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!
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