Just saying Hi :)

[Emma1511]

Hi all, I’m new here.

I had myocarditis and pericarditis in 2013-2015

I’ve felt like something wasn’t quite right for about a year, which still really no answers for that, palpitations and shortness of breath. (Possibly my weight, 14stone 5ft4)

Just diagnosed with high bp, highest being 206/117 I was terrified. I have just started Ramipril today, fingers crossed.

I’m aiming to lose weight to try help reduce my bp but I have been struggling with WeightLoss for some time now, so fingers crossed

[DavidG1971]

On plus side - it’s good to have something obvious to work on. I had ok diet, was fit and just 10 1/2 stone.....nothing I could do other than take medication.

[Sunnie2day]

Hello and welcome! I have recurrent pericarditis (along with a few other heart conditions), was diagnosed in late '90s/early 2000s. I've not had myocarditis, did you have your myocarditis and pericarditis at the same time? There is a member here who has had that unlovely combination, hopefully she'll post in soon.

Pericarditis is the unwanted gift that keeps giving, especially if it lingers or reoccurs. it takes months to recover from and makes it quite difficult to find the motivation for every day activities.

I too have a struggle with my weight and it's not helped by the beta blocker (Bisoprolol 1.25mg which is also keeping my BP at a nice 120/90).

I am recovering from an acute pericarditis flare so I'm having to take things too slowly (in my opinion) but I do manage a mile walk in the morning and another in the afternoon - it's not taking the weight off but it is keeping more pounds piling on. I started slowly - five minutes down and back the street I live in, and avoiding any inclines. I also mapped out where all the good (meaning safe from traffic and passersby jostlings) resting spots are on my walking route - walls to lean on, benches to sit on if the angina hits and I need to use my GTN.

Also helping is using small free weights twice a day for about five minutes each time (great for toning and beating away bingo wings, 1.5kg and even those wee things cause me to 'feel the burn' at this point!), one of those 'granny' half-bike thingies another five minutes twice a day. Calling it a 'granny' thingie as you'll usually see them adverted on 'granny' pages - which is fine as I'm a gran of five; it's just the pedals and I can use it sitting on the floor or up on the table for upper body toning - bingo wings, sheesh! As I have some of the same symptoms you cite, that's plenty of a work-out just now, and bonus, it makes me feel as though at least I'm trying.

I'm having an angiogram the 20th of November so until then the cardiologist says 'No! What are you thinking?!' to my Coleen Nolan dancercise DVD collection - can't wait to get back to those as the dancercise is fun and super-effective for dropping and then maintaining weight loss and toning.

Best wishes, and again, welcome!

[Bingo88]

Hi Emma1511. Sorry to hear of your heart problems. Have no experience of those, All i can say is i was struggling to loose weight. Due to me liking my food too much, only thing that helped me shift the pounds was regular exercise. That will help with blood pressure too. Should get advice from your doctor before exercising. Just to be on the safe side. Good luck Brian

[not2worry]

One thing I found most helpful was using an app called Lose. You enter your current weight, height, etc. and your goals. Then every meal and snack. You also log in your exercise and can sync it with your Fitbit or other tech equipment. I have a Fitbit scale and weigh in every day. It creates a log and a timeline when you will meet your goal.

It made me realize my calorie intake every day and helped me make healthier choices. I weight every morning which reminds me where I am in relation to my goal.

I’m normally not one that would believe something like this would motivate me but it has been amazingly effective. I’ve lost 15 pounds over the last 10 months and I feel great.

Just a suggestion that worked for me.

[Cookie95]

Hi! I got the same thing this year. It’s really freaking hard to loose weight or even maintain it with myo/pericarditis because of the chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath.... it really makes it hard to walk or exercise!

Having said that, I haven’t even tried to exercise because walking is already a big deal for me. I’m 23 and used to be really sporty so my life has turned 180 degrees.

My advice is to take your health very very seriously (although I’m sure you already are!!) and keep in mind the following:

- “Realfooding”: drop processed food, saturated fats, sugars, high levels of salt, etc. It takes some time to educate yourself on nutrition, knowing which products are ultra processed and which ones are “real”. Basically everything in the supermarket that doesn’t include a bunch of ingredients you don’t understand. Keep it simple and eat as natural as you can. This will already make up 80% of your weight loss.

- Activate your body: stretching at home, for example, will keep your body “awake” without putting any extra work on the heart.

Also, try adding natural anti inflammatory things into your diet (curcumin or turmeric, tomatoes, salmon, walnuts) - sorry i keep on coming back to diet!

Anyway, I hope this helps and all the best getting better!!

[HHH2017]

Hi Emma, I feel your pain and frustration!

was diagnosed with both these very annoying conditions 2 years ago and am still recovering but am very much better than I was. They can both reoccur so you should definitely be asking your GP to also keep an eye on your tropinin levels via blood tests just incase.

Losing weight if you are mentally ready to do it should help you feel better generally & can only help your health & BP.

I’ve been a weightwatchers (WW) member for years and volunteer every week weighing members. I find it a hugely supportive network. GP’s can refer patients and its free for 12 weeks so might be worth asking your GP if this might be possible.

Do keep chatting on here, everyone is so supportive, knowledgeable and fun. A problem shared is a problem halved as they say.

Lots of previous threads on here too if you search Im sure you’ll find lots to help.

Take care. Jennie