been having some issues and diagnosis is acute pericarditis. theyre going to do an echo monday or tuesday. so hopefully ill know more then. such a bummer. wondering what others experiences have been like. cant wait to get back to normal.
I’ve had some intermittent symptoms that I checked on, but they resolved quickly, so don’t think I’ve had pericarditis.
This article is worth reading.
A member of my cycling club (female, mid-40s, excellent health previously and fast on a bike) suffered a pretty serious attack and it took her a good year to get back to real exercise. Hopefully it won’t be so bad for you, but the one lesson from her experience is give yourself ample time to recover and don’t try to rush back. She had a couple of relapses, despite feeling fit for normal life, as a result of restarting relatively intense exercise too soon. On the plus side, it’s eminently treatable and you can get back to where you were - hope all goes well and good luck with the patience.
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A couple of years ago The Doctor’s thought I had it. They put me through all kinds of test. Nothing happened. I think I had pulled a muscle in my chest during Cyclocross season which I had to cut short due to the concern. They wanted to put me a drug before an ECHO. The ECHO came back fine. It eventually went away. I would just say make sure it’s proven to you that is what it is. Good luck.
I’m a cardiologist and I completely agree with the article posted from the ACC website. We generally discourage exercise or strenuous activity until the inflammation within the pericardium has completely resolved. I think the question centers around whether or not you truly have pericarditis. There are a million causes of chest pain, and I think it’s important to discern out whether or not you truly have pericarditis, as this determines the recommendations regarding exercise. It’s hard to know without seeing an EKG, some basic labs (CRP, ESR), and taking a complete history.
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So did it turn out to be pericarditis?
I’ve had recurrent pericarditis since I was in high school (now 40). First episode happened while out on a cross-country training run when I was 17. Felt like I got stabbed in the back right between my left shoulder blade. Don’t really remember much almost like I passed out. Had to be carried back by one of the coaches. Had a bad grade 6 pericardial friction rub that could be heard without a stethoscope. Cardiologist did an echo and confirmed the diagnosis. Said it was most likely viral/idiopathic. I was pretty underweight then and training hard so immune system was probably really depressed and a little cold took me down. I was on ibuprofen for a month and felt really lethargic and fatigued along with having my heart gallop.
It’s happened probably 4 other times during really stressful times in my life. In fact, I just got saddled with another recurrence. New job, high training load, and a cold did me in a few weeks ago. A couple days prior to me figuring out that it recurred, I was having a nagging back issue again in between my shoulder blades. Then, picked up a bad cold. Heart sounds had a split S2 murmur and exacerbated when laying on my left side. I took a couple weeks off and another course of ibuprofen. Symptoms backed off and I’m slowly easing into training again. First real ride today and I felt like I have no energy and legs are like mush. I had to gradually back the intensity down 20% to finish the workout. But best to listen to your body and not push too hard.
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Curious if it was pericarditis. I have been diagnosed and dealing with chest pain for over a year. Mine started after an ablation for AFib. I was training for my first tri and AFib knocked me down. I had a cardiac ablation Jan 2019. Doc told me i could be back in the gym in five days do I was. Started after a few workouts. Was treated for six weeks on Ibuprofen and Cholchisine but when CT scan showed no effusion treatment was stopped and I was told it was a GI issue. I finally restarted treatment under a new cardiologist’s care again in Jan 2020. Been on Ibuprofin 1800 mg and Cholchosine for just over three months with some slight improvement but not much. Pain starts daily mid afternoon. Tightness tugging and pain. I have just done some light yoga and some light bands and weights. One quarter of my normal workouts. As you all know doing no exercise is a horrible challenge us. Anyway I hope your condition has resolved. I am at a loss if this will ever resolve for me. Even things like painting or projects around the house seem to aggravate it. Open to any ideas. Thx.
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Thanks for this thread. I was just diagnosed with pericarditis. Interested in my outlook for a path back to the road. From my research it seems this is an inflammatory process like any other. It’s a waiting game until the inflammation subsided then easing back and hoping the cycle doesn’t repeat 
. Doesn’t seem like there is a clear cut way of getting rid of it permanently but does anyone know the chances of it getting worse?
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