My Teenage Son Had Myocarditis Posted: 12-26-05 12:14pm
My 18 year old son had myocarditis that
elevated to peridcarditis, 2 months ago.
He is still recovering and is on 2.5 mgs
of altace. My concerns are his party
habits. This past month he is obviously
starting to feel better and is partaking
is drinking and pot smoking. I am soo
very worried about the side effects.
Should I be?
|
TorbjornO
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 1
Posted: 01-30-06 07:32am
Hi,
i'm 27 and I just recently had
pericarditis with some pleural effusion.
Pericarditis isn't life threatening
(unless too much fluid builds up in the
pericardium because that will make it
harder for his heart to beat). Your son
will complain about chest pain and shallow
breathing long before that can become a
huge problem. Pericarditis does take a
long time to recover, and having gone way
too quickly back into my sports (and paid
the price by aggrevating it) I would
recommend taking it easy. No doctor seems
to advice this, but just from my
experience it did come back very quickly
as soon as I started pushing myself too
hard in sports.
Pericarditis can also cause ahrrythmias,
including tachycardia and rapid atrial
fibrillations. I had both. They aren't
life threatening, but do feel extremely
uncomfortable (especially for young people
i've been told, their nerve endings are
more sensitive). I was told the heart can
handle up towards 300 beats per minute
before you pass out, mine was up to 240 in
my tachycardia phase and I was able to
walk and get a lift to the hospital.
It all feels incredibly frightening, but
it doesn't leave any long term damage and
it is 99% of the time just likely caused
by a viral infection. Anyone can get it.
If he gets re-occuring pericarditis, then
he should definitely look into his life
style choices (maybe he should anyway by
the sounds of it), and also make sure he
gets the proper care. There are
conditions that cause re-occuring
pericarditis (including lupus).
Medline is a fantastic resource if you
want to learn more.
The site is not a replacement for professional medical opinion, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information written by any author on this site. No health questions and information on eHealth Forum is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. Posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author, and not the administrators, moderators, or editorial staff and hence eHealth Forum and its principals will accept no liabilities or responsibilities for the statements made.
Schizophreniahealth
This page was last updated on June 11, 2008
