Belated introductions

[crossleyandy]

My personal experience is that after nearly twenty years as a teacher I developed myopericarditis and subsequent episodes of pericarditis in 2018 . This became chronic and I very slowly learnt to come to terms with and live with it. This has been an enormous challenge over the past few years and resulted in me ultimately taking ill-health retirement from teaching and the enormous change in circumstances had a significant impact on my mental wellbeing. As a result of my experiences I re-trained as a psychotherapist. Consequently, my motivation through sharing my story is to help support sufferers of all heart and circulatory conditions and be a support mechanism that can help people through the tough times. I've been part of this community for 6 years and thought it was about time I introduced myself.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

After been part of the Community 6 years I am so glad you have introduced yourself

I can imagine the change was hard to do bit you have trained and now doing something really worth while in helping others so even though teaching sounded like something you loved you are still making a difference to others x

[BaronFrankenstein]

Hi.I can imagine what an upheaval it must have been having to give up your teaching career.

I myself am considering a change of job after having a geart attack in December which would was probably brought on partly due to my job, the stress, long hours, irregular poor diet, exposure to diesel fumes, oil vapours, particulates etc,

My job played havoc with my mental health over the years as well because of the pressure and some of the things that have happened along the way. Ive only stayed on because its good money. But now i think its not worth it. Exposing myself to a situation which could make me seriously ill again and ruin my quality of life for what years I have left in me.

I think what im getting round to is that whilst change is hard it can eventually work out for the better and that also depends on how you look at it and how you react.

For example Id rather downsize and move house than flog myself to death to stay where we are.

Dont be afraid to get professional counselling or guidance if you feel confused and scared about your future options. Theres always options out thrre for you sometimes youve got to try make them too.

[crossleyandy in reply to BaronFrankenstein]

Hi,

Yes, I completely agree that things can work out eventually and I think myself extremely fortunate that I am now in the position I'm in. It took a long time to get to that point though. I hope that that my new work as a therapist can support people who struggle with their mental health. The impact on mental health as a result of physical ill-health is often overlooked by the medical profession. This group is a great source of support.

[fishonabike]

thank you for sharing that

as someone who has had to change my career path twice due to health problems i can empathise with some of the changes you may have gone through - i hope your new path continues to be a comfortable and happy one

[crossleyandy]

Thanks. Yes, it's not easy changing career, especially when battling health issues, so all credit to you for having done it twice.

[LilySav]

Hi Crossleyandy, you're the first person I've come across who's used the term CHRONIC myopericarditis which my partner has recently discovered on his medical records ... along with the joy of it being 'rheumatic' too. The GP thinks it's as a result of a serious case of myo and peri carditis combination 7 years ago, which he recovered from. He's currently undergoing all sorts of sleep clinic tests, respiratory clinics etc after cardiology investigations showed some artery narrowing but nothing major. He had an EF of 55% which I believe isn't too bad.

I wonder if you have any specific advice on how to live with this. Anything he could be doing to ease the breathing struggles.

Currently tackling weightloss in the hope that this will make a significant difference.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have on his (our) situation.

[crossleyandy in reply to LilySav]

Hi,

It was a term I'd never heard of before either until my cardiologist used it about a year or so after my initial peri diagnosis.

In terms of specific advice I'm not sure really. I think the weight loss is a good idea - linked to diet such as reducing caffeine and alcohol (although I struggled with doing this for a while), as well as trying to maintain some degree of moderate exercise. I found this really difficult as had previously been very active and pushing myself too hard was a trap I fell into often. I experienced a bit of a boom or bust cycle so learning to manage my exertion levels was key to helping the breathing struggles. I only do moderate walking now and never try to increase my heartrate beyond 100. If I do this can exacerbate the symptoms so then I make sure I rest and prioritise any activity I do. I did some CBT - I'm not a fan of CBT - but did find tips on 'planning, pacing and prioritising' really helpful. Learning to really listen to my body and what it's telling me rather has been hard but worth it in learning to manage.

All the best to your partner.

Andy

[LilySav in reply to crossleyandy]

Thanks Andy, that's really helpful.

LilyS