Foreword and Legalish

Fort Tryon Park, New York

Prepare to be lovingly whumped over the head with logic wrapped in just a little bit of hope.

You came here because you want help recovering from pericarditis. Perhaps what's been done thusfar hasn't helped or isn't working fast enough. This blog documents what I'm doing to recover from my own pericarditis hell. Feel free to do what I've laid out here but be advised: By reading any of this blog or following any of its instructions, you recognize you're doing so at your own risk, dismissing me and my assigns from any and all liability. Amen.


If you're ready to get started, here's the first thing you should do: Sleep.

Then again, perhaps, when you approach the idea of maybe bothering to possibly change any habits, you just sink back into your cave because you've been sick too long and it couldn't possibly be that easy; or perhaps you couldn't possibly change anything you're doing because it would upset the precarious balance of your home life. Been there and been there. Then one day, just for kicks, because I had nothing to lose, I tried a few things I hadn't before, some tips a friend had given me, from the naturopath that had helped him so much...and the next day, I woke up with a smile on my face and the energy to travel 45 minutes on public transportation to hike (slowly, gently, paved paths) through a beautiful park. Alone. It gave me a huge surge of hope. Thrilled to tell you, I haven't been the same since. I still have heavy symptoms; I'm still chasing this bugger away. But I am HEALING. Finally - after having been diagnosed 8 months ago, and after having the correct diagnosis missed for 20 years before that.

This is not a miracle cure, it's just giving your body what it actually needs. Why our bodies react to physical and environmental stressors this way is a question for a qualified therapist (to my knowledge, medical doctors can't answer that question beyond saying sometimes pericarditis is viral, sometimes, bacterial, sometimes idiopathic). Sure, getting to the root of the problem would be ideal, but right now, it just doesn't matter. Right now, you need to get well enough so you can even begin to confront whatever the roots of your illness are - if you still even care by that point. This blog provides workable solutions.

Whatever you do, do it under the care of a competent cardiologist, assuming you have access to one. If not, find one. If that's impossible, do what you can to change your life just enough to help your body heal but be smart about it and don't be shy about calling 911 if you need to. 

Read whichever way you're comfortable: across the menu at the top, or via the posts below (same content). Feel free to leave a comment in case I've stumbled across something that might help you in particular - or even if you just need to be heard, understood and encouraged towards health.

Making the changes I describe here might be frightening, but the worst case scenario is even moreso, which only exacerbates the symptoms. You ever notice that a scary movie causes much more anxiety when people in the audience are screaming?

So stop screaming

                                                                                                       Start getting better >>

PS: Yes, I've created this blog merely out of the kindness of my inflammation-wrapped heart. There is no catch. Sure, it would be nice to monetize it. I'd AdSense it, but Google thinks it's "adult" (see Chill! Rule No. 4), and no amount of wading through their utter swamp of circuitous AdSense Support would solve that in a timely fashion. However, if you'd like to donate to the cause of my blueberries, supplements and healthcare:

(Don't feel guilty if you can't or don't want to donate. Just get better!)

Sleep

Get to sleep (to SLEEP, don't just be in bed) by 10pm or 10:30pm, latest.

Over the years, my mother, two different trainers and a doctor have told me that every hour of sleep gotten before midnight is worth 2-3 hours after midnight. Much to the annoyance of this night-owl, they're right!

By the way, one of these people is a friend who got his chronic, life-threatening, pericarditis under control, after years of being in and out of the hospital, including one time he was rushed to Intensive Care and given 12 hours to live. Yes, this simplicity was pivotal to his health! He's now working out regularly and leading a normal life!

• Getting to sleep no later, ideally, than 10:00pm and sleeping until you wake up, preferably at least 8-10 hours is key, vital, if you want to feel markedly, noticeably better in a short period of time.
• Do this at least for one week.   
• If you find yourself incredibly sleepy at 7pm, go to bed if possible. Don't worry about then being wide awake at 2am. Sleep when you're tired, whenever you can!
• Sleep is vital, incredibly, incredibly vital, especially for you, the pericarditis patient! No joke!
• Sleep disruption spikes inflammatory markers (pubmed.gov)
• Mild sleep deprivation for a week adversely affects inflammatory response on a genetic level (technical or plain English)
• These are just the tip of the iceberg. I'll be adding to this list.  

