breathlessness

[Barolo22]

had an MI 9 weeks ago at home with CPR and shocks as posted before. Have been diagnosed with pericarditis a few weeks back too. Last couple of days I’ve felt as though I have an asthmatic breathless feeling (which I got mildly before anyway, so know the sensation). No asthma medicines worked. Panicking, I went to A&E as couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Took X-ray but showed nothing and cardiologist said that as my oxygen sats were at 99/100% and BP, plus heart rate was fine, plus my ECG was ok. I was having loads of ectopic beats whilst in there, which she said was down to anxiety and assured me it was not another heart attack etc. She believes it’s the Pericarditis again, combined with anxiety and increased my Bisoprolol plus gave me some Ibruprofen daily for a couple of weeks.

The only change I’ve had meds wise recently is from Entresto to Rampiril.

Anybody else had this pressure feeling on the chest which makes you breathless? P.s. My ribs and breastbone still occasionally creaks and hurts too.

sorry for the ramble

[RF260]

Hi, sorry to hear about the breathlessness, my HA was 10th April, experience periods of scary breathlessness, my cardio rehab nurse has suggested that Ticagrelor (blood thinner) is the likely culprit so I am currently sat here waiting for a call from GP who was going to ask Cardiology about switching to Clopidogrel. May not be relevant but lots of chat on here about meds side effects causing more problems than the original HA. Like you I've been to A&E and everything checks out fine...trial and error with meds will hopefully fix us asap.

[Barolo22 in reply to RF260]

Thank you for this. I guess it will be some side effect of a med so am going to speak to the HF team today 👍🏻

[Qualipop in reply to RF260]

My immediate thought was that the poster must be taking Ticagrelor. That's exactly how it affected me. It was really frightening. I had it changed to clopidogrel. Sats were f ine , I just felt as if I couldn't get a breath in properly.

[devonian186]

Pollen levels have been very high the last few weeks. Your breathlessness could be connected with that.

Not helped by councils not mowing verges so the grass pollen levels have been high and prolonged. It could be that it could be medication or one acting on the other.

[Equinefan]

Hi. I’m not a medic but the symptoms you describe are representative of pericarditis. Heavy weight, chest pain, breathlessness, palpitations, pain in back, neck and shoulder, which I know can be signs of a HA but they are also peri symptoms. You need to rest and take it easy. Might be worth asking for colchicine if the ibuprofen doesn’t help.

There is a group on FB called UK, Eire & Channel Islands Pericarditis, which you may find helpful.

[honeybubs]

I had Myopericarditis and was told I’d got to rest for weeks after ~ it took six weeks or more. It can’t be fixed in a couple of weeks it takes time. It was also found the week I was in hospital wired up that I had 34,000 extra ectopics and months later had to have a pacemaker defibrillator fitted so if you think things aren’t right going forward don’t just accept ‘anxiety’ from them as it’s a quick easy answer they give you and then move on to the next patient and it could be something else more serious going on. Everyone feels anxious with their health that’s natural. Having Myopericarditis actually saved me because they only found the problem of the ectopics whilst on the machines in hospital. I haven’t had a heart attack like you and everyone is different but all I say is know your own body and if you think something isn’t right keep going back and get it sorted. Good luck with everything. Joy.

[fishonabike]

as mentioned above, recovery from pericarditis can take several weeks it can recur

pericarditis in inflammation of a sack which surrounds the heart, it is a tight fit - inflammation causes it to swell, so it tightens around the heart, this can restrict the action of your heart muscle

the main treatments are rest (serious bed rest and very reduced activity) and anti inflammatory medication, usually colchicine as ibuprofen is not usually enough

look up the sources of information already suggested, go back to your GP for some effective medication and rest - this means postponing everything in your life for a while while you recover