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. Published: March 19 ::

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. Published: March 03 ::

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. Published: November 17 ::

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. Published: August 22 ::

I found out I had acute pericarditis a few months ago. I had severed pain in my chest and could not sleep well. No matter what I did. I could not even walk far. I was off work for a month. I went to four different hospitals because of my breathing and chest pain. Two told me it was angina. Two told me it was pericarditis. I had all kinds of EKG tests, stress test etc. I was hospitalized twice. I still didn't get the answers I was looking for. Now it is back, my left hand gets numb with severe chest pain and headaches it has been like this for a couple days now. I am wondering if it is more than what I was told because no one told me it could reoccur. I don't want to put myself threw endless tests for them to tell me to rest. Published: August 22 ::