                                                                                                    Chill >>

Chill! Rule No. 1: Relax

Do Everything Possible To Cut Your Physical Stress

• As my cardiologist advised, "With pericarditis, treat your body like it's got the flu. Rest and relaxation are key. Move around only as much as absolutely necessary to get through your day. Don't even think of exercising; it's not worth it!"

• I will remind you again to SLEEP. A LOT. EARLY.

• At the height of my chronic pericarditis, post-diagnosis, I lived alone and was so sick, my dishes would stack up for weeks, as would laundry and the need to buy groceries. It was too much to hold myself up for even a few minutes. I somehow made it through work, but only because I channeled all my life force to run my body like a puppeteer handling a marionette, and because I was able to sit through most of it. The alternate was too gruesome: lose my job and have a stressor even greater than my workplace: unemployment in a ridiculously tough market. Yet, many were the night I slumped over in the back seat of a cab to get home after working late, wondering if I'd make it home alive. I physically exerted myself as little as necessary but frankly, I should have done even less.

• Consider the ways you're physically exerting yourself. How could you change that?

                                                                                      Chill! Rule No. 2 >>

Chill! Rule No. 2: Socializing

Know and Respect Your Social Limits

• I could no longer hold certain conversations with my best friends or parents, and made no attempt to restrain myself from saying so when needed. Otherwise, the adverse reaction from my heart and pericardium were instant.

• I lost a dear friend, having been branded a flake, for constantly canceling plans last minute. Frankly, I should not have been pushing myself to socialize at all. (Some socializing is highly encouraged, but not if it means pushing yourself physically or emotionally. Real friends understand.)

• Please don't give in to the idea of social graces demanding you give more of yourself than you are honestly comfortable. Do you owe anyone anything beyond getting your health back so you can once again be a good (or even better) parent, sibling, friend? Recovering your health needs to be your priority, or your pericarditis will drag out indefinitely.

 << Chill Rule No. 1            |                                       Chill Rule No. 3 >>

Chill! Rule No. 3: Relationships

Dealing With a Partner Who Doesn't Want to Deal With Your Illness

• If your lover doesn't deliver in the support department, weigh the good qualities. Hopefully they're substantial enough for you to have compassion for this soul who has no idea how to live with your illness, who perhaps even makes you wrong for it on occasion. We're all human, we've all been frail, broken, angry, confused, even the best of us. Find it in your heart to forgive - if you imagine that once you're healed, you'll still want that relationship. (You're going to have to find the strength to believe in it, even during low points when your lover wants to run because he or she can't deal. This assumes you are confident that the relationship overall is worth it.)

• At the height of my hell, I broke up with my boyfriend because we were having issues I could no longer discuss or even think about without my symptoms spiking in severity. Whatever he was telling me, I suspect the truth is he freaked out at my illness, as men tend to do when they see a strong woman fall and don't feel strong enough themselves to carry her...or factually aren't strong enough to even want to carry the woman they fell in love with. I then suffered a heavy heartbreak, so it's not like the breakup solved my stress level. Quite the opposite. After all, I knew this man is, at his core, made of TLC. He'd held my hair back when I was up all night vomiting, for goodness sake. He'd given me numerous massages, expecting nothing in return. He was freaking out at the fact my sickness wasn't going away, questioning everything, wondering if he'd be better off with a healthy woman instead of upholding his freely offered commitment to be with me "in sickness and in health" (offered before either of us knew I was sick). It might have served me better simply to decide not to care about him or us, to be completely willing to lose him if that was his intended end, to keep myself too busy with self-care activities like epsom salt baths (when I was strong enough to get in and out of the bathtub), clay masks (again, when I had the energy), good friends willing to visit me near work or at home (as opposed to going across town to see them), great music/books/films, my own creativity when I could physically and mentally manage it, and otherwise withdraw into my own world, as I did when he was first courting me because I was honestly busy and distracted. Ah, the hindsight is so easily instructed. Well, no time like the present to carry out tomorrow's hindsight. (That history often repeats itself doesn't mean I - or you - should.) 

