Hi, i've also had pericarditis 4-5 times. I'm 22 years old. It started around november 2004, then I had it again in february 2005. In may, I had pericardial effusion, this is when fluid builds up between the heart and the outer membrane. I went to the emergency twice that day. First I went at around 4 am, and they did chest xray and said everything was normal and sent me home with some painkillers. The pain didn't stop so I went again in the afternoon. This time they did a cat scan and saw the fluid. So they had to remove the fluid, and I was in the hospital for about a week. They tested the fluid and didn't find anything. My doctor said that it could be due to viral infection, which I did have about a month prior to the first episode. So after they removed the fluid, the pain almost completely dissapeared. But once I was discharged from the hospital, I had the pain in the middle of the chest for about a week, though it wasn't as bad as before. I continued to take medication. In august 2005, I had the pain again. This time it was the in the chest and the left shoulder. They did the heart ultrasound and didn't find fluid this time. Again I had the pain for about 1-2 weeks.

I have not had a severe pain since then. Occationally I feel like the pain starting to come back, and I keep on taking the medicine. In fact I have some back pain right now. The doctor recommended motrin at 400mg as needed. I take them both as neccessary. I also take this medicine called colchicine for recurrent pericarditis. The doctor said if the fluid builds up again, they will have to open the chest and create wall in the outer membrane (basically open the outer membrane so the fluid cannot be trapped).

The doctor says that some people just have pericarditis once and may never experiened it again. And, for some it continues to re-occur. I asked if the reoccurance can be dangerous for the heart and the membrane over a long period of time, and he said not really. And, he says there is no way of predicting or preventing it. He also says that it does not shorten life.

This is as much as I know about the disease. If you have any more information and I may not be aware of, please by all means, share it. I have not had any major illnesses in my life, but just started experiencing this for the past year, so i'm very concerned.

Thanks for your help.

hi im 20 and have had pericarditas 3 times now first ine in july 2003 the second one in june 2005 and now then again in 2007 i have been told it due viral infection but that dont know what course them

I am going through this now and feel like I can't get rid of it. Dr. doesn' t seem concerned -I was like you guys and it was very painful at first(1-3 weeks) but with Anti-Inflammatories it got much better....... But its now week 8 and I feel sore in the sternum area so I am going to the Dr next week, its so annoying. Any thoughts-thanks !