blade start to hurt. I thought little of it, probably just a strained muscle. Then a week went by and it felt worse and I felt a little feverish, still I thought it was from the overtime. I had a vacation coming up and felt I could just sleep it off. That night I felt the pain move from my left shoulder right across my chest to my right shoulder. I tried going to bed, but no matter how I was positioned in the bed the pain got worse. Eventually I managed to get ten minutes of sleep standing up propped up against the bathroom sink. For the pain, I took about seventeen Aspirins over the course of five hours. My breathing was little shallow puffs as my lungs were collapsing. The pain felt like someone twisting my left arms until it was about to break, while someone else was sticking an icepick in my neck, while a third person was sitting on my chest and rubbing my chest with sandpaper from the inside. I didn't react to any pain medication except morphine which worked for a mere twenty minutes, then it was back to the grueling pain. I was given some antibiotics and some sort of pain killers and was sent home after two days in the hospital. I was also given a warning that it would recur about every two to three years. Well so far, nothing. And I wish this on no one.
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