• If you're in an honestly abusive relationship, or if it unnerves you too much that your lover can't be with you in your time of need and has never shown you tenderness when you're weak, get the hell out. No drama. Just leave. Be certain it's the right thing; be sure you won't regret it the next day, next week or next year! You will heal faster without the influence of someone who thinks you're faking it, lazy, hypochondriac, etc, or believes you'll never get better! If you honestly can't get out (kids, living situation), distance yourself as much as possible without turning into bitter psychodog. Be happy for what you have around that's good; put your attention on that, withdraw deep into your own world of peace enough so you have some extra to give those who might rob you of it. The world does not revolve around you, but yours does. Make it a good one, however you can. This is vital.

<< Chill Rule No. 2            |                                              Chill Rule No. 4 >>

Chill! Rule No. 4: Sex - or Not!

Sex Relieves Stress, Doesn't It?!?!

I'm a highly sexual being. So you'll excuse me if I just come right out and talk about it.

Anyone dealing with pericarditis knows that sex basically goes out the window, making things between you and the partner who doesn't know how to or doesn't want to deal with your illness that much more difficult. Still, love yourself more than you love a good orgasm.

• Forget about intercourse for a while - weeks, months, as long as it takes for you to heal. You'll know when you're well enough to comfortably engage without regretting it later.
• If you have a supportive lover, he or she will help you two find new ways together to engage in satisfying physical intimacy - with or without a full physical release, which, when engaged in, can be  more physically taxing than the pleasure it brings.
• I once had a lover who was so into tactile perception in and of itself that he could lay next to me completely nude and erect, doing nothing more than brushing his finger lightly over the contours of my own nude body, kissing me on the mouth every several minutes just to communicate his intense interest and he'd be completely mentally satisfied and content! This went on for hours... That kind of sex combined with massages can be incredibly intimate and satisfying if you and your lover just open yourselves up to it.
• Forget the G-spot; the PC-spot is so much more interesting right now! You know that painful spot just between your left shoulder and spine, so common in pericarditis patients, essentially the backside of your heart, yes, get your lover to end this gentle touch lovemaking with a massage right on that spot, relaxing you to sleep. 
• Take this time to find other ways, beyond sex, that you and your partner can be close. Actively seek out activities you can comfortably do together. 
• The more work you put into taking it easy so you can get better faster, the faster you will get better. Push yourself for instant gratification now (yours or your partner's), and you'll stay sick longer.  

<< Chill Rule No. 3                                                                         Joy >>     

Joy

Go out of your way to find joy.

• Seek it out like your life depends on it...because it may very well. 
• Listen to your favorite music, watch your favorite movies, read your favorite books, engage in silly banter with your favorite social media group. Create art. Play video games that uplift you. Spend time with people who love you and won't demand anything. Take a nap. 
• Do whatever makes you smile that won't get your heart racing for long. 

                                                                                                 Diet and Meds >>

Diet and Meds

Go out of your way to cut down (or preferably cut out) inflammatory food, drink, and anything else you might be ingesting that inflames (e.g. cigarette smoke), and increase anti-inflammatory foods and drink.

Whatever you do or don't do, definitely don't go rogue on your doctor - and not only because I'm not a fan of lawsuits. See, a couple of months after getting diagnosed with chronic pericarditis, the side effects of the colchicine and indomethacin were really getting to me, so I "know bested" my cardiologist for 2 months, long before I had the information to write this blog; without telling her (I knew she'd advise against it) I replaced my medication with anti-inflammatory supplements. All it took was my stress level to spike considerably over about one week and there I was, barely able to speak or hold myself up again with a constant sandpaper rubbing against my palpitating heart punctuated by the occasional stabbing chest pain. So I went back to my cardiologist, she checked my inflammatory markers and sure enough, they'd spiked as well, to 88. (3 is high risk.) Even she was worried. She warned me if I didn't do something drastic to cut the inflammation fast, the only option would be a very risky surgery, pericardiectomy. Needless to say, I went back on pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories as directed by my doctor. She changed one of my medicines (who knew there were options, if even limited!) so the side effects were not as bad.

Anyway!

• Diet tips
• At the very least, stay away from processed ingredients. Think slow food, whole food, etc. 
• Include diuretics in your daily regimen, ones that won't interfere with any medication you're taking and preferably natural ones so you're not further taxing your body. (If you go the natural route, remember that even natural medicine and food can interfere with pharmaceutical medicines!)
• Check the side effects of any medicines you're taking so you know when to adjust the dosage as needed (with your doctor's knowledge, of course). Colchecine and NSAIDs saved my life, as far as I'm concerned...and then they betrayed my gastric, pulmonary and coronary systems, as they tend to do. (Colchecine also encouraged hair loss. Joy. That's where I drew the line. Don't screw with my beauty, you know?!) Talk to your doctor about adjusting dosages, changing medications, etc. Just beware, so if you get to the point where you know at least part of your symptoms are rooted in the medicines themselves rather than your disease, you can do something about it - again, with your doctor's help. 
• Acupuncture has also helped me. It didn't work alone without the NSAIDs and everything else I discuss in this blog. In any case, I highly recommend it as it can only help!

                                                                                                          Blueberries >>

Blueberries

Blueberries are loaded in anti-inflammatories. Eat blueberries like candy (if your doctor approves)!

• Advice relayed to me by a friend who'd suffered with this disease considerably worse than I; this is an instruction his naturopath gave him...the same naturopath who helped him manage his illness so well that he's back to heavy exercise and working full time, after being in and out of hospitals for years, due to chronic pericarditis.

• Raw or frozen are fine. Cooked blueberries don't provide the healing power.

                                                                                                 Vites K and D >>

Vitamins K and D

Get your vitamin D, even if it means 10-15 minutes out in the sun daily.

• My pericarditis diagnosis occurred shortly after that of my vitamin D deficiency. No surprise; such deficiency has been tied to cardiac disease and inflammation in general. 
• Years of slathering on sunscreen in Los Angeles might or might not have helped me evade skin cancer, but it certainly didn't help me absorb vitamin D. Be smart with your anti-skin cancer regimen. 
• Supplements help when good quality and when your body can absorb them. 
• Make sure you take Vitamin D supplements with Vitamin K. Dr. Mercola explains why.
• Vitamin D-rich foods are also helpful, except there may be clashes with your dietary preferences and, again, absorption may be an issue. 
• Vitamin D lamps are an option.
• The sun is free.

                                                                                                  Drink Water >>

Drink Water

Stay hydrated! This means water!

• Remember back when you were healthy, ever? Even when you were a kid? Remember how you'd play and play and not drink until you were totally parched and told your friends "I'm dying of thirst" and you were convinced you were? Well, you're an adult now. Assuming you have access to potable water, there is no reason for you to die of thirst, or for your body to think it for a moment.
• The pericardium is made up of connective tissue. Connective tissue needs water in the utmost. Make sure water is next to you at all times. Sip as needed. Often. Up to you to determine what kind of water. I prefer high pH water. My body seems to absorb it better. Yours might be different. Just stay hydrated. 
• Don't even think about drinking anything with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it and calling that hydration. Don't let the corn part fool you. HFCS is manmade.
• Goodbye coffee, beer, whiskey, other spirits, and (for me) most wine. I noticed I feel more inflamed after drinking any of those. My boyfriend makes the best coffee in the world, but all I need do is remember that as awesome as that coffee is, it's not better than my symptoms are bad, if that makes sense. In other words, because I'm trying to get well, I have to do things that will give me true relief from pain and other chronic pericarditis symptoms. 

                                                                                                 At Best >>

At Best

You get your life back...and at worst, you get your health back but lose people who had no business being by your side anyway.

Right. So what do I do?

Or Else

Be willing for anything to happen as a result of your pericarditis, because, frankly, it just might. 

• If you don't recover, that's right, you might lose the rest of your friends, your lover/s, your job, your family; and if that happens, you might wind up homeless with inadequate medical care. 
• Assuming you lose everything and everyone, your chances of being able to sleep and eat like I've advised here will decrease to almost nothing, so you'll be that much further away from relief. 
• If you don't overcome pericarditis in time, you could die. "Well! No pain then!" Do you really believe that? When I was a little girl, I cried - because it was all I was able to do - to protest wars happening half a world away. You mean to tell me if you were to make a drastic exit, there'd be no associated pain...anywhere?  

Consider the above evenly. Don't "worry" about it; simply consider it.

Look, this website offers common sense, science-backed solutions to relieve your pericarditis - but it's going to take your willingness, discipline and confidence to follow through. It just won't work otherwise. 

It's your right to continue as you have been, though nothing stays the same; it's either improving, regressing or morphing into something else.

So, just for kicks, why not try something new, and try it long enough so you can see for yourself whether or not it makes a change in your condition?

That's all I got. Hope it helps. 

Okay, okay! What do I have to do